Infosys’s Think Flat Blog

First of all, Happy Birthday, Infosys! You have become a role model for young entrepreneurs!

Infosys Technologies Limited has also entered the blogosphere now. The first in the series is the Think Flat Blog, started today, on the occasion of the NASDAQ Bell Opening. Infosys CEO, President and Managing Director, Nandan M. Nilekani is the author of the first entry, In a Flat World, Operational Excellence is Strategy.

Why is the blog named Think Flat Blog?
In his new book ‘The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century’, Thomas L. Friedman, the Pulitzer-winning Foreign Affairs columnist of The New York Times, reflects on a visit to Infosys Technologies in Bangalore and a conversation he had with Infosys CEO Nandan M. Nilekani. At one point, Nilekani uttered a phrase – “Tom, the playing field is being leveled.” Friedman says that Nilekani’s phrase ignited his thoughts and later it took the shape of this book. This book has made the phrase Flat World referring to globalization. Nandan’s blog will help people think for the flat world, I guess.

About the ‘Leveled Playing Field’

The playing field is being leveled. But in developing countries like India, the flat platform is made at thousands feet high, leaving the rest of the population in the democracy in their own hillocks. Hopefully we will be able to reduce the divide and converge with the ground reality soon, which helps us serve our social responsibilities better.

Global corporations need to revisit their business model to strengthen their operations in the flat world, true. At the same time it is a matter of utmost important to revisit company’s backbone – the value system – to accommodate the borderless flattened playing field, where many people play the same game regardless of nationality, culture & tradition, sex, religion and traits & behavior. In the offshoring model or Infosys’s Global Delivery Model (GDM), the players are operating in their own comfortable flat levels with just the communication channels connecting the customer location and the offshore location. But in the new flat world, everyone play in the same field, so a strengthened value system is needed. Break down of which may lead to the break down of the company as well. This will help companies operate in various regional locations and various countries seemlessly.

All players are proud of their nationality; of course they should be! It is extreme important to take care of any national interests or conflicts even though the leveled playing field is supposed to be borderless.

BTW, it would be great if N R Narayana Murthy starts a blog on Corporate Governance and share his thoughts. It will be a great blog for global managers.