The non-executive chairman of Infosys Nandan Nilekani on Friday said his immediate goal is to bring stability to the company.
Nilekani, who chaired his maiden board meeting after taking over the charge, said he would align with the stakeholders and take forward the desired goals.
Stating that there is no time limit on his stay in the company, he said he would remain on the board as long as it is necessary.
His second goal is to appoint a new CEO and MD and to achieve this goal the board approved the appointment of the executive recruitment firm Egon Zehnder to work with its Nominations and Remunerations Committee to review and identify the right candidate. Additionally, the Nominations and Remunerations Committee will deliberate on the long term governance structure of the Board and present its recommendations at the meeting of the Board in October, Nilekani told a press conference.
"In recent days there has been considerable discussion of the relationship between the Board of Directors of Infosys Limited and N. R. Narayana Murthy who established the culture and ethos of Infosys, especially its culture of adhering to high corporate governance standards. The Board believes it to be unfortunate that various differences of opinion have arisen between Murthy and the Board in the recent past. The Board wishes to express that it was not its intention to cause Murthy or any other affected person any personal distress or anguish while stating its point of view," Nilekani said.
The Company has previously authorised investigations into allegations made by anonymous persons regarding the conduct of prior management, and each of these investigations concluded that there was no wrongdoing. While the Board and the Company are focused on the future, consistent with the Company’s commitment to good governance, the new Chairman will get a full briefing on these investigations and the appropriate course of action will be decided, the statement said.
As the Board has stated on numerous occasions, it takes the Company’s reputation for high corporate governance standards with the utmost seriousness. Hence, it has, as previously disclosed, decided that it will engage in further broad-based shareholder consultations to determine what further, if any, the Company can take to ensure that it continues to adhere to high governance standards, Infosys said in a statement.
The Board announced that D N Prahlad is appointed as the Chairman of Edgeverve Limited with immediate effect.
Finally, the Board is firmly focused on ensuring that the affairs of the Company and the interests of all its stakeholders – its customers, employees, shareholders, officers and directors – are harmoniously aligned and enhanced.
Published 25 August 2017, 12:35 IST