'Spend Less Than What You Earn': Narayana Murthy's Message To Top Bosses

Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy has urged top executives, including CEOs, to practise austerity measures for bringing costs under control and also scaling up their companies' growth. "I would say that it is extremely important to spend less than what you earn, ideally. That means everybody, starting from the chairman and CEO to a janitor will have to demonstrate austerity, will have to demonstrate simplicity, to scale up companies' growth," he said at an industry event in Bengaluru on Tuesday.  A company, Mr Murthy said, will have to get the best value for money for every paisa it spends.

IT outsourcing has long been one of India's flagship industries but experts say automation, new technologies and clampdown on visas in some countries is creating an industry-wide upheaval. This has hurt the industry's growth rate.  Indian IT industry body NASSCOM has projected software export growth in 2017-18 at 7-8 per cent in constant currency, down from 8.6 per cent in the previous fiscal year.

Mr Murthy also urged employees to ask questions, including how to reduce time and improve quality of whatever they are doing, which would ultimately result in companies increasing their revenues. "Once you start doing it, then revenues will increase significantly and cost will be under control. That is what I would say it is the most important thing," he said.

Employees should also be trained to improve productivity, which would enable them to do much more, he said.

The government, on its part, could also provide tax advantage for companies at initial stages, which could act as an incentive for young entrepreneurs to get more work, Mr Murthy said.  To encourage entrepreneurship, he added, the government should reduce friction in businesses, which will help the entrepreneurs spend more time in satisfying and keeping the customers motivated.

Entrepreneurial training programmes in different fields will also be useful, he said. 

A couple of months back, Mr Murthy had urged top executives to take pay cuts to protect the jobs of youngsters. There have also been reports of layoffs by many IT companies, even though the industry has denied the allegations. (With PTI inputs)