After a string of high-profile exits,Infosys Ltd,Indias second-largest software services exporter,has undertaken a top-level management restructuring with executive chairman NR Narayana Murthy relying on his trusted aides to head key verticals. Sources said that Chandrashekar Kakal,member of the executive council,will now shoulder additional responsibilities of heading the overall consulting and system integration vertical,a high-margin business. Kakal,currently senior vice-president and global head of business IT services,is a veteran of over 14 years in the software-services company. His senior colleague and member of the board V Balakrishnan,who is already handing multiple roles in the organisation,has been given charge of a new vertical focusing on utilities and resources in North America,the firms largest market. Stephen R Pratt,currently managing partner,worldwide consulting and systems integration,will now head the new utilities vertical in the US and report to Balakrishnan. Pratt is also the member of the executive council. Sources told FE that among the other major management rejig,VG Dheeshjith,currently the head of life sciences business,has been given additional responsibilities of the growth markets. All the country heads of the growth markets including Australia,Middle East,Germany,France,will now report to Dheeshjith. Pravin Rao,member of the executive council and global head of retail,consumer goods and logistics,will also head the Infosys Leadership Institute. While Infosys did not comment on the specific changes,an email response from the company said: We have undertaken certain reorganisation within the company to further improve our client focus and competitiveness. A few senior leaders have seen their roles enhanced as part of this reorganisation as well as a result of Ashok Vemuris resignation. In July FE reported that Infosys is on the path to a major restructuring exercise and is expected to announce top-level role changes that will give greater autonomy to its key businesses,sales engine and division,making them more agile and accountable. Experts point out that the effort is to streamline the various functions within the organisation that have lost some focus over the last couple of quarters. Sources said that Murthy has been closely monitoring the departments of finance,delivery and customer relations to get better synergy from all these verticals. The Bangalore-headquartered IT firm is critically evaluating performances of those holding senior positions or heading large business verticals,sources said. Related: Top-level exits clouding Infosys' turnaround,say brokerages Internally,Infosys has seen management transformation in the last two years,including reshuffle of top executives. Few months ago the IT major appointed Balakrishnan as the new chairman of its European subsidiary Infosys Lodestone,the Switzerland-based management consultancy firm it had acquired last year. Balakrishnan replaced fellow board member BG Srinivas,who currently heads the companys Europe and financial services and insurance verticals. Related: Ashok Vemuri's exit seen as fallout of NR Narayana Murthys US strategy Earlier this year,Infosys also announced leadership role changes for two of its top officials Nandita Gurjar and Srikantan Moorthy. Gurjar took over as the head of the companys education and research department,while Moorthy took on Gurjars HR portfolio. Industry experts point out that the biggest challenge for Infosys currently to get its front engine· sales and marketing roaring back to life. The companys performance over the last two years never really matched with the peers or industry.
