Build companies on differentiated values, not pricing: Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy

“A company that sells based on differentiated business value to the customer rather than on price, will obtain premium pricing,” Murthy said. “Otherwise, it will end up in a commodity market, and atrophy.”

Murthy was speaking on ‘The idea of Infosys’ at the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Bengaluru-based company on Wednesday.

Quoting from the lessons learnt from his corporate journey, Murthy urged corporate leaders to exercise self-restraint in their perks, their profligacy, compensation, and their lifestyle to make “capitalism attractive” especially in a country like India where poverty still exists.
The 76-year-old said his “undying passion” burns bright for such ideals, which have made Infosys special.

India’s second-largest software services exporter was founded in 1981 by seven engineers in Pune – Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, S (Kris) Gopalakrishnan, K Dinesh, SD Shibulal, Ashok Arora and NS Raghavan with an initial capital of $250.

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The company shifted its corporate headquarters to Bengaluru after two years.

It was one of the first IT companies to list on the Indian bourses in 1993 and became the first company to list on the Nasdaq in 1999.

For the financial year ended March 31, Infosys clocked revenue of $16.3 billion.

The company has created wealth not only for its stakeholders but also for its employees through stock option plans.

Murthy said when the company celebrates its 100th year of existence, he wants two objectives to be met.

First, it should become the most respected company in the world. Second, Infosys should continue to be an organisation where honest, well-intentioned, and value-based people do good for society.

“This is the finish line. Until these promises are met, my friends, our journey and mission that we are on at Infosys will not be over,” he said.

Earlier in the day, non-executive chairman Nilekani said Infosys will focus on the three Rs — relevance, responsiveness and resilience — to remain one of the dominant players in the industry.

“I am sort of energised by the opportunity that Infosys has. It is for us to lose… we have to make it happen… digital transformation is here to stay,” Nilekani said in response to a question on the demand outlook. “A company which is able to both get business transformation articulated and executed at the same time is going to win this game and I think there’s no better company than Infosys in the world to deal with that.”