Jan 9: Truth and "Satyam"
How would you like it if a company whose name is "truth" gets embroiled in a vast accounting scam? As a contender for the worst corporate story in a year that has had many, the 'Satyam' (Truth in Sanskrit) story is a formidable entry.
The Satyam saga seems truly bizarre, shocking and saddening. Comparisions to Madoff on one one hand and Enron to the other are natural. I work for one of their competitors. It must hard to be an employee of Satyam at this time and it is not hard to imagine the uncertainty and insecurity one would feel. It isn't a great time to be out looking for a job anyway and the circumstances and timing make it so much worse.
It would also be hard to be a Satyam client, particularly a manager with a large Satyam team handling critical functions. The team members will doubtless be distracted and it is always unsettling to be in a situtation where the very existence of the vendor providing services is in question. If I were such a client manager, I would probably take some time to express solidarity with the team and ask my vendor management folks to not precipitate any action - such as terminating the contract immediately. At the same time, I would ask my other vendors to stand by and be ready to step up if the need arises (though not immediately begin transitions). The main threat would be no so much the company closing down but panic stricken employees jumping ship. Chances are, those employees at client locations outside India would have even fewer communication channels from Hyderabad (Satyam's HQ) and would feel truly cut off - esepcially as some of their senior managers would be busy looking out for themselves. So take care of your Satyam consultants - talk to them and gradually start diversifying. Hang on to them until a clearer picture emerges. Knee jerk wont help.
Finally, the top management of the company had to have known this or at least had strong suspicions. So it will be difficult to buy the idea that this could have been a one person show. Needless to say, there is no reason to assume that such egregious behavior is pervasive in the industry. It is not.
