Monday, July 21, 2008

WIPRO TOP MANAGEMENT TO BE MULTINATIONAL

Wipro’s global management, which consists predominantly of Indians in key positions, will see an infusion of foreigners. In a clear departure from its long tradition of packing important positions with Indians, the company has taken a conscious decision to bring non-Indians into its key management mix.

The move is in line with the NYSE-listed company’s strategy to become one of the top 10 software companies in the world within five years. Wipro bosses said that it was a “historical accident” not to have a global management team so far.

According to the joint CEOs of the company, Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani, it is important to bring in great and experienced talent from across the globe in key positions.

Wipro’s plan is to move away from being a traditional offshore and technology-centric player to a more business-oriented and globalised company.

“We want to assume a more consultative role and be an advisor to clients, instead of just implementing and managing services. Having a more varied top management is a step in that direction,” said Paranjpe.

“If we gather the top 30 leaders of Wipro together in a room today, the majority would be Indians. We wish to change this by bringing in experts from various sectors into leadership roles,” Paranjpe added.

Only 10 to 15 percent of the employees at Wipro operations in US are of local origin; in Eurpoe, it’s about 20 percent. There are only a handful of foreign nationals in top management positions, including Zach Lonstein, who heads Infocros-sing, and Hiroshi Alley, head of Japan and China operations.

In the next two to five years Wipro aims to “enhance” its business and then “transform” itself thereafter, Vaswani said. The enhancement” would mean maximising its potential in the medium term and “transformation” would aim at newer avenues for growth.

Wipro is also working towards becoming a dream destination for top talent. “We have set ourselves a goal to become the most preferred employer in the country,” said Vaswani.

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