Azim Premji Quotes
Azim Premji Quotes with Images
Azim Premji Quotes with Images
The U.K. and the U.S. are quite similar in that they have high-productivity, English-speaking workforces who don't mind working long hours. Working in those countries is not a problem.
The principal challenge we face is to go up the value- and domain-skill chain and build a strong consultancy front end and, also, to globalize our leadership much more.
Interestingly, many Indian companies where there's a father-and-son combination are being run as joint CEO organizations because the father has not given up running the company and the son is actively involved in running the company, and there is division of responsibilities.
What we are doing is we are putting in significant training into the people we have currently to upgrade their skill resources, upgrade the presentation resources, and upgrade what we expect from them in terms of not business as usual.
You have got the right strategy, the right geography; you have got the right customers. You need to prioritise them better; we need to grow them better, mind them better. We need to give more value to them, and we need to execute a lot of areas in the organisation where we are not executing.
When I took over the family business, it had already been a publicly traded company for 20 years. During one of the first annual meetings I attended, one shareholder stood up and advised me and everyone in attendance that I should resign.
Despite widely differing perspectives and agendas, there seems to be a remarkable global consensus that has built up over a fairly short period of time that climate change and ecology is one of the truly defining issues for humanity.
The importance of this success of Wipro has become manifold more, because it's the success of Wipro that enables the possibility of making a difference to some of the most disadvantaged people in the world.
What is excellence? It is about going a little beyond what we expect from ourselves. Part of the need for excellence is imposed on us externally by our customers. Our competition keeps us on our toes, especially when it is global in nature.
You must get engaged with people who are far less privileged than you. I think you must devote your time if not your resources... Because it is very, very important from the point of view of the development of our country.
Our experience is that it is not terribly difficult to do business in China. But the issue is, how much stability do you have in terms of what you negotiate up front and when you've got your feet and your investments on the ground.
If one has been blessed or have been fortunate enough to have got much more than normal wealth, it is but natural that one expects a certain fiduciary responsibility in terms of how that wealth is applied, used and leveraged for purposes of society.
Even if a media of a TV is not available in a home, there's this concept of community homes, where a reasonably well-off villager will have a TV - and a nice TV - and he'll keep it outside the house in the evenings.
We run courses for government school teachers on Sundays. These teachers pay for their own food and stay; the kind of commitment you find in these people is remarkable.
Wipro is one of the fastest growing companies regionally and globally, and I am personally very excited with our journey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
How can you contribute towards building the Indian society and the Indian nation? No better way than to upgrade the quality of young people in school, particularly the schools which are run by the state government in the villages.
To have strongly integrated managers who have a deep understanding of technology is a rare and difficult combination to build. You have to invest a lot in selecting and training these people.
I think the most important reason for our success is that very early in our quest into globalisation, we invested in people - and we have done that consistently and particularly in the service business.
You have students in America, in Britain, who do not want to be engineers. Perhaps it is the workload, I studied engineering, and I know what a grind it is.
We believe that two people who have worked together for more than 10 years and been in the company for more than 15 years would be able to work very well as a team.
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.
It is the strength of our culture that we can have Sonia Gandhi, who is Catholic, a Sikh prime minister, and a Muslim president.
In any software work, you have IT consultancy competence required to build the systems.
We get first-rate faculty members from the leading engineering and science institutes to train our people.
Technical people tend to be more 'techie,' and management people are more 'managerial.'
I am particularly interested in primary education because the state of affairs in primary education in this country is a cause for concern.
The West is not producing enough engineers.
You need a commitment which is long term and a commitment to leadership, because that's the only way you build excellence.
You can do clean business in India.
Saudi Arabia has proved to be the growth engine for Wipro.
We are partners to leading organizations across industries and have delivered marquee and transformational programs.
I inherited the company from my father after he died very unexpectedly from a heart attack in 1966. He was just 51 years old, and I was 21.
Private sector cannot substitute the role of the government in primary education.
The job of nation building, the job of nation leadership in a difficult, complex coalition has worked.
I don't think being a Muslim or being a non-Muslim has been an advantage or disadvantage.
People are realistic enough to appreciate what the market values of different people are.
The old boys' club of closed tennis court relationships is on the way out.
I have always felt intuitively that somehow such wealth cannot be the privy of any one person or any one family.
I have never had the need or thrill for being wealthy.
Talent is in short supply everywhere. At Wipro, we are training nonengineers to be engineers.
We've always seen ourselves as Indian. We've never seen ourselves as Hindus or Muslims or Christians or Buddhists.
Certain product lines are more suited to be manufactured in proximity with the customer, while others are more suitable to be manufactured in India.
There are 600 districts in India. Every district in India has a teacher-training institute.
The concept of the strong linkage to the family is breaking down in Western nations.
I can't have my employees sitting in traffic when they should be in the office. Spending two-and-half hours in the car is a huge waste of productive time.
People have to take control of their own lives. Education is key because it also raises other social indicators like healthcare.
Colleges produce more sports therapists than engineers. Perhaps because America is a sporty country: a lot of outdoors.
Over these years, I have irrevocably transferred a significant part of the shareholding in Wipro, amounting to 39% of the shares of Wipro, to a trust.
If the United States wants access to Chinese, Indian or Vietnamese markets, we must get access to theirs. U.S. protectionism is very subtle but it is very much there
I think the advantage of democracy is that it makes us less dependent on a group of leaders.
The U.S. is a complex country. It has a high predominance of immigrants who have been eminently successful.
Excellence can be as strong a uniting force as solid vision.
Customers are now driven by trying to optimize value.
Our managers need to have a strong integration of managerial skills and technical understanding. One cannot substitute for the other.
Parents realize their wealth should be used for social good rather than children's good.
Even if I was to give my children a small part of my wealth, it would be more than they can digest in many lifetimes.
This whole issue of Hindu-Muslim in India is completely overhyped.
If there are differences of views or divergence of ideas, they can be resolved through discussion and dialogue.
You cannot get into business for the fashion of it.
Frankly, I don't know how many companies there are, globally, which are truly global.
Wipro Arabia is a joint venture company with Dar Al Riyadh, a well-diversified group in Saudi Arabia.
We entered the global market only in the end-'80s, and that was because imports became more liberal.
I feel that business leaders with their ability to create businesses, with their ability to scale, need to play an important role in social service.
When you are under pressure, you make the bold steps faster; you don't make the bold steps slower.
The success of Wipro has made me a wealthy person.
You cannot have a society where you spend more than you earn. I mean, it's just fundamentally not viable in the long run.
All our hiring staff are trained to interview in English. They're trained to look for Westernized segments because we deal with global customers.
Western companies want access to Indian talent. That is why they outsource; that is why they come to India to set up base.
The Western world loves liberalisation, provided it doesn't affect them.
The customer is a remarkably selfish person: He takes the relationship to where the execution is in his favor.
Ecology and economy are becoming inextricably entwined, and the world is becoming more conscious of this fact.
People are beginning to realize that education is power, that education is money, that education is an opportunity.
Excellence is a great starting point for any new organisation but also an unending journey.
You cannot mandate philanthropy. It has to come from within, and when it does, it is deeply satisfying.
People are the key to success or extraordinary success
You cannot underestimate the value of luck in success in life. And I've really learned to appreciate that.
Inflation is taking up the poverty line, and poverty is not just economic but defined by way of health and education.
Excellence endures and sustains. It goes beyond motivation into the realms of inspiration.
I can speak English. I can speak Hindi. I can understand one or two other languages.
A girl child who is even a little bit educated is more conscious of family planning, health care and, in turn, her children's own education.
Our business model is primarily that of consulting, engineering, system integration, and managed services.