Narayana Murthy is one of the giants of India’s IT industry. In 1981, he founded Infosys, a provider of consulting and business process outsourcing services, which is today India’s sixth largest publically traded company. Murthy talked with HBR about the most valuable advice he ever received, the advice he gives young professionals, and how he approaches leadership and management.
NM answers the following questions asked by HBR
What was the best advice you received as a young man, and what advice do you now give to young professionals?
What advice do you, in turn, give to young professionals?
What is the biggest mistake you made earlier in your career, and what did you learn from it?
Who is the best leader or manager you’ve worked with, and what made that person best?
What talents do Indian companies need most right now?
Read the Interview
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
Friday, 12 February 2016
India’s digital transformation
The country can only derive the digital dividend of faster growth, more jobs and better services by expanding affordable Internet access to all/
There is little doubt that China has stolen a march on India when it comes to leveraging the Internet. Of the top 20 Internet companies in the world, 13 are American, five are Chinese, with one each for Japan and the United Kingdom. Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company, has a market capitalisation that is 25 times higher than that of Flipkart, the largest e-commerce company in India.
Why did India, which has had the remarkable achievement of being the largest exporter of information technology services and skilled manpower among developing countries, fall behind China in digitally transforming its economy? Is it now making a comeback? The World Bank’s recently released World Development Report (WDR) ‘Digital Dividends’ provides some answers.
The WDR finds that digital technologies have spread rapidly throughout much of the world, but their digital dividends — the broader development benefits from using these technologies — have lagged behind. In many instances digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities, and improved service delivery. Yet their aggregate impact has fallen short and is unevenly distributed.
The report argues that for digital technologies to confer their full benefit on society, it is vital to close the digital divide, especially in Internet access. But greater digital adoption will not be enough. To get the most out of the digital revolution, countries also need to work on its “analogue complements” — by strengthening regulations that ensure competition among businesses, by adapting workers’ skills to the demands of the new economy, and by ensuring that government institutions and others are accountable.
Read the center page article
There is little doubt that China has stolen a march on India when it comes to leveraging the Internet. Of the top 20 Internet companies in the world, 13 are American, five are Chinese, with one each for Japan and the United Kingdom. Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company, has a market capitalisation that is 25 times higher than that of Flipkart, the largest e-commerce company in India.
Why did India, which has had the remarkable achievement of being the largest exporter of information technology services and skilled manpower among developing countries, fall behind China in digitally transforming its economy? Is it now making a comeback? The World Bank’s recently released World Development Report (WDR) ‘Digital Dividends’ provides some answers.
The WDR finds that digital technologies have spread rapidly throughout much of the world, but their digital dividends — the broader development benefits from using these technologies — have lagged behind. In many instances digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities, and improved service delivery. Yet their aggregate impact has fallen short and is unevenly distributed.
The report argues that for digital technologies to confer their full benefit on society, it is vital to close the digital divide, especially in Internet access. But greater digital adoption will not be enough. To get the most out of the digital revolution, countries also need to work on its “analogue complements” — by strengthening regulations that ensure competition among businesses, by adapting workers’ skills to the demands of the new economy, and by ensuring that government institutions and others are accountable.
Read the center page article
Friday, 5 February 2016
25 Business Lies To Dump In 2016
We are all stepping into the new-millennium workplace together. It’s a very different place from the traditional working world.
Long-term employment is a dim memory. We are all entrepreneurs now. The old rules are dropping by the wayside. You won’t retire from the job you have now, unless you are very close to retirement already or work for the government.
The rest of us will fend, bob, weave and maneuver our way from here to our retirement date – if there is such a thing as retirement at all when we get to that point.
We are firmly rooted in the Knowledge Economy now. The Machine Age is behind us. The only fuel that powers our organizations is the commitment of our teams, but many leaders haven’t gotten that message yet. They are still leading with an Industrial Revolution mindset.
They manage through fear instead of trust. That’s why so many working people are fed up and cynical. They’re tired of being treated like disposable parts by their employers, while company slogans and plaques on the wall talk about Team Values. That’s a huge disconnect.
Working people are tired of employers who talk the talk but can’t walk the walk.
The old business world was constructed on a set of beliefs that are no longer true, if they were ever true to begin with. Here are 25 of the most prevalent and ready-for-the-dustbin business lies to dump in 2016.
How many of these lies have you been taught since childhood — and how many of them still rule the day in your workplace?
Read the post
Long-term employment is a dim memory. We are all entrepreneurs now. The old rules are dropping by the wayside. You won’t retire from the job you have now, unless you are very close to retirement already or work for the government.
The rest of us will fend, bob, weave and maneuver our way from here to our retirement date – if there is such a thing as retirement at all when we get to that point.
We are firmly rooted in the Knowledge Economy now. The Machine Age is behind us. The only fuel that powers our organizations is the commitment of our teams, but many leaders haven’t gotten that message yet. They are still leading with an Industrial Revolution mindset.
They manage through fear instead of trust. That’s why so many working people are fed up and cynical. They’re tired of being treated like disposable parts by their employers, while company slogans and plaques on the wall talk about Team Values. That’s a huge disconnect.
Working people are tired of employers who talk the talk but can’t walk the walk.
The old business world was constructed on a set of beliefs that are no longer true, if they were ever true to begin with. Here are 25 of the most prevalent and ready-for-the-dustbin business lies to dump in 2016.
How many of these lies have you been taught since childhood — and how many of them still rule the day in your workplace?
Read the post
Thursday, 28 January 2016
Why and How this Indian Realty Portal Exploits Data Science
While banks and ecommerce companies have tried their hands at data science and are benefitting from their initiatives around it, real estate appears to be the next big vertical that intends to leverage data science.
Housing.com, the Mumbai-based startup, is one among the top Indian online businesses that bet on data science and machine learning algorithms as a core priority. The realty portal, which raised $190 mn from Japan’s SoftBank, has come up with many tools such as Traffic Flux, Heat Maps, Listing Decay, and more in their efforts to present information to users in a visually appealing way that is more interactive than traditional plain listings.
Read the article
Housing.com, the Mumbai-based startup, is one among the top Indian online businesses that bet on data science and machine learning algorithms as a core priority. The realty portal, which raised $190 mn from Japan’s SoftBank, has come up with many tools such as Traffic Flux, Heat Maps, Listing Decay, and more in their efforts to present information to users in a visually appealing way that is more interactive than traditional plain listings.
Read the article
Saturday, 23 January 2016
The Dalet Newsroom: The Convergence of Television, Radio and Web News Production
In the past, there was a clear division between television, radio and print news. In a media conglomerate, it was very common to deploy several teams to cover a single event, with different stories produced for radio, television, print and, more recently, digital news outlets. This division caused both inefficiencies in terms of human resources and inconsistencies in terms of news production. Obviously, synergy was not part of the equation…
Let’s take a step back, shed light on recent IT (r)evolutions and explore the business benefits of the media convergence enabled by Dalet media management solutions!
As we mention above, until recently, when covering events, media conglomerates that owned television news stations, radio stations and newspapers would send three reporters out to cover one story: one for the newspaper, one for radio news and another for television - all managed from three different, siloed systems. The three reporters would read the same wires from agencies like Reuters, gather clips from footage taken of the press conference, and write three different stories – the on-camera script for a TV anchor, a script for the radio anchor, and an article for the newspaper. Over a morning coffee, the news consumer would read the newspaper to get the news of the day, then listen to the news in the car to and from work, and finally return home to watch the evening news – consuming more or less the same bits of news from any given media.
Read the full post
Let’s take a step back, shed light on recent IT (r)evolutions and explore the business benefits of the media convergence enabled by Dalet media management solutions!
As we mention above, until recently, when covering events, media conglomerates that owned television news stations, radio stations and newspapers would send three reporters out to cover one story: one for the newspaper, one for radio news and another for television - all managed from three different, siloed systems. The three reporters would read the same wires from agencies like Reuters, gather clips from footage taken of the press conference, and write three different stories – the on-camera script for a TV anchor, a script for the radio anchor, and an article for the newspaper. Over a morning coffee, the news consumer would read the newspaper to get the news of the day, then listen to the news in the car to and from work, and finally return home to watch the evening news – consuming more or less the same bits of news from any given media.
Read the full post
Friday, 22 January 2016
The arrival of Algorithmic business
What happens when 30 billion things connect with business and 3 billion people with smartphones? All these things and people generate vast amounts of rich data, and what companies do with that data – how they turn it into proprietary algorithms – will determine how well they maximize the opportunity presented by digital business.
“Algorithms are where the real value lies,” said Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research, in the opening keynote to more than 8,500 CIOs and IT leaders at the sold out Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando. “Algorithms define action.” Digital revenues have risen, IT organizations have gone bimodal, and the increased density of connections promises smart agents and algorithms that can do very complex things, including spawning their own, new algorithms and agents.
In today’s digital era, dynamic, digital algorithms are at the core of new customer interactions. Back in the day, Coco-Cola created a secret recipe; essentially, an algorithm; for a fountain drink that would build an empire.
Today, Amazon’s recommendation engine prompts people to buy more products, or the Waze algorithms give cars better routes based on thousands of independent inputs, changing traffic patterns dynamically in real time. Moving forward, companies will be valued not just on their big data, but on the algorithms that turn that data into actions and impact customers.
Companies will be valued not just on their big data, but on the algorithms that turn that data into actions and impact customers.
“Algorithms are where the real value lies,” said Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research, in the opening keynote to more than 8,500 CIOs and IT leaders at the sold out Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando. “Algorithms define action.” Digital revenues have risen, IT organizations have gone bimodal, and the increased density of connections promises smart agents and algorithms that can do very complex things, including spawning their own, new algorithms and agents.
In today’s digital era, dynamic, digital algorithms are at the core of new customer interactions. Back in the day, Coco-Cola created a secret recipe; essentially, an algorithm; for a fountain drink that would build an empire.
Today, Amazon’s recommendation engine prompts people to buy more products, or the Waze algorithms give cars better routes based on thousands of independent inputs, changing traffic patterns dynamically in real time. Moving forward, companies will be valued not just on their big data, but on the algorithms that turn that data into actions and impact customers.
Companies will be valued not just on their big data, but on the algorithms that turn that data into actions and impact customers.
Tuesday, 19 January 2016
8 Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now
Which sectors are especially ripe for new entrants? Inc.'s list of the best industries for starting a business is a window into the fast-growing segments of tomorrow's economy. Read on to see where you can get in early.
- Drone Manufacturing
- Virtual Reality
- Artificial Intelligence
- Food Analytics and Technology
- Biometric Scanning Software
- Fraud Deduction Software
- Corporate Wellness
- Sustainable Building Materials
Monday, 18 January 2016
7 Steps to Business and IT Alignment
No business will ever reach the goal of “business and IT alignment”. Should this discourage you from pursuing business and IT alignment? NO! It is a worthy goal to pursue. Indeed, it is a critical one to pursue. You might never reach alignment but you can take steps to get ever closer. This requires a process. Often, we ignore the fact that business and IT alignment is a process. This process does not have a starting point nor does it have an end. It is a series of “learn and do” cycles that incrementally get towards alignment. Let me explain.
The goal of perfect alignment is unachievable because of the dynamic nature of business. Every organization operates in an ecosystem and is affected by the forces at play in it. Economy, industry, competitors etc. are all players in this ecosystem who are continuously evolving. Similarly, knowledge and tools – such as information technology - are also continuously changing. To remain competitive i.e. maintain differentiation, every organization must adapt in response to the actions and activities of others in its ecosystem. Organizations that do not adapt lose their competitive edge over time and disappear.
Add to this the changes in an organization’s internal environment – structure, skills, finances, personnel, knowledge, core competency etc. – and now one has a potent mix of forces that demand change in response.
This continuous change is the cause of perpetual misalignment.
It takes time to understand the impact of the actions of others. It takes time to take action. While you are reacting, the world is not stationary – it is throwing more stuff your way. By the time you are done, you are out of alignment. To be precise, while you are taking action, you are out of alignment!
Till we have perfect predictive modeling and instant systems, no organization will ever be in perfect alignment. The best one can do is to move “toward” alignment i.e. moving in the right direction.
Do not let this discourage you from pursuing business and IT alignment! It is a worthy goal to pursue. Indeed, it is a critical one to pursue. You might never reach alignment but you can take steps to get ever closer.
This requires a process.
Often, we ignore the fact that business and IT alignment is a process. This process does not have a starting point nor does it have an end. It is a series of “learn and do” cycles that incrementally get towards alignment.
The goal of perfect alignment is unachievable because of the dynamic nature of business. Every organization operates in an ecosystem and is affected by the forces at play in it. Economy, industry, competitors etc. are all players in this ecosystem who are continuously evolving. Similarly, knowledge and tools – such as information technology - are also continuously changing. To remain competitive i.e. maintain differentiation, every organization must adapt in response to the actions and activities of others in its ecosystem. Organizations that do not adapt lose their competitive edge over time and disappear.
Add to this the changes in an organization’s internal environment – structure, skills, finances, personnel, knowledge, core competency etc. – and now one has a potent mix of forces that demand change in response.
This continuous change is the cause of perpetual misalignment.
It takes time to understand the impact of the actions of others. It takes time to take action. While you are reacting, the world is not stationary – it is throwing more stuff your way. By the time you are done, you are out of alignment. To be precise, while you are taking action, you are out of alignment!
Till we have perfect predictive modeling and instant systems, no organization will ever be in perfect alignment. The best one can do is to move “toward” alignment i.e. moving in the right direction.
Do not let this discourage you from pursuing business and IT alignment! It is a worthy goal to pursue. Indeed, it is a critical one to pursue. You might never reach alignment but you can take steps to get ever closer.
This requires a process.
Often, we ignore the fact that business and IT alignment is a process. This process does not have a starting point nor does it have an end. It is a series of “learn and do” cycles that incrementally get towards alignment.
Friday, 5 July 2013
The TIME Tech 40
Over the last decade, technology executives, startup founders, and venture capital investors have become America’s new rock stars. Tech titans like Apple and Google have become some of the most profitable and respected companies in the country, and their leaders have been celebrated as icons of American innovation. Millions of people use their products every day. Internet-based startups like Facebook and Twitter have grown to become central players in American life. In cities across the country, thousands of young people are launching their own companies, perhaps hoping to become the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg.
In a series called the TIME Tech 40, we’re highlighting the most influential figures in technology. From the top CEOs and startup entrepreneurs to the most respected venture capitalists and tech “big thinkers,” we’ll call out the individuals changing the landscape of American business.
Read the full post
In a series called the TIME Tech 40, we’re highlighting the most influential figures in technology. From the top CEOs and startup entrepreneurs to the most respected venture capitalists and tech “big thinkers,” we’ll call out the individuals changing the landscape of American business.
Read the full post
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
The LIST OF FASTEST GROWING INDIAN COMPANIES
A snapshot of 30 companies that made the cut in India. An Outlook Business Magazine reporting.
List with details
Friday, 24 May 2013
Monday, 13 May 2013
10 warning signs that your business is failing
This article is inspired by the Ten Commandments for Business Failure — an interesting book written by Donald Keough. Don is on the board of Berkshire Hathaway, Allen & Company and The Coca Cola Company (where he worked for over four decades).
He has also been on the boards of Columbia Pictures, McDonald’s Corporation, The Washington Post Company, H. J. Heinz Company, and The Home Depot.
In our obsession with success, we often forget that it is equally, if not more, important to avoid failure.
This article is in the spirit of Charles Munger, who says, “All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there.”
Here are the Ten (plus one bonus) commandments, that share the wisdom and business insights gathered over several decades and of immense value to any manager, businessman or investor.
Companies/executives displaying early warning signs of any of these are bound to fail:
Quit taking risks
Be inflexible
Isolate yourself
Assume infallibility
Play the game close to the foul line
Don’t take time to think
Put all the faith in experts and outside consultants
Love your bureaucracy
Send mixed messages
Be afraid of the future
Lose your passion for work — for life
Friday, 1 March 2013
What Is Crowdfunding And How Does It Benefit The Economy
With the passing of President Obama’s JOBS Act this past April, the word of the day seems to be crowdfunding. While this concept has arguably been around for centuries, it is still formally recognized as a new industry to many consumers, particularly those outside the United States.
Crowdfunding is by definition, “the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.” Check out this video to get a clearer idea of the step by step process of crowdfunding.
Monday, 26 November 2012
The 7 Social Media Tricks for Your Business
1. How Social Customer Support Brings Social Media beyond Marketing
2. Tap the Social Media Stream for Competitors' Secrets
3. How to Use Social Media to Create Business Value
4. Social CRM for the Enterprise: How Analytics can Move You to Greater Success
5. Enterprise Social Software: What Businesses Need to Do Next
6. Five Reasons Social CRM is the High Ground for Revenue Production
7. 13 Tips for How to Use Pinterest for Business
2. Tap the Social Media Stream for Competitors' Secrets
3. How to Use Social Media to Create Business Value
4. Social CRM for the Enterprise: How Analytics can Move You to Greater Success
5. Enterprise Social Software: What Businesses Need to Do Next
6. Five Reasons Social CRM is the High Ground for Revenue Production
7. 13 Tips for How to Use Pinterest for Business
Saturday, 13 October 2012
Dashboards: Data Visualization for all Elements of the Business
It is time to stop thinking of dashboards as a “nice to have” and instead view the technology as a way to provide everyone in the company with a common version of the truth. Long-gone are the clunky spreadsheets and simple, static graphs; data visualization has evolved into a dynamic discipline that is opening up new doors for the exploration and analysis of complex data sets for a wide range of businesses.
Monday, 8 October 2012
The Business Etiquette Guide
How has etiquette evolved in the workplace? This guide will help you and your employees understand how to put your best foot forward in today's online world. Learn etiquette tips when using social networking sites, as well as mobile devices, instant messaging, and phone, video and web conferencing. You'll also find answers to sticky etiquette questions.
Saturday, 8 September 2012
The 40 Best Corporate Blogs In The World
Business blogging is hard and doing it for a large brand or corporate is even harder in terms of getting the right tone of voice and building an audience while keeping readers engaged. We decided to pick 40 of the best blogs from around the world to show you people who are doing it right and hopefully provide you with some inspiration for your own corporate blog.
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Interesting articles to read -- 05-09-2012
Interesting articles to read -- 05-09-2012
Vishy (chess champion and five-time world title winner Vishwanathan Anand )to help businesses make the correct move Read
Hiring scandal: How corrupt recruiters are cheating jobseekers, colleges and IT companies Read
14 Things You Should Do at the End of Every Work Day Read
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
How to start a business with your own money
Boot in Profits: How to start a business with your own money
"There were others who had forced their way to the top from the lowest rung by the aid of their bootstraps."
When Irish author James Joyce penned this in his novel Ulysses (1922), did he know that bootstrapping, which means rising on one's own efforts and resources , would be more commonly used to describe the adventurous journey of a tribe of entrepreneurs.
As an increasing number of people want to be their own masters, new businesses come into existence. The Internet, being receptive to fresh ideas, is a fertile ground for experimenting with innovative products and services. Entrepreneurs are putting their ideas to test in the real economy of the virtual world; many turning those into successful businesses.
If you have an exciting idea that can be converted into a successful business, you don't need to depend on angels and venture capitalists for funding. Bootstrap, or start a business with your money.
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Special Series of Articles on Mass Customization
The idea that consumers can customize their own products on a massive scale is having a tremendous impact on customer experience and expectations as well as the way organizations approach R&D. Following an extensive study of mass customization in the domain of consumer goods, this upcoming series of articles provides an overview on mass customization, its strategic capabilities, and the success factors that drive its implementation in business.
Introduction: A special series of articles on mass customization and customer co-design
Part 1: Competing in the Age of Mass Customization
Part 2: The market for mass customization today
Part 3: Solution Space Development: Understanding where customers are different
Part 4: Robust Process Design: Fulfilling individual customer needs without compromising performance
Part 5: Choice Navigation: Turning burden of choice into an experience
Part 6: Choice Navigation in Reality: A closer look into the Customization500
Part 7: Overcoming the Challenges of Implementing Mass Customization
Part 8: A Balanced View: Conclusions and Key Learnings
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