The whistle-blowers' letter has accused the tech major's Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh of instigating employees to inflate profits, mis-represent the lucrativeness of deals, even of abusing travel privileges.The dust had barely settled at InfosysNSE 1.55 % Ltd. when Asia’s No. 2 software services firm once more found itself grappling with a potential leadership crisis.
For the second time in about as many years, the Indian icon synonymous with the country’s technological ascendancy is being forced to answer accusations of impropriety. In the most recent of a stream of grievances aired anonymously over past years, whistle-blowers accused Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh of instigating employees to inflate profits, mis-represent the lucrativeness of deals, even of abusing travel privileges. In a memo reproduced in local newspapers, Parekh’s accusers offered emails and recordings to back up their claims.
Little evidence of wrong-doing has emerged publicly so far. Infosys pledged a full investigation Tuesday, while Parekh himself has remained silent. Yet investors blind-sided by the sheer volume of the charges wiped more than $7 billion off the company’s market value in a single day. They may still be smarting from 2017, when internal upheaval eventually sparked an ouster of the popular Vishal Sikka, paving the way for Parekh’s ascension and a board reshuffle.
“The allegations appear serious and reputation is such a fragile thing,” said Harish Bijoor, a Bangalore-based brand consultant. “It is very unfortunate but this type of thing besmirches a company’s reputation in the eyes of employees, investors and clients.”
The Indian government is closely monitoring the issue but it’s too early to initiate a probe of the company, an official told reporters in New Delhi, asking not to be identified citing rules.
The events unfolding in Infosys’s home-town of Bangalore, the nation’s tech capital, bear a resemblance to those of 2017 that brought down the tech giant’s leadership. Two summers ago, a similar whistle-blower complaint alleged irregularities in a $200 million acquisition, setting off a chain of events that culminated in a vicious face-off with co-founder Narayana Murthy and Sikka’s removal. The accusations against him were never proven.
Sikka and Parekh, a former Capgemini SE executive, were the first outside professionals brought in to run the 38-year-old company, after several decades of co-founders taking turns to occupy the CEO’s office. Infosys’s shares have gained 50% since Parekh took the helm in January 2018, versus roughly 20% over Sikka’s three-year term. And the company’s revenue grew about 25% during both their tenures.
Yet the number of whistle-blower complaints spiked during Sikka’s and Parekh’s reigns, covering a plethora of topics. None spooked markets quite as much as the latest missive published in the Deccan Herald on Monday. The company is now taking the right steps, auditing the whistle-blowers’ letters and appointing a third-party investigator, said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief executive officer of Singapore-based Greyhound Research.
“The CEO has a difficult task at hand coming after the sudden exit of his predecessor, managing founder and investor expectations and operating in a difficult business environment,” he said. “The world over, companies take a ton of short cuts to look good in front of investors and analysts.”
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