Satyam's disgraced founder Ramalinga Raju built firewalls within firewalls to ensure that none of his seniormost colleagues had any clear idea about the company's performance or revenue.
If Ram Mynampati, Satyam's only wholetime director in the Raju regime, is to be believed, even he was in the dark about Raju's sleight of hand. In his first interview to the media, Mynampati told TOI that things were so structured that no single leader in Satyam "would ever get a complete picture of the company's performance at an operational level''.
"The organisation structure was created in such a fashion that no single leader would ever get a complete picture of the performance of the company at an operation level,'' Mynampati said. "Each of us would be privy to our slice of the business, regardless of the size,'' he added in an exclusive interview that was conducted partially on email and partially on the phone from New Jersey.
While the percentage of business attributed to each of the business leaders was derived from reported numbers, they were integrated at the corporate level. "As these numbers were audited first by an internal audit team and then by a reputed audit firm, we would take them as sacrosanct,'' he said.
"In a few instances where we noted differences, a reasonable explanation would have been given to explain those differences. Given the presence of our customers in 60-plus countries, and the 1,500-or-so leaders that manage these businesses, it would be extremely difficult to know the exact picture of revenue at the corporate level unless you are at the integration level,'' he claimed.
Intriguingly, there was no difference in invoices raised to be collected and sales reported. "So, even if there was a small difference in a given quarter, it would be treated as an aberration particularly because the numbers published are audited,'' Mynampati added.
Illustrating his point further, Mynampati said that he has 20 leaders managing different elements of business reporting to him directly. "I only have an integrated view of these businesses. To the extent that each of these leaders is satisfied with the numbers, there would be no scope for suspicion,'' he said.
Currently retaining the position of president, commercial and healthcare businesses, Mynampati said that IT was possibly not Raju's "career business''. Raju had started focusing on the infrastructure business, especially Maytas Infra, over the past two years. "He seemed to identify some synergies between the infrastructure business and IT in the areas of engineering, BPO and ERP... significant business wins in that space such as Hyderabad Metro seemed to vindicate his diversification strategy,'' he said.
Nevertheless, Raju's nomination of Mynampati as the interim CEO has worked against him. Mynampati said his nomination turned out to be the "most unfortunate event'', causing him many woes. He said his appointment was not seen as a reflection of his credentials and organisational position but was portrayed negatively which has caused much damage to him and his reputation. He said that he was personally devastated. "Not only has my trust been betrayed but to be seen as somehow being part of all that has happened is what hurts me most,'' he said. In further defence of his position, Mynampati said that though he was responsible for 50% of Satyam's business, he had no clue about the fraud the Raju brothers were cooking.
Mynampati left for the US soon after forming the leadership council. There were also questions raised regarding his hasty exit. Mynampati revealed that he has been a US citizen for the past 13 years and has been based there since 1981, except for brief stints in India.
If Ram Mynampati, Satyam's only wholetime director in the Raju regime, is to be believed, even he was in the dark about Raju's sleight of hand. In his first interview to the media, Mynampati told TOI that things were so structured that no single leader in Satyam "would ever get a complete picture of the company's performance at an operational level''.
"The organisation structure was created in such a fashion that no single leader would ever get a complete picture of the performance of the company at an operation level,'' Mynampati said. "Each of us would be privy to our slice of the business, regardless of the size,'' he added in an exclusive interview that was conducted partially on email and partially on the phone from New Jersey.
While the percentage of business attributed to each of the business leaders was derived from reported numbers, they were integrated at the corporate level. "As these numbers were audited first by an internal audit team and then by a reputed audit firm, we would take them as sacrosanct,'' he said.
"In a few instances where we noted differences, a reasonable explanation would have been given to explain those differences. Given the presence of our customers in 60-plus countries, and the 1,500-or-so leaders that manage these businesses, it would be extremely difficult to know the exact picture of revenue at the corporate level unless you are at the integration level,'' he claimed.
Intriguingly, there was no difference in invoices raised to be collected and sales reported. "So, even if there was a small difference in a given quarter, it would be treated as an aberration particularly because the numbers published are audited,'' Mynampati added.
Illustrating his point further, Mynampati said that he has 20 leaders managing different elements of business reporting to him directly. "I only have an integrated view of these businesses. To the extent that each of these leaders is satisfied with the numbers, there would be no scope for suspicion,'' he said.
Currently retaining the position of president, commercial and healthcare businesses, Mynampati said that IT was possibly not Raju's "career business''. Raju had started focusing on the infrastructure business, especially Maytas Infra, over the past two years. "He seemed to identify some synergies between the infrastructure business and IT in the areas of engineering, BPO and ERP... significant business wins in that space such as Hyderabad Metro seemed to vindicate his diversification strategy,'' he said.
Nevertheless, Raju's nomination of Mynampati as the interim CEO has worked against him. Mynampati said his nomination turned out to be the "most unfortunate event'', causing him many woes. He said his appointment was not seen as a reflection of his credentials and organisational position but was portrayed negatively which has caused much damage to him and his reputation. He said that he was personally devastated. "Not only has my trust been betrayed but to be seen as somehow being part of all that has happened is what hurts me most,'' he said. In further defence of his position, Mynampati said that though he was responsible for 50% of Satyam's business, he had no clue about the fraud the Raju brothers were cooking.
Mynampati left for the US soon after forming the leadership council. There were also questions raised regarding his hasty exit. Mynampati revealed that he has been a US citizen for the past 13 years and has been based there since 1981, except for brief stints in India.
Source: www.timesofindia.com, 24/02/2009
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