Azim Hashim Premji, the Chairman of Wipro Corporation was born in 1945 in Maharashtra.

His father had vegetable oil Company in Maharashtra. His father died of a heart attack in 1966 at that time he was studying at Stanford University of USA. The sudden demise of his father forced him to carry on his fathers business and he joined Wipro in 1966 at the young age of 21. He is a man of simple living and high thinking and is well known for his down to earth personality. He still drives a six-year-old Ford Escort, travels economy class on international flights, and packs a travel iron and detergent for washing his clothes. Under his able leadership, an Rs.70 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats his grown to a $900 million diversified, integrated corporation in services, technology products and consumer products. He is a role model for young entrepreneurs across the world. Mr. Azim Premji has integrated the countrys entrepreneurial methodology with professional management, based on concrete values and superlative integrity. His greatest strength lies in bringing together and building motivated teams of high potential, high performing people. With his vision and pragmatism Wipro Corporation become the 2nd most competitive and successful company in India. Wipro chief Azim Premji is amongst Fortune Magazines list of 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US. Azim Premji, turned Technology Company Wipro into the largest publicly traded company and has been ranked 17th on the list. Mr. Premji is of the opinion that the most important factor to Wipros success has been the articulations and honest adherence to basic values, a shared vision for the future, identification and development of Wipro leaders through precisely defined Wipro Leaders Qualities. Premji is very dedicated about delivering value to customers and his willingness to sacrifice business and profits to hold on to Promises made Vivek Paul, CEO Wipro says about Azim Premji, The best person Ive seen who has climbed himself up. Hes taken it upon himself to go from being someone who inherited a factory in Amalner, Maharashtra, to being a global ambassador for India. I utterly admire him for that. Premji had changed an old-fashioned Indian company into a high-tech one. A family business like his rarely survives the founder but under Premji it surpassed anything his father has left behind. He touched the sky by his

perseverance and sheer hard work. In 1984, Wipros Infotech division diversified into software. The liberalization of 1991, as Indian exports of the software industry expanded by 50 per cent every year, so did Wipro. Wipro makes 65 per cent of its sales to the US. They have built a strong brand in the US. Azim Premji also established a foundation known as Wipro Cares, which focuses on primary education. This foundation has been set up with a corpus of Rs.100 million with an aim to harness the creativity, passion and sense of social responsibility of Wipro fraternity to contribute to the society in which they live and work. It has taken the target to educate 3500 children through Child care India. The foundation also set up libraries in slums. It also provides computer skills and scholarships to the needy students. In the short time since its foundation, Wipro Cares has brought smiles to many children. He also set up Wipros Gujarat Earthquake Relief Fund. After Wipros matching contribution, the total amount crossed Rs.20 million. He ensured that this amount is well utilized for the needy and affected citizens of Gujurat. Premji was the prime mover behind Wipros decision to achieve Six Sigma status. In his address to the top management of Wipro Corporation, he said, The end objective of our customer-in concept is that we want to build the voice of the customer in our products and services. In this journey of achieving the near defect-free products and services, Premji is very clear that as a worldclass organization, what Wipro needs to be concerned about is the process, not merely the results. Once he says: My sincere belief is that development and deployment of the right talent can soon push India to that long-awaited status of being a developed economy. An optimistic vision, perhaps, but worth watching out for. Such is the vision of a great and highly resolved world-class entrepreneur.
Lesson # 1: Always strive for excellence There is a tremendous difference between being good and being excellent in whatever you do. In the world of tomorrow, just being good is not good enough. One of the greatest advantages of globalization is that it has brought in completely different standards. Being the best in the country is not enough; one has to be the best in the world. Excellence is a moving target. One has to constantly raise the bar. In the knowledge-based industries, India has the unique advantage of being a quality leader. Just like Japan was able to win in

the overseas market with its quality leadership in automobile manufacturing, India has been able to do the same in information technology. t Wipro, we treat quality as the #1 priority. This enabled us not only to become the worlds first SEI CMM Level 5 software services company in the world but also a leader in Six Sigma approach to quality in India. Lesson # 2: Learn to work in teams The challenges ahead are so complex that no individual will be able to face them alone. While most of our education is focused in individual strength, teaming with others is equally important. You cannot fire a missile from a canoe. Unless you build a strong network of people with complimentary skills, you will be restricted by your own limitations.Globalization has brought in people of different origin, different upbringing and different cultures together. Ability to become an integral part of a cross-cultural team will be a must for your success. Lesson # 3: Take care of yourself The stress that a young person faces today while beginning his or her career is the same as the last generation faced at the time of retirement.I have myself found that my job has become enormously more complex over the last two or three years. Along with mutual alertness, physical fitness will also assume a great importance in your life. You must develop your own mechanism for dealing with stress. I have found that a daily jog for me, goes a long way in releasing the pressure and building up energy. You will need lots of energy to deal with the challenges. Unless you take care of yourself there is no way you can take care of others. Lesson # 4: Persevere Finally, no matter what you decide to do in your life, you must persevere. Keep at it and you will succeed, no matter how hopeless it seems at times. In the last three and half decades, we have gone through many difficult times. But we have found that if we remain true to what we believe in, we can surmount every difficulty that comes in the way. Perseverance can make miracles happen Lesson # 5: Have a broader social vision For decades we have been waiting for some one who will help us in priming the pump of the economy.The government was the logical choice for doing it, but it was strapped for resources. Other countries were willing to give us loans and aids but there was a limit to this. In the millennium of the mind, knowledge-based industries like Information Technology are in a unique position to earn wealth from outside. While earning is important, we must have mechanisms by which we use it for the larger good of our society.