Satyam scam: The larger lesson is?

The entire Satyam episode is shaping up rather strangely but that is not why I write this piece. I write this piece because I can’t understand which act of opportunism is more deplorable – the one Raju did or the one certain factions (politicians, analysts, media etc) are doing now!

Initially besides 'Scamalinga' a.k.a Ramalinga Raju, no one else seemed to be taking blame. The CFO denied claims he had any knowledge of the scam and it was his juniors and superiors; PWC happily towed the ‘Oh we were misled by the management’ line deliberately and the high profile Independent Board Directors, quit and didn’t blow the whistle either. Infact, I still can’t imagine what Scamalinga could have said to have some (if not most) of these Directors give their nod for the Maytas merger deal that blew open this entire episode. If the Independent Directors weren’t hand in glove with Scamalinga on this then either they weren’t doing their job right of providing necessary checks and balances or were willing to overlook it for their dear promoter friend! How else can one explain their position?

To its credit, the ICAI (The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India) seemed to have made all the right noises from Day 1 about action against PWC and all auditors involved. However, over the last month it seems to be backtracking on the course of action that will be taken – from possibly banning PWC in India to barring only the employees and other auditors found guilty from practice. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ICAI significantly reduces the ban tenure on guilty auditors as well to a few months or years. I fully appreciate their need to weigh their comments against PWC considering not all employees are tainted but I hope it has nothing to do with PWC holding positions in ICAI.

I’m disappointed with the International media and the Analyst community using this incident to paint a rather troubled picture of the business practices in India Inc. and being overtly skeptical of the future of the Indian IT industry. I appreciate ‘opportunism’ but to a degree and I hate generalizations, which seem to be the order of the day.

I don’t need to remind the International Media especially the US media that Corporate Governance isn’t limited to an industry or country.

Let the world not forget what bought recession on it!! Let the world not forget that there was Enron and WorldCom before that and a certain Bernard Madoff after that!! Let the world not forget stories from Japan, Korea and Russia!! Let the world not forget that its 3rd largest economy follows absolutely no transparency!!

I don’t need to remind the Analysts either of the need to weigh comments made in public because it could come back and bite them!

If ‘aberrations’ were the rule; a lot of industries would cease to exist in a lot of countries!

I’m also extremely disappointed with the BJP and its Presidential candidate for trying to leverage the scandal to further their prospects. Has the BJP not learnt anything from the recent State elections where parties that won were the ones that spoke about progress made and had a growth agenda in mind! Has the BJP not understood that the country doesn’t need negativism at this point, considering that seems to be the order of the day around the world thanks to the recession? This isn’t to say I favour the Congress or their policies but as someone once said, ‘If you have nothing intelligent to say keep your mouth shut, that way the others won’t know about your intelligence or the lack of it’!

For us regular citizens, who have to suffer all this opportunism of the less considerate, I truly hope all guilty, irrespective of their repute, in the Satyam scandal are brought to justice!

I also hope that Satyam, as a company, eventually does remain afloat through M&A or otherwise. Not only will that reflect the spirit and commitment of every existing employee to fight against the odds; but will also send out a signal to the world (that couldn’t keep their corporations afloat) that India has it in it to do what’s necessary, when it’s necessary!!