Jobs scandal code of conduct violation, not systemic failure: TCS CEO K Krithivasan

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

recruitment scandal at India’s largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was a one-off code of conduct violation and not a “systemic failure,” said CEO and MD K Krithivasan, 58, adding that the incident was swiftly dealt with and has had no impact on relationships with clients. The $27.92 billion Indian IT company expects the demand environment to be muted. Customers are reassessing technology spends and postponing non-critical engagements, he told Romita Majumdar and Surabhi Agarwal in an interview.

The Mumbai-headquartered Tata firm, which announced a 17% rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, saw a $2 billion deal cancellation even as it won two large projects in the quarter totalling over $2.5 billion. TCS is hopeful that clients will continue to invest in technology projects for efficiency in the short term and for growth in the long term. Edited excerpts:The start of your tenure as CEO has been rocky with the recruitment scandal and a $2 billion deal cancellation. How are you trying to turn the tide? The positive side was the speed with which we took action (in the recruitment matter) because these are not systemic failures.

There are systems in place which are being reviewed by multiple people. A code of conduct violation happened. A code of conduct violation in a 600,000-people organisation is very difficult (to detect).

Even if I look at all the data in my system, I will not be able to capture it. And because we took action, it came into the public domain, it's not the other way around. Yes, it should not happen.

Our core values are very important to us. But I don't think it has left any negative impression on the associates themselves. They're happy that we took action, we changed the head