MUMBAI: Last year, there was a chorus of disapproval when NR Narayana Murthy returned from an emeritus role to take charge as executive chairman of Infosys, with son Rohan designated as his executive assistant.
As it turned out, Murthy's term ended in about a year, wrapped up neatly with the appointment of his company's first 'outside' CEO. Corporate India has endorsed Murthy's performance the second time round at Infosys by voting him No. 1 in the 'India Inc's Most Powerful CEOs' listing. Murthy displaces last year's No. 1Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, who slips to 2.
Now in its 10th year, The Economic Times India Inc's Most Powerful CEOs listing is based on a survey conducted by IMRB International.
More than 500 executives evaluate CEOs
More than 500 corporate executives of the rank of vice-president, general manager and above are asked to evaluate CEOs on parameters such as performance, leadership, stature, social contribution and governance. Murthy topped the rankings for the first three years of the survey, then ceded the position to Ratan Tata, who held it for three years in a row.
But Murthy has always remained in the top three, until he was dropped as a contender when he took a back-seat at Infosys and KV Kamath was appointed chairman of Infosys in 2011.
Now designated non-executive chairman, Murthy is back to playing a handsoff role. "Infosys is like my middle child, so when the board invited me to return and add value to the company, I could not say no, though some people said there would be no upside for me in this," he says. "Leadership is about doing the right thing, even if it means going against a vast number of naysayers and mediocre people."
The Most Powerful CEOs listing is based largely on the 500, so a large turnover, asset base and market capitalisation definitely enhance a CEO's chances of making it to the top of the class. At No. 7, ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar is the highest ranking woman. In a top10 dominated by promoters -- Kumar Mangalam Birla, Azim Premji, Anil Ambani, Anand Mahindra --she is also the highest-ranked professional CEO, followed by Natarajan Chandrasekaran of TCS, who is at No. 9. "I've probably been voted in because of my job. Banks are the catalyst for the country's economic growth and have the capability to make an impact.
That would be the reason why bank CEOs would be considered powerful," Kochhar says.
Still, when it comes to the top 20, the public perception of the CEO does count. Though he now heads one of India's most important business houses, Cyrus Mistry is just outside the top 10 at 11, up from 13 last year. Meanwhile, Gautam Adani's ranking in business has climbed almost in tandem with Narendra Modi's ascent in politics. Adani has vaulted to No. 13, up from 30 last year.
Another promoter CEO who has zoomed up the rankings is Dilip Shanghvi, who is now at 17, up from 56 last year. Sun Pharma was named Company of the Year at the last ET Awards for Corporate Excellence and Shanghvi has subsequently been in the news for his ongoing takeover of Ranbaxy.
And finally, there's Flipkart, whose Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal make their debut in the list at 51. They are one notch above SK Roy, chairman of Life Insurance Corp. of India.
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