Case Study on Infosys Km

INFOSYS CASE STUDY - ‘Narayana Murthy and Infosys'

The case study ‘Narayana Murthy and Infosys' describes how Narayana Murthy, set up India's leading software company - Infosys. Narayana Murthy turned a small software development venture that he had set up with his friends in 1981, into one of the leading companies of the country. Infosys grew rapidly throughout the 1990s Narayana Murthy distributed the company's profits among the employees through a stock-option program, and adopted the best corporate governance practices. All this earned him praise and respect. In 1999, the company became the first Indian firm to be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In 2000, Infosys was poised to become a true global company.By 2000, Infosys' market capitalization reached Rs.11 billion and by 2001, Infosys was one of the biggest exporters of software from India. Narayana Murthy had built an organization that was respected across the country, with very strong systems, high ethical values and a nurturing working atmosphere.In February 2001, Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Infosys) was voted as the Best Managed Company in Asia in the Information Technology sector, in leading financial magazine Euromoney's Fifth Annual Survey of Best Managed Companies in Asia.

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

With his sound management skills, Narayana Murthy seemed to have taken Infosys to the pinnacle of success with the following key success factors :

1. Leadership team : The leadership team needs to balance vision with practical experience. In most cases, a technology start-up will have a visionary and/or a technical genius (most often, these are the founders) in place from day one. However, all to often, the leadership team is not rounded out by people who actually know how to run a business and how to drive sales. Building a strong balanced team can be one of the trickier aspects of creating a successful start-up because it necessarily requires the visionary and the technical genius (founders) to admit their practical shortcomings and give up some of the control of the business. The idea behind a start-up is often somebody's "baby" and, quite naturally, they want to control every aspect of its development. Once you move these people away from micromanaging the business, the start-up begins to have a chance.

2. Well-conceived business plan : This is an area where the practical experience of a well-rounded leadership team gives the start-up a leg up. The business plan needs to be practical and detailed. The business plan provides the blueprint for the growth of the company. Perhaps more importantly, the business plan is how you demonstrate the viability of the business to third party investors.

3. A strong product : It is a given that the product needs to be special – something that