Satyam scandal shocked the corporate India. Many could not believe that a person like Ram Linga Raju did this. How could a shy and quiet person known for his rural initiatives and philantrophy succumbed to commit a fraud? Lets look at the issue with some compassion. He did not commit this fraud to amass immense wealth. Did he love his company so much, that he could not bear to see it ruined. Or did he succumbed to pressure from shareholders?
In any case, the question is back to ethics. At IE business school, we had one session on ethics and leadership which delved on how leaders go astray? How the surroundings affect them that they loose the ability to seperate wrong from right. Its good to know what factors cause derailment, but is selfawareness enough to prevent the leaders from making such mistakes. I doubt it. What is that one thing that can guide the executive in toughest of times? What can ensure ethics in face of severe dilemnas?
'Spirituality is the soul of ethics'. If that is true, which I do believe is true, then can spirituality help our leaders? I can hardly contemplate any spiritual person making such frauds? Should spirituality be made an integral part of any management training course?
All of us have been reading the unfolding of the Satyam debacle. It's sad to hear that, the CEO, once a role model for many aspiring entrepreneurs, is a mere fraud now. Companies and government today need to focus on maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance at all times. Because every action of the company like this will be the focus of public attention. The challenge would be to understand how the companies maintain this while it competes globally !! Lets hope for the best for the employees and stakeholders in this economic downturn (a bad pahse to be trapped in such a situation)
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