Amid a welter of questions about corporate governance and customer relationships in the country’s information technology sector in the wake of the fraud at Satyam Computer Services, some words of comfort have come from respected US conglomerate General Electric Company (GE).
John G Rice, vice-chairman, GE, said that an isolated case like Satyam will not impact the company’s India strategy
“Satyam is an isolated case and I do not think it will have any impact in the image of India Inc or the software industry,” Rice told Hindustan Times in an exclusive interview.
Rice pointed out that India’s economy, which is expected to grow at 7 per cent in the current year, was still a strong one.
“Economies have cycles and we must learn to deal with it,” he said, adding that the global economy is likely to show signs of revival in the next 12 to 18 months.
He added that the global slowdown has not impacted the overall financial health of the company and there will be no job losses or any cut in salaries.
“We have to manage costs but we also have to do it effectively. So certain businesses like infrastructure would get more focus while a few others may see some reduction in costs,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“We have to manage costs but we also have to do it effectively. So certain businesses like infrastructure would get more focus while a few others may see some reduction in costs,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Rice pointed out that GE would also continue with its hiring exercise, especially at the entry level, in a bid to prepare for better times. “We see a challenging global environment in 2009 but there will a few countries which will still grow and India is one of them,” Rice said.