LyrArc Article Gist
K.V. Kamath, former CEO of ICICI Bank, will become the new nonexecutive chairman of Infosys. S.D. Shibulal, the chief operating officer, will be the new CEO of Infosys. Mr Shibulal said he will pursue a new strategy that will align the company's businesses on the basis of industries, service lines and geographies. Infosys stock is down 16%, and it is experiencing weak growth. This follows a period when the founders of the company, including Mr. Narayana Murthy, played a dominant role in management.

LyrArc Article Gist
Adam Bryant interviews Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft in Feb. 2014. Nadella led the cloud computing effort at Microsoft before becoming CEO in 2014. He is a native of Hyderabad, India, studied electronics and communication engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology, and computer science at the University of Wisconsin. Here Nadella recalls his early leadership experiences. As a bowler on his school's cricket team (similiar to a pitcher in baseball), Nadella was pulled out from a bowling spell when he wasn't having success getting batters out. He recalls the captain bowling to get some outs and then putting Nadella back in, who continued getting wickets at that point. He sees this sports analogy as a leadership experience where the captain was sensitive about keeping Nadella motivated and confident, and giving him an opportunity to try again. He takes more out of this and other experiences in his role at Microsoft- to create energy and genuine commitment in his team, and build a team effort to take advantage of opportunties that present themselves in the future. Nadella makes some interesting observations about the tech business. A $1 million business can seem too small for a large company, but in the tech business driven constantly by innovation, there is the need to pay attention to innovation that starts small. At some point says Nadella an innovation can appear to be a failure, an absolute flop, until it becomes a hit. Leadership has to be able to dig deeper and listen, as small changes can lead to big things. About people Nadella likes to know what people have done that they are most proud of, and what they feel didn't work out or where they failed, and looks for how a person can reflect on his experiences and grow as a result of having had them. A useful point Nadella makes at the end of the interview is that people outlive companies in our rapidly changing society, having a sense of our own mortality within this short duration, gives one a special sense of responsibility. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Banks with large amount of credit card data are in a better position to use that data to precisely target customers for digitally delivered coupons. This explains the acquisition by J.P. Morgan Chase of Bloomspot for $35 million. It also poses more risks for Groupon's model as shown by its shift from spa, restaurant, local merchants and other similiar retail stores to stores that sell winter coats directly to email subscribers.