Infosys, HDFC Bank Makes into Harvard's Elite List
By siliconindia   |   Saturday, 14 January 2012, 00:52 IST
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Infosys, HDFC Bank Makes into Harvard's Elite List
Bangalore: Along with the U.S.-based company of Indian-origin Cognizant, Infosys and HDFC Bank are among 10 elite companies recognized by Harvard Business Review (HBR). Companies have been chosen based on their consistent performance around the world over a ten year period. Popularly named as 'Growth Outliers' the group of 10 companies among 4,800 listed companies with at $1 billion market capitalization. Some of the things these corporates do "don't match up well with some conventional ideas about growth," said HBR. Rita Gunther McGrath author of the latest article titled 'How the Growth Outliers Do It' in HBR recent issue, has dig about the listed companies that marked at least a 5 percent growth every year over a span of ten years. Three U.S. companies, two from India and one each from Japan, China and Slovenia showed a 5 percent growth during 10 years period. Only 5 companies managed to grow both revenues and net profit every year. McGrath, a Professor at Columbia Business School, wrote in article, "Data suggest a need to rethink our assumptions about corporate performance. Steady, consistent growth is difficult to achieve even at modest rates, never mind the double digits that corporate leaders are fond of promising." Some conventional beliefs have been challenged through McGrath's analysis. The growth of the company is not determined by the industry it is in, as the company grows, the sustaining growth turns easy, the company is not meant to grow in a single geographic region, or in only in fast growing market, the growing age of the company has nothing to do with its growth. The HBR noted, "Although two of our outliers (Infosys and FactSet) were indeed start ups,...others (Indra Sistemas, ACS, Atmos, Krka) were the product of mergers and consolidations, and still others (Cognizant, HDFC Bank, Yahoo Japan) were spun out of or funded by existing organizations." McGrath and her colleagues have come across some traits during their research. They feel these companies have lots of things in common in terms of leadership, strategy and values. These companies are rapid adaptors with diversified portfolios and moreover they are active acquirers.

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