Think again

One also thought that having eminent academics from the world’s top business schools as independent directors provided some degree of comfort to the investors. One thought a company with a large holding from financial institutions somehow will be better governed.

One listened to the lectures of professors in eminent business schools with such awe. One expected so much more from such academics in their roles as directors on boards. One wonders, given the handsome compensation independent board members receive, shouldn’t the regulators lay down more stringent and more formal expectations from the independent directors to hold them more accountable for their lapses?

It is perhaps time the Indian corporate sector as a whole sat up and asked itself some searching questions.

We have been routinely listed among the most corrupt countries in the world in virtually all surveys. Recently, we were listed as the fourth most corrupt country in the world in offering inducements outside our own boundaries, even without the World Bank’s indictment of one of our top companies. Could it be that from being victims of political and bureaucratic corruption at home, we are after all proactively corrupting officials elsewhere? Wouldn’t the actions of even one of us impact all of us collectively? Who should make the first move towards reversing the trend of our corruption? Do companies have a role in nation-building and setting benchmarks? Could companies succeed where our politicians and bureaucrats have failed us?

V. Raghunathan is a former professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.