THE BHOPAL SCHOOL OF SOCIAL

SCIENCES
Organisational Behaviour

CASE STUDY
SUBMITTED BY: ANANYA TIWARI

ROLL. NO: 20011025

CLASS: BBA 2A

SUBMITTEED TO: ANITTA JOMY THOMAS

Abstract :
Infosys Ltd, the bellwether of IT industry of India, was faced with a leadership crisis as the
first professional CEO resigned due to conflict with some of the founding members. A new
CEO was promptly appointed, to arrest further damage to the reputation of the company.
However, the board was acutely aware of the complex web of challenges that continued to
plague the company. This company, like many others in India and internationally, was
characterized by the first-generation entrepreneurs who co-founded and promoted the
business. The company had flourished for more than thirty years under the able leadership of
one of the co-founders. The board faces a strategic dilemma - how to steer and support
leadership decision with an eye towards the future while managing the current reality? In
other words, how to put Infosys on the path of professional management for the future that
will outlive the tenure of the co-founders.

Leadership Transition at Infosys: Case Study

 The case discusses the leadership transition at Bangalore-based information technology and
consulting company, Infosys Ltd. Infosys since its founding in 1981 by Narayana Murthy and
six others, was known for leadership development and succession planning. In 2001, the
company set up the Infosys Leadership Institute (ILI) to nurture and groom future leaders.
Since most of the company’s founders were approaching retirement, it developed a strong
leadership pipeline and defined clear successors to lead the company.
 Ever since Murthy announced his plans to retire by August 2011, the company had been
focusing on bringing in a successor to him. In May 2011, Infosys chose banking veteran, KV
Kamath, former CEO of ICICI Bank, the largest private sector bank in India, as the non-
executive chairman of Infosys. Soon after Kamath took over his position in August 2011,
Kris Gopalakrishnan and SD Shibulal were made the executive co-chairman and CEO and
managing director respectively.
 Having been led by charismatic founding members as leaders for decades the company faced
the challenge of smoothly transitioning to a professional leadership independent of the
founders, at the same time maintaining the values the company stood for. The company’s
strategy of bringing in an outsider met with mixed reactions. Some analysts felt that bringing
in an outsider like Kamath who had proven his skills at ICICI Bank would work in favour of
Infosys.
 Some investors, on the other hand, felt that had the company brought in outsiders for the
positions of executive co-chairman and CEO and MD, the stock markets would have reacted
positively. Some industry experts felt that the internal restructuring at the company had come
at a time when the company was underperforming compared to its peers. Infosys, however,
maintained that the company had carried out seamless transitions in the past and would
continue doing so considering its depth of leadership.

Problem during the Leadership

Transition at Infosys:
  Junior Managers felt essential and less freedom to exercise their powers
and use their minds for any actions

 The company has been focusing on restructuring the top Management but
neglecting the middle management's loss.

 Individual development was missing as it is necessary to build influential

team culture.

Recommendations to the problems :

We recommend several actions that could be executed are:
1. Create a development culture:
We recommend bringing external consultants to tailor the program development. This
program could be costly but might be the most effective way as external consultants have
extensive knowledge of their profession and tend to be unbiased. Alternatively, we
recommend that the middle managers attend local leadership conferences and classes at local
colleges and cover the cost.
2. Individual development:
Utilize current performance appraisal results to customize personal training and
development programs for targeted managers for specific needs. This process will
strengthen the middle manager's commitment to the training program itself as it is
designed to improve its particular competencies. As a result, the program can help
managers perform more effectively to achieve organizational goals and reach
personal career goals.

3. Building confidence:
Spotlight on past successes and future grand plan which will Boost both middle-level
Management's and employee's confidence about the company.

Conclusion:
This report has tried to focus on leadership as a critical intervention to solve the HR
issues at Infosys. Infosys is an IT service giant, and the company must retain its talented
workforce. Human Resources bring an overpowering business value to the organization,
and companies worldwide have become aware of this. In this case study, we have first
analysed the company and identified its central issue, i.e., high attrition rate, followed by
some recommendations that would establish the understanding that effective top
Management plays a significant role in building confidence in the existing workforce.
Infosys must develop a second line of command to achieve the company's current goals.
Apart from that, individual development is necessary to build influential team culture.

----------------------- X ------------------------- X -----------------------------X---------------------------