| Ramalinga
Raju |
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Ramalinga
Raju
Founder and Chairman of Satyam Computer Services, Hydrabad, India is a true global entrepreneur.
Since founding Satyam a decade ago, he has worked to build it
into a global information technology solutions provider of over 4,000 IT
professionals serving customers in over 20 countries and 4 continents, including
over 100 Fortune 500 companies.
Satyam is organized into 6 business divisions. Each unit has an
industry IT focus: Software Development Services, Systems Integration,
Enterprise Resource Planning Solutions, Product Development, Electronic Commerce
and Management Consulting. Satyam’s newest product offering is Vision Compass,
a Balanced Scorecard software application for companies seeking to become the
best in their industry. Raju is a graduate of Harvard. Under his
leadership, Satyam was conferred an award as "Global Growth Company"
by the prestigious World Economic Forum.
A tete-a-tete with the man himself :
The rapid growth of IT companies creates its own set of problems: firms which
are in the infotech industry and provide solutions to industry as a whole have
to innovate and manage to keep their far- flung wits in touch with each other.
Apart from the physical networking between systems, it is ultimately the persons
who count: one such Indian company, Satyam Infotech has
grappled with the spread of its locations successfully. Mr. B. Ramalinga
Raju, Chairman, Satyam Group is a great believer in people
communication.
"The spectacular growth of your company must have brought new
challenges and problems. Geographically, Satyam is far-flung: the sheer numbers
of people joining the company and not knowing each other too must have weighed
on the company planners."
So how do they get to know each other?
Today we work in, what is called, a virtual world. Geographically, Cultural
or Hierarchical barriers do not really exist anymore. At Satyam, we try to
ensure that each one of our associates has access to all the relevant
information about our company. One of our key initiatives has been the setting
up of our own Intranet environment, including a Knowledge Repository.
Every associate can visit this site and participate in an interactive fashion.
How important is internal communication for you in Satyam?
In many ways, for us at Satyam, internal communication plays a crucial role
in bringing together all our associates. We try to ensure that the company's
Objectives, Core Values and any other information is communicated to our people
in the most effective and efficient way.
What steps have you taken, net-wise?
In fact our Intranet itself is part of this internal communication
initiative. All our associates have access to a PC and connectivity has been
provided for both email as well as access to our Intranet.
What are the key features of the initiative?
One of the key features of our Intranet is the Feedback mechanism, which
allows associates to send in their suggestions concerning various
company-related activities. Their feedback is given the utmost importance and we
try to ensure that their concerns are addressed.
Tell us about the first large scale "meeting" of Satyam people.
As part of our 10th Anniversary Celebrations we held a Grand Finale at
Hyderabad where almost 3000 members of the Satyam 'Family' were present. We felt
that a program of this type plays a major role in team building and also brings
a feeling of 'belonging' in the minds of our associates and their families.
Similar programs were also held at our other centres, but of course on a smaller
scale.
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