Rising from the ashes: Satyam’s story

• Main Author: GAUTAM, Tanvi
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2013
• Subjects: Leadership; Change Management; Crisis Management; Communication; Human Resources; Public Relations; Business Administration, Management, and Operations; Business and Corporate Communications; Human Resources Management; Leadership Studies; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/61; https://cmp.smu.edu.sg/case/2771
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This case study describes the collapse of Satyam, a leading IT industry service provider from India. Satyam went into a crisis mode after revelation of financial fraud by its Chairman. This resulted in a crisis not just for the company, its clients and employees - but it also had the potential to shake up the entire Indian IT industry the world over, by shattering investor and client confidence in the Indian IT sector. The case provides the students with an inside view of the unfolding of events at Satyam and the people challenges that emerge in a crisis scenario. The case outlines reactions from the industry, government, clients and employees as they tried to make sense of a very chaotic situation, and its multi-level ramifications both within India and outside. The case ends with Thallapalli Hari, the Global head of Marketing and communication and ex-head of HR, attempting to visualise and prioritise a course of action to propose to other members of the leadership team.