My favourite personality
BY Ranjan Sandeep
fpb0709/111
Azim Premji
Early life
Mr Premji was born in July 24, 1945
He did his schooling at
St. Mary's School I.C.S.E. at Mazagaon
Premji was just finishing his undergraduate
engineering studies at Stanford University in
1966 when his father passed away.
Early life
He had to come back to India to handle the
family's fledgling vegetable oil business.
Premji started off with a simple vision: to build
an organization on a foundation of Values.
Premji eventually sought — and received —
permission to study arts courses by
correspondence to complete the
requirements for his bachelor’s degree in
Electrical Engineering.
Family
Wife: Yasmeen Premji
Sons: Rishad Premji married to Aditi Premji;
Tariq Premji
Rishad premji –son of Azim
premji
As part of his degree he spent a year at
London Stock Exchange.
He was selected for General Electric’s
Financial Management Programme in 1999
and worked for four years.
In 2005 he joined Bain & Company’s London
office.
Wipro
"Applying Thought”
About wipro
It is headquartered in Bangalore and is the
third largest IT services company in India.
It has 68,000 employees as of April 2007,
including its business process outsourcing
(BPO) arm which it acquired in 2002.
About wipro
Wipro was set up in Amalner, Maharashtra in
1945.
Primarily an edible oil factory
company was called Western India Vegetable
Products
1975, Wipro marketed India's first
homegrown PC.
About wipro
: Western India Products Limited is incorporated
1947: An oil mill and hydrogenated cooking medium plant set up
1966: Azim Premji takes over leadership of Wipro at age 21
1975: Wipro Fluid Power is set up to manufacture hydraulic and pneumatic
cylinders
1977: Company is renamed to Wipro Products Limited
1980: Information technology services for domestic market started
1981: Hardware company is launched
1982: Company is renamed to Wipro Limited
1984: Software products subsidiary Wipro Systems Ltd. is established
1985: Toilet soaps manufacture begins
1988: Wipro BioMed is launched. It is a new business unit to market and service
bio-analytical and diagnostic instruments
1989: Joint venture with GE for medical systems, Wipro GE Medical Systems
Ltd
1990: Product software business discontinued; software services begin
1992: Lighting business and finance arm is established
About wipro
1992: Lighting business and finance arm is established
1994: Merger of subsidiaries Wipro Technologies Ltd. and Wipro Systems Ltd. with Wipro Ltd.
1998: Wipro identity is relaunched with rainbow flower and positioning statement, "Applying
Thought"
1999: Brand makeover, with sunflower logo and the tag line "Applying Thought"
1999: Wipro Net is set up by restructuring Wipro Ltd.'s communication services business to address the
Internet market
2000: Wipro Ltd.'s American depositary receipts are listed on New York Stock Exchange
2000: Six Sigma initiative begun
2001: Wipro receives a $70 million SI order, the largest ever till overtaken by TCS
2002: Acquires Raman Roy's Spectramind for US$ 175 million to get into BPO industry
2005: Becomes a $2 billion company
2006: Becomes the world's largest R&D service provider
2006: Acquires Saraware, a wireless R&D service provider from Finland
2006: Acquires Quantech, a mechanical engineering design provider
2006: Joint venture company WMNetServ with Motorola
2006: Net profit for July, August and September rises 48% to $152m (£81m)
2007: Revenues reach $3.5billion
2007: Becomes SOX Compliant.
2007: Wipro-Biomed Division sold to Ranbaxy Fine Chemicals
2007: Wipro opens development center in Monterrey, Mexico
2007: Signs agreement for acquiring Infocrossing.
Quotes
“The early years were more about learning
than about acting. I had to carry on my
father’s work, which was a big challenge.”
“I want Wipro to be among the top ten IT
companies in the world.”
Quotes
“As you get bigger, you have to
learn to delegate. It’s also an
excellent way to get staff
involved in the company’s
operations.”
His role model
'J R D Tata has been an icon for me'
Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro
Corporation delivered the JRD Tata
Memorial Lecture at the Association
Chambers of Commerce and Industry in
New Delhi on August 30, 2005.
My role model’s role model
Awards and Accolades
In 2000, he was conferred an honorary
doctorate by the Manipal Academy of Higher
Education.
He was also adjudged the Business Man of
the Year 2000 by Business India.
He is featured in the Business Weeks all-time
top 30 entrepreneurs of the world in 2007
Awards and Accolades
Times Magazine, rated him among the 100
most influential people in the world by Time
magazine. He is also the richest Indian for
the past several years
2005,Government of India honored Azim
Premji with Padma Bhushan.
He is featured in the Business Weeks all-
time top 30 entrepreneurs of the world in
2007
Awards and Accolades
He is a member of the Prime Minister's
Advisory Committee for
Information Technology in India.
Azim Premji was among the 50 richest
people in the world from 2001 to 2003 listed
by Forbes.
Mission : possible
Azim Premji Foundation
Azim premji’s foundation:CSR
Azim Premji Foundation says it "dedicates
itself to the cause of Universalization of
Elementary Education in India".
Azim premji’s foundation
"Aims at making a tangible impact on
identified social issues by working in active
partnership with the Government and other
related sections of the society".
CSR : Corporate social responsibilty
Mission spreading across
Up coming titles –for
education
There are now 68 titles in Karnataka, 42 for
Andhra Pradesh, 35 for Tamil Nadu and
Pondicherry, 18 for Urdu medium schools, six
for Orissa, 14 for Gujarat, 3 for Punjab and 1
for Kerala.
The great man’s thumb rules
:can we?
• Have the courage to think big.
• Never compromise on fundamental values,
no matter what the situation.
• Build up self-confidence, always look
ahead.
• Always have the best around you, even if
they are better than you are.
• Have an obsessive commitment to quality.
• Play to win.
• Leave the rest to the force beyond.
Wipro in harmony by “applying
thoughts”
Thank you..
