'Leadership' in Peril at Bharti

By Gyana Ranjan Swain

Certainly, there is something wrong at Bharti airtel. Or it could be possible that there are multiple things going against the company at this point of time. But most importantly, a crisis of leadership is being felt at the top of the country's largest and world's fourth largest integrated telecom player. The firm that was held as an example for its leadership qualities a couple of years back is suddenly felt to be in the middle of a leadership crisis. The dynamism of Sunil Mittal is being missed. The dynamism, man-management qualities and technical skills of Kohli are being missed in a big way. Experts believe, that the leadership focus has somewhat shifted to Africa, leaving India vulnerable to losing market share. Even Bharti has not been able to come to terms with restructuring even after one and half years. The confidence and the visibility of the top management is at the lowest.

It is evident from the recent exodus at the firm. Within a span of two months, five top executives including the CEO for its India and South Asia operations, Sanjay Kapoor, have left Bharti. In November, Amrita Gangotra, Director-Information Technology, left the company to join a rival firm in its UK operations. Quickly followed in December, the exit of Shankar Halder, the firm's Chief of Network Operations and an industry veteran. And, beginning January, two more executives- Vineet Taneja, CEO South India and Sri Lanka, and Rajeev Rajagopal, CEO for broadband and data business- have put in their papers. Not to forget the big ticket exit of Kapoor.

The movement at the top and that too in a very short span of time, raises question about the leadership at the largest integrated telecom firm in the country. There are rumors that the appointment of Gopal Vittal as CEO for its India operations, might lead to few more heads to roll at the senior level. With this shake up at the top, industry watchers also say that, a restructuring of senior executives as well as business units, is not ruled out. The first sign is the appointment of Vittal for airtel's India operations only and does not include South Asia as was the case with Kapoor. With this, there are two clear markets for Bharti airtel now- domestic and international. India business will be looked after by Vittal while South Asia would report to its international head.

However, the past restructuring at Bharti, does not seem to bring the desired results for the Sunil Mittal led company. Following a sharp drop in revenues, Bharti in August 2011 had announced restructuring of its Indian and South Asian operations to streamline its businesses and reduce costs. However, industry trackers feel the restructuring was not in line the company's goal. Also, this restructuring has gathered some mixed responses among the employees.

Analysts believe Bharti has somewhat missed the bus. The leader has to be a visionary. With changing dynamics in the telecom space and in a difficult economic scenario, one has to adapt to the changing needs. The firm is still approaching the same strategies that it used to have for voice centric business, but data business and enterprise services are different ball games, and Bharti needs to focus in it in a big way.