Indian companies need to first build a strong domestic base if they really want to be on the world map, according to Azim Premji, Wipro chairman.
"Companies cannot build global organisations without having a strong foundation on the domestic front. The experience we got in our domestic software business, became a significant platform to launch new products, solutions etc, and take them to the global markets," said Premji, in his first ever presentation to an industry association, the Organisation of Plastic Processors of India, in Mumbai on Saturday, at its 17th annual get-together.
Premji shared with the audience the lessons he learnt while making Wipro a global information technology company. "Change descends on everyone equally - some organisations sense it faster and act on it. Being able to do this consistently has been a key factor in the success of Wipro," he said. The Indian domestic IT market is still at a very nascent age. It is less than one fifth of the Chinese IT market and we need to nurture our domestic IT market, he pointed out.
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Premji, spoke of six lessons, the first being articulating a powerful vision, which should be beyond reach, but not an impossible dream. Vision should be an executable dream. Vision is a turbo-charger and creates a major stretch in the team.
The second lesson, is to build a strong foundation of values, which not only leads to enduring success but also, makes success worthwhile. Values build strong, resilient organisations that can stand up to any crisis along the way.
Premji said: "Wipro defined a set of beliefs in early seventies, which were re-articulated in 1998 as values and promise. The four values - human values wherein you respect the customer as individual ad strive towards meeting his specific needs. Integrity - individual and business relationships to be governed by the highest standards of integrity. Innovative solutions - research and develop superior products and services to meet changing needs of the customer. Lastly, value for money is important - continuously improve in terms of quality, cost and delivery." Today, globally the trend is that all customers are wanting more for less money. And this is the absolute truth," he added.
Continuously striving for excellence through quality is the third lesson, which Premji proposed and added, "quality in Wipro is like integrity - there can be no compromises. Wipro is the first Indian company to introduce the Six Sigma concept. Six Sigma aims at improving customer satisfaction by increasing productivity and reducing cost. It is not fashion and requires tremendous amount of hard work and commitment from the top management and also enormous amount of time. If one does not have the time, then they must not dabble with the Six Sigma." He further said Wipro had generated savings of Rs 315 million through the Six Sigma initiatives in 2000-01.
The fourth lesson is to develop leaders from within. Wipro defined seven qualities of a leader, way back in 1992, through intensive research. Every year, all managers, up to the middle management, go through a 360-degree appraisal by their managers, peers, reports and self to measure themselves on these qualities.
Creating an innovative organisation is the next lesson. "For all companies in the country, their next competitive edge will be in the fact how innovative their organisation is and innovation means implementation of ideas," Premji said. "New challenges need new solutions. This requires thinking out of a box." he said. With competition quickly duplicating product or service differentiations, only innovation can provide sustainable advantage.
Finally, the corporate sector must make a contribution to society. "We are working on two initiatives - Wipro Applying Thought initiative to build problem solving skills and the Azim Premji Foundation. Premji concluded by advising the Organisation of Plastic Processors of India (OPPI) members: "Have the courage to dream, and the will to convert your dreams into reality".