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Azim Premji
Chairman/CEO, Wipro
Age:
Years as a CEO:
Tenure: 0
Industry: Software & Technology
CEO DOSSIER
Regarded as Asia's most generous businessman, Azim has donated vast quantities of his wealth to charitable and philanthropic causes. India’s very own Bill Gates has been at software company Wipro his entire working life, taking charge at the age of 21.
early years
Azim Hashim Premji was born on 24 July 1945 in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, India. He studied at St Mary's School before leaving to study for a BSEE electrical engineering degree at Stanford University, California. However following the death of his father, Azim returned home to take over as chairman of Western India Vegetable Products at the age of 21.
As ceo
The company Azim inherited manufactured hydrogenated cooking fats, hair care products and toiletries including soap. However Azim soon changed the company's focus and began to diversify its interests.
In 1977 the company was renamed Wipro Products Limited and after India's technology boom of the late seventies, Azim decided to concentrate on computer software and started an IT business in Bangalore in 1980. Taking advantage of IBM's withdrawal from the country, Azim said he invested heavily in research, technology and customer service. “That differentiated us from the competition in India,” he noted.
Over the following 10 years, Wipro established several international partnerships to manufacture computer hardware for sale in India, however it was its software interests that saw the company grow significantly.
Azim put his faith in well-educated and experienced personnel who would go on to receive further training at Wipro. With a large pool of software developers willing to work for less money than international counterparts, Azim was able to concentrate his company’s attention on developing custom solutions for a growing US market.
Throughout the nineties, Wipro’s value continued to grow and Azim would expand its business interest one again. The company established more bespoke software products, set up various subsidiaries to facilitate a blossoming export market, formed joint ventures with companies like General Electric and gained ISO accreditation.
In the new millennium, Wipro and its staff have continued to work closely with companies like IBM, Nokia, Sony, Toshiba and Microsoft. The company faced increased competition from outsourcing rivals throughout this period, however in in 2012 it had an employee base of 140,000 people worldwide and achieved annual profits of $1.1bn.
Away from work
Azim is married to Yasmeen and together they have two children, Rishad and Tariq. Rashid is currently Chief Strategy Officer of Wipro's IT business.
He is renowned for driving modest cars including Ford Escorts and Toyota Corollas and tends to travel in economy class. He also prefers to stay in cheap hotels or guesthouses.
In 2001, he founded the Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to improve elementary education and support rural schools with little to no funding. Through the organisation, Azim had managed to extend computer-aided education to more than 16,000 schools. In 2010, he handed over 213m shares in Wipro worth $2bn to the foundation, the largest individual donation made by an Indian billionaire. In 2012, Azim contributed a further 12% in Wipro worth $2.2bn to the foundation, bringing his stake in the company down to 58%.
Furthermore, the Azim Premji University was established in 2011 with the goal of developing an "outstanding, creative and socially committed professionals for the education and development sectors in India."
Azim was also the first Indian to sign up for Warren Buffet and Bill Gates' Giving Pledge campaign, a movement that encourages the world wealthiest people to donate money to philanthropic causes. "I strongly believe that those of us, who are privileged to have wealth, should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged," Azim noted.
In own words
"You must be open to change, do not compromise on your values."
"Never give up in the face of adversity."
"We are willing to invest for growth, because growth does not come without investment."
On Wipro: "Our brand stands on the pillars of ecology, education, and innovation – this is what makes our brand unique."
On technology: "I travel primarily to meet my clients and our teams, and like to focus on the meeting. I dislike gadgets beeping while I am making a point."
On what annoys him: "Time spent without results, an unplanned day, or a compromise on Wipro values make me mad.”
Leadership and philosophy
Azim is a firm believer in teamwork, growing India's economy and improving society. As a persistent leader who always strives for excellence, Azim has instilled a belief that "a rupee earned is of far more value than five found."
Azim also puts confidence in education and giving the young people of India a chance to succeed:
"I would love to see a significant improvement in the quality of education – especially elementary education – as it’s the foundation of a just, humane and equitable society." He has also said he would like to see "devices that would help attract and retain more children in primary schools."
When it comes to outsourcing, Azim says:
“I’m a firm believer in a competitive marketplace, and this is the reality of the global economy.”
Azim is honest and open about the mistakes he has made in the past
"In a span of 40 years, not all of our business forays have been successful – for example our ISP [internet service provider] and finance arms – and I perhaps waited too long before pulling the plug. But if you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t taking enough risks."
Our Three Questions
1. Do you believe other wealthy businessmen will follow your lead and donate their fortune to charitable causes?
2. Do you think open-source software is a credible threat to Wipro’s success going forward?
3. Do you have plans to retire from Wipro to concentrate on your foundation and university?
Colleagues, Friends & Analysts' report
Sir Iain Vallance, former chairman of BT:
“What he has done since I first met him has been quite stupendous. By taking Wipro from Bangalore to the world stage he has pulled off the almost impossible.”
Jack Welch, former chairman of General Electric:
“From the first day in dealing with Wipro, there’s been nothing but quality, character, highest- integrity, highest-quality work. As a supplier, you wouldn’t find a higher-quality partner.”
Sumantra Ghoshal, Professor at London Business School:
“There’s bribery at all levels (in India). It’s taken for granted that this is the way to do business. Premji sticks to it (his commitment not to pay bribes). He pays a high price at the beginning but it becomes his biggest competitive strength.”
Date Written
07-05-2013Sources
The Times
Financial Times
Forbes
Azimpremji.org
Wipro
The Xtraordinary
Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Times
Financial Times
Forbes
Azimpremji.org
Wipro
The Xtraordinary
Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Financials
Business summary
Employees: 130,000
Wipro Limited provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. It operates in two segments, IT Services and IT Products. The IT Services segment offers business and enterprise application, business collaboration and customer experience, enterprise architecture, business integration, enterprise security, testing, infrastructure, product engineering, and research and development services and solutions. This segment also offers advanced technologies services focusing on cloud, mobility, analytics, social, and smart sensor technologies; business process outsourcing services; and analytics and information management solutions. In addition, this segment offers consulting services for business transformation, process excellence, enterprise architecture consulting, customer relationship management, supply chain management, human capital management, governance, risk and compliance, and finance and accounting. It serves finance solutions; manufacturing and hi-tech; media and telecom; retail, consumer goods, transportation, and government; energy, natural resources, and utilities; and healthcare, and life sciences and services industries. The IT Products segment offers desktops, notebooks, net power servers, storage, and super computers; databases and server computing resource management software; data network products; enterprise application, data warehousing, and business intelligence software; backup and disaster recovery systems; and contact center infrastructure. It also provides firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, data leakage protection, and identity and access management; load balancers, WAN optimizers, and virtualization software; and video solutions. This segment serves small, medium, and large enterprises in government, defense, IT and ITeS, telecommunications, manufacturing, utilities, education, and financial services sectors, as well as individual users. Wipro Limited was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Bengaluru, India.
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