I S o B

A few months ago, I posted on what I believed to be India's proudest moment-- the establishment of Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad. Over the last few days, I am shocked to learn that the institution responsible for churning out strong, ethical and socially aware managers might have been led by a Dean guilty of greed, corruption and mismanagement. It's again a case of Who guards the Guardians...

Satyam's chairman resigned about an hour ago. He admitted to large scale (to the tune of $1.04 Billion) fraud in Satyam accounts over the last several years. The company looks set to disappear and reappear in a new avatar, a la Arthur Andersen & Co. I pray for the well-being and security of those trusting employees at Satyam who gave their everything to be left with nothing.

What were the Auditors doing?
What was the Board doing?
What was the SEBI doing?

The fact that a Chairman has confessed that it was going on for years, makes the accountability swamp across the spectrum of regulators and guardians of policy. This will also be its shield. I am guessing the story will end with many lay-offs and exile in Mauritius for the Raju's and Rao's. Beyond that would be like expecting surgeons to amputate their own arms!

I am sure industry leaders are learning from the fiasco. They are asking their managers: "How the hell did Satyam manage to do it? What were you guys doing?". All they need to do is avoid Raju's last mistake and the secret of Satyam can take them all the way to Swiss banks. Maybe even help them become PM.

Once again, my heart bleeds for those thousands of trusting employees hoodwinked by the system. SoB.