This refers to the editorial, “The promoter problem” (August 19). Infosys has been one of the most successful stories among the Indian technological ventures. The founders of the tech giant, headquartered in Bengaluru, have lent their support to the startup ecosystem. But now, Vishal Sikka, the beleaguered 50-year-old former Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Infosys, has resigned amid fresh outbreak of hostilities between the company's founder NR Narayana Murthy and Sikka himself. His exit seems to have been accentuated by the streaks of comments made by Murthy. The comments bordered on complaints, raising issues of corporate governance.
Unfortunately ,this episode, like a soap opera with significant twists and turns, has been played out in front of the public over the past few months. The Mahabharat informs us how an ancient king called Yayati prolonged his life by cannibalising the youth of his own son. The story now forms a recurring patterns where the older generation prevails over the younger generation, when the elders in the boardroom insist they know best. The ‘Yayati complex’ privileges the older generation while the ‘Oedipus’ valorises the youth. Whatever may be the end result of the ongoing saga, other startups will have a lot of takeaways on how they should tackle management related issues at their organisations from this fiasco.