Leadership style: wipro A Term paper Submitted in partial fulfillment of The requirements for the Post Graduate Diploma in Management By
Group-11 Gitanjali Shukla
Roll No.: 08111
Pooja Mitra
Roll No.: 08135
Venkatesh.K
Roll No.: 08159
Mayuri Shingala
Roll No.: 08222
Seethachandana Seethachandana
Roll No.: 08249 TO
Dr.Ch.S.Durgaprasad Facilitator, Leadership
November - 2009
VIGNANA JYOTHI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 1
Bachupally, Hyderabad, A.P – 500072, India Table of Contents Sl.No.
Content
Page Number
1
Introduction
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2
Objective of the study
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3
Background of the company
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4
Background of the founder leader of
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Wipro 5
Leadership program at Wipro
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6
Management practices at Wipro
12
7
Leadership style of Azim Premji
16
8
Contribution of leadership style and
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management practices to Wipro 9
Challenges in leadership development
27
10
Comments and suggestion
28
11
Bibliography
29
2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Completing a job has never been an easy go for a single person; often it is the result of invaluable contributions from individuals in the surrounding in a direct or indirect manner. I owe a great many thanks to a great many people who helped and supported us during the writing of this paper. We are deeply greatful to our Facilitator Dr. Ch.S.Durgaprasad for having been a constant source of encouragement for our Term paper. In our association with our facilitator for this purpose, we experienced not only his in-depth knowledge but also his affection towards us. Finally I thank Prof. Kamal Ghosh Ray , for his continued drive for better quality in everything that happens at VJIM. This Term paper is a small contribution towards the greater goal.
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ABSTRACT
4
INTRODUCTION
A nation can not achieve leadership unless we have leadership at every level of the organization. Ultima Ultimatel tely y it comes comes down down to the individu individual. al. In an era of compet competiti itive ve change change it become becomess imperative for leadership to understand the responsibility thrust upon them and adequately address it with respect to clients and employees. Wipro Infotech creates an environment where individuals can work in an unstructured environment and develop the self-initiative to succeed in any situation. Strong customer orientation and strategic thinking is the key to balance short-term and long-t long-term erm goals. goals. Signif Significa icant nt time time and effort effort is spent spent to instil instilll this this confide confidence nce among among employees employees through extensive leadership leadership development development programmes programmes and the results are there for all to see. Through this, they bring their leadership closer to the client and build that trust and reliability in our service offerings. Their adaptability across cultures and geographies has made them ideal partner to work with. Wipro Infotech leadership reflects the global outlook and commitment to excellence, at the same time grooming new leaders who can make them more agile to address new challenges. Thus we have chosen Wipro for studying the leadership style and management practices of Wipro as a whole and Azim Premji on an individual level.
OBJECTIVE OF THE PAPER •
To understand the managerial practices of Wipro.
•
To understand the leadership style of Azim premji and Wipro.
•
To understand the contribution of managerial practices and leadership styles to successes of Wipro.
5
BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANY
Wipro Limited is the first PCMM Level 5 and SEI CMM Level 5 certified global IT Services Compan Company. y. Wipro Wipro is one of the larges largestt produc productt enginee engineerin ring g and suppor supportt servic servicee provid providers ers worldwide. Wipro provides comprehensive research and development services, IT solutions and serv servic ices es,,
incl includ udin ing g
syst system emss
inte integr grat atio ion, n,
Info Inform rmat atio ion n
Syst System emss
outs outsour ourci cing ng,,
pack package age
implementat implementation, ion, software software application application development development and maintenance maintenance services services to corporations corporations globally. In the Indian market,Wipro is a leader in providing IT solutions and services for the corporate segment in India offering system integration, network integration, software solutions and IT services.Wipro also has profitable presence in niche market segments of consumer products and lighting. In the Asia Pacific and Middle East markets, Wipro provides IT solutions and services for global corporations.
BACKGROUND OF THE FOUNDER LEADER OF WIPRO
Azim Premji is Chairman of Wipro Technologies, one of the largest software companies in India. He is an icon among Indian businessmen and his success story is a source of inspiration to a number of budding entrepreneurs. entrepreneurs. Born on July 24, 1945, Azim Hashim Hashim Premji was studying studying Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, USA when due to the sudden demise of his father; he was called upon to handle the family business. Azim Premji took over the reins of family business in 1966 at the age of 21. At the first annual general meeting of the company attended by Azim Premji, a shareholder doubted Premji's ability to handle business at such a young age and publicly advised him to sell his shareholding and give it to a more mature management. This spurred Azim Premji and made him all the more determined to make Wipro a success story. And the rest is history. When Azim Premji occupied the hot seat, Wipro dealt in hydrogenated cooking fats and later diversified to bakery fats, ethnic ingredient based toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products and hydraulic cylinders. Thereafter Premji made a focused shift from soaps to software. Under Azim Premji's leadership Wipro has metamorphosed from a Rs.70 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats to a pioneer in providing integrated business, technology and process solutions on a global delivery platform. Today, Wipro Technologies is the largest 6
independent R&D service provider in the world. Azim Premji has several achievements to his credit. In 2000, Asiaweek magazine, voted Premji among the 20 most powerful men in the world. Azim Premji was among the 50 richest people in the world from 2001 to 2003 listed by Forbes. In April 2004, 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. In 2005, Government of India honored Azim Premji with Padma Bhushan.
LEADERSHIP PROGRAM AT WIPRO
One of Premj Premji's i's most most import important ant accomp accomplis lishme hments nts has been been creati creating ng a sinewy sinewy managem management ent culture that thrives even under intense competitive pressure. He established two core principles that are instrumental in building the character of his leadership team. •
The first is rare among India's family-controlled companies: The chairman is not king. While Premji owns a controlling stake in Wipro, he shares authority and responsibility with his subordinates.
•
Thee secon Th second d key key prin princi cipl ple: e: Prem Premji ji beli believ eves es in a zero zero-p -pol olit itic icss cult cultur ure. e. At Wipr Wipro, o, backstabbing, playing favorites, and kissing up to the boss -- tactics that sap much of American executives' energy -- simply don't work. Open and honest disagreements are not only tolerated, but also required -- of everyone.
When tracing WIPRO’s efforts into its present global status a few important issues come to mind. The reader may like to reflect on reading as to how and why it was possible for WIPRO as an instituti institution on to speak about its strongly subscribed subscribed values through its leadership leadership development processes. The process of institution building given the constraints in Indian society appears clearly to have built on clear expectations and focussed nurturing that came from a sentient leadership at WIPRO. Some of the salient steps WIRPO took are as follows:
1. Defining Leadership Qualities
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The biggest problem with a concept like leadership is that it can mean so many things to so many people. There is a strong temptation to attribute all possible good qualities one can think of and come out with hundreds of qualities. Sometimes, these include “irreconcilable opposites” in qualities. Like a strong aggressive leader who chews competition but at the same time is an extremely harmonious team player! At Wipro, we decided to be more pragmatic. We have identified eight leadership qualities. Currently they are 1) Strategic Thinking - Anticipating the future through an articulated vision 2) Customer Orientation - Customer at the center of the vision. 3) Aggressive Commitment - Pursue stretched commitments with determination and focus 4) Global Thinking and Acting - Global cultural synchronization with respect to issues and trends 5) Self Confidence - Belief in the abilities of self and team 6) Commitment to Excellence - Commitment to surpass the b est with respect to global standards 7) Working in Teams - Encouraging harmony and synergy for getting multiplier effect from team 8) Building Future Leaders - Spending time with team; coaching and pursuing developmental needs of team Anticipates es global trends impacting impacting Leadersh Leadership ip Quality Quality:: Global Global Thinking Thinking and Acting: Acting: Anticipat relevant markets and actively develops people and processes to be globally competitive. He/she is at ease while interacting with people with people from diverse national and cultural backgrounds.
1. Encourages his / her team to constantly update themselves on global issues / trends. 2. Actively attempts to understand and respect the cultural nuances of the host countries of customers and employees. 3. Is able to build rapport and is at ease when dealing with clients, partners or colleagues across geographic and cultural boundaries. 4. Identifies and contributes to the development of best practices to suit the team's need for process improvements through benchmarking with world-class practices. Comp Compet eten enci cies es for for the the Lead Leader er Role Role are are base based d on behav behavio iour urss of Succe Success ssfu full Perf Perfor orme mers rs.. Behaviours that relate with high performance are used to describe the competencies. Based on demonstrated behaviours, levels of competency are defined. The levels are scaled as competency indicators. These descriptions also help users to identify positive and negative indicators of the 8
competencies. Reliable methods for this phase are used, such as Structured Interviews - as part of Job Analyses and interviews held with stakeholders for the Leader Role. The Repertory Grid Technique is used later as a special technique that involves stakeholders to compare and contrast roles (e.g. boss, supplier, and customer) and formulate important ways in which the roles are like the Leader role, and different from the rest . These efforts converge in a Competency
Dictionary, comprising level-wise descriptions of successful role behaviours. All of WIPRO Leader Qualities are similarly created, and increasingly tend to reflect the success of WIPRO in global geographies. These qualities are illustrated by examples of leadership behaviours that are observ observabl able. e. This This makes makes it easy easy to unders understan tand d and insti institut tutiona ionali lise se the compet competenci encies. es. These These qualities are regularly reviewed in keeping with the changing context.
2. Measuring Leadership Qualities in Global Competitive Context
The impact of Global Thinking and Acting runs across all of the WIPRO Leaders’ Qualities. A few excerpts from WIPRO’s measurement criteria will help us appreciate the same. E.g. Let us look at a few other leadership competencies and the changing emphasis based on global context. We consider here two critical competencies that help globalization. Both are different, in that one requires reflective thinking, and the other requires concerted actions that are experienced by many others in one’s team(s). One of them is Strategic Thinking – required for both strategy planning and making. Strategy making is the expressive act that follows strategic planning. The other is of Working in Teams. Today working in teams encompasses motivation and bonding for members with whom face-to-face interaction is minimal to say the least.
Table 2: Emerging focus of WIPRO Leadership Qualities Leadership Quality Earlier Now Leadership Quality Strategic Thinking
Working in teams
Earlier Focus on Domestic Players and addressing local competitive forces Focus on face-to-face interactions interactions and morale in location
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Now Focus on Global Game Changes and Players Focus on Virtual Teams that work asynchronously across date and time zones.
Thus Th us,, WIPR WIPRO O cont contin inual ually ly eval evalua uate tess the the busi busine ness ss envi enviro ronm nmen entt for for cues cues that that affe affect ct the the effectiveness of leadership strategies. E.g. One of the transitions made after the adoption of Global Thinking Thinking and Acting Acting as a Leadership Quality Quality is in dropping a few qualities qualities that seemed more managerial in nature. One such deletion was that of Problem Solving as a Leadership Quality. 3. Leadership Composition for a Global Organization
With the sure presence of WIPRO in diverse geographies, it became imperative to manage crosscultural and multinational workforces. Leaders who have the advantage of meeting up with client needs from as close a quarter as is possible is best suited for local management. To ensure such a impact, WIPRO has infused its top management with leaders from host nations itself. This has been the case with the largest of geographies like USA, Japan and Europe. These leaders are naturally capable in their own nations, and are quick in understanding the business of customers. 4. Modifying relevant People Processes
Several ongoing processes like recruitment, training, compensation and communication itself are affected by a global scale of operations. WIPRO has suitably modified such people processes so that employee behaviours are seen as consistent with the leadership vision. E.g.When selecting for foreig foreign n territ territori ories es the Employ Employmen mentt Opport Opportuni unitie tiess legisl legislati ations ons,, in the host host nation nation has relevance to the conduct of selection processes. The Recruitment Team is required to be certified on an Interviewing Skills programme, wherein several nuances of interviewer behaviour are taught. Legal implications and cultural orientation of the interviewer are critical to effectiveness. Similarly, for Training conducted overseas, Trainers are made aware of cultural implications of instruction and employee diversity. To engage with the field force, for example, a European (Ph.D.) with cross-cultural negotiation expertise and sales experience has been charged with the office of Field Capability Enhancement. 5. Developing Leadership Talent From Within
The proces processs adopted adopted for Leader Leadershi ship p Develo Developme pment nt follow followss a lifec lifecycl yclee patter pattern. n. The same same is described below. To develop leaders WIPRO trains its employees on a regular basis. We have created development programs along the lifecycle pattern of leadership development. There are five programs that focus on sharpening leadership skills of individual leaders.
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1. Entry Level Program (ELP): This is the first program a fresh recruit goes through. The program helps the newcomer into becoming a good management employee, like how to become an effect effective ive team team member member,, how to partic participat ipatee in meetin meetings, gs, commun communica icatio tions ns though thoughts ts and feelings to others. Country-specific cross-cultural cross-cultural training and the opportunities opportunities to work in different nations has made our workforce adaptable and resilient. 2. New Leaders’ Program (NLP) : This is designed for the first time manager. Many people
continue to be more comfortable managing technology rather than people. This program teaches them how to build teams, communicate, lead according to situations and coach others. In the NLP, leaders are particularly trained on aspects of managing virtual teams.
manager of managers managers who still still 3. Wipro Leaders’ Program (WLP) : This is addressed to the manager want to manage the teams directly. From here on, it is a corporation-wide program. At the WLP leaders are sensitized on the Diversity Principle, and mingle with leaders from all parts of the world. 4. Business Leaders’ Program (BLP) : This program is for General Managers in waiting who
need to look at business as a whole and understand bottom line implications. It covers relevant elements of finance and environmental scanning. The BLP has focussed attention on a single business case, which has a strong international flavor and is run over several days. 5. Strategic Strategic Leaders’ Leaders’ Program (SLP): This is the highest program aimed at Chief Executives.
It helps them to design and develop strategies strategies in a global environment environment.. From the inception inception the SLP has been has been addressed by thought leaders from all over the world. Luminaries from Wharton, London Business School, the Indian School of Business, and the like are invited to share recent perspectiv perspectives es on leading leading large corporation corporations. s. At this level of leadership interactions with senior leadership of client organisations are also important. important. Therefore Therefore additional inputs on being oneon-one with the Fortune 100 corporation leaders are also given. Participating effectively in each of these programs is necessary to progress in one’s leadership career. Similarly, it is very important to have the complete involvement of the senior and top management of the company to participa participate te as faculty. faculty. In Wipro, Wipro, for instan instance, ce, Mr. Azim Azim Premji Premji,, Chairm Chairman, an, address addresses es participants of all Wipro Leaders’ Programs, Business Leaders’ Programs and Strategic Leaders’ Programs. Programs. In his own words “What you will remember when you retire, is not which quarters you exceeded your sales target or won large deals, but leaders whom you helped in developing. Develop leaders under you, not only because it is good for the business, but because but because it will give 11
you tremendous personal satisfaction” He invests significant time as a faculty in leadership
development programs. Advanced Experiential Learning
Recently, WIPRO has collaborated in a Global Learning Alliance (GLA) with Learning and Development Development wings of large global organisatio organisations, ns, namely, namely, Schneider, Schneider, L’Oreal, Nissan, and Alcan. Alcan. Each Each organi organizat zation ion sponso sponsors rs approxi approximat mately ely six senior senior leader leaderss (at the level level of Vice Vice Presid President entss in WIPRO) WIPRO) from from within within its multiple multiple lines lines of busine business ss to repres represent ent learni learning ng and development challenges in a common forum, where facilitation is done by eminent faculty from institutions like the London Business School, and legends like Prof. Ikujiro Nonaka. These sessions are held at different points in the year. The model on which it is based embraces globalization in terms of cross-industry learning on ‘burning issues’ and socialization to create a supportive climate for leadership skills development across business models and organisational change contexts. The working model of this initiative is depicted in Fig 1, below. Similarly, for leaders at lower levels, WIPRO has begun to engage in similar fora, with the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and Henry Mintzberg as a partner facilitator. That, in brief, explains the moving spirit and energy behind Wipro’s drive for developing leaders from within. WIPRO’s recent emphasis on non-directive coaching, and teaming interventions at senior and middle manage managemen mentt levels levels have a delibe deliberat ratee design design around around key learni learning ng experie experience nces. s. WIPRO’ WIPRO’ss Corp Corpor orat atee Huma Human n Reso Resour urce cess Devel Developm opmen entt team team has has the the cust custod odia ians nshi hip p for for Lead Leader ersh ship ip Develop Developmen mentt in the compan company. y. From From a team team identi identifi fied ed with with a compos compositi ition on of high-c high-cali aliber ber leadership trainers, the emerging emphasis of this group has been on facilitated interventions in top management groups across the corporation. Their interventions have facilitated interactions between clients and Delivery teams, Strategic Business Units and top management strategy making in critical businesses.
The Leadership Development Framework
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MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN WIPRO
Management is the art of making effective use of resources to achieve your goals. It concerns planning, coordinating and implementing all aspects of an organisation’s operation in a manner which fulfils the organisation’s aims. In other words, once an organization identifies its purpose, well Management helps to achieve it. As different processes are needed to achieve various aims, we tend to discuss management practices in terms of particular functions. In organizations, these can include include business business management, management, financial management, management, collection collectionss management, management, program program management, and personnel management. Regardless of the area being considered, all good management practices rely on four basic tools: •
policies policies set the framework framework for decisionmak decisionmaking ing in museums. museums. Good management ensures that policies are developed, kept up to date, and are understood by all staff;
•
plans are the blueprints for action, which set out how the aims and policies will be achieved. Policies need plans to turn them into realities. Good management creates and implements plans to cover relevant areas of organizational operations;
•
procedures are the step-by-step instructions on how to carry out tasks they carry out policy and implement plans. Good management develops procedures and ensures that they are followed; and
•
peopl peoplee are the resource resourcess who make make the operat operation ionss of the museum museum possib possible. le. Good management provides for the needs of people. 13
Business Transformation- Wipro Infotech is a pioneer in implementing Business transformation
concepts for value acceleration. Wipro Infotech Business transformation services ensure process optimi optimisat sation ion that that lead lead to revenu revenuee enhance enhancemen ment, t, cost cost reduct reduction ion,, custom customer er satisf satisfact action ion and improved quality of products or services. We are the world's first IT services company to deploy Six Sigma and first in achieving certifications of CMMi level 5 and PCMM level 5. With this strong background, they build or enhance the existing existing processes in the organisation organisation to ensure a faster pace of growth to power your business forward. In the Business Transformation services they work to incorporate Six Sigma, LEAN, TRIZ, Theory of Constraint, CMMi and PCMM models models as the framew framework ork to improv improvee the operat operation ional al excell excellence ence in you yourr organi organisat sation ion.. The services in this segment are spread across industry verticals as they address the core business process improvement. The Business transformation practice involves the following:
Business process management system (BPMS) focuses on improving the business processes
from people, process and technology point of view through simulation and process optimisation using BPMS tools Business process improvement involves building consistent and reliable processes with the best quality benchmarks through Six Sigma, Lean, Triz, TOC (IQMS) helps helps in buildi building ng standa standards rds across across the Integrat Integrated ed quality quality manage managemen mentt system system (IQMS) organisation through deployment of quality management system - CMMi, PCMM, TL 9000, ISO 9000 and proven business models - EFQM, DQA among others .
SERVICE DELIVERY QUALITY
Without the proper training and skill sets, employees would not be able to turn functional and technical requirements into software applications. The following figure provides the relationship of service delivery and organizational effectiveness between the customer and the services Firm in Wipro.
Wipro’s Quality Management System
Wipro’s customers trust the strength of the quality processes that have always assured them of timely, defect-free delivery of products and services. The Quality Management System (QMS), 14
called veloci-Q, is a consolidation of experiences and best practices that are also aligned to standard quality models and certification. This is dynamic, and also all encompassing, meeting specif specific ic techno technolog logy y and domain domain specif specific ic requir requireme ements nts with with ease. ease. The fact fact that that Wipro Wipro has consistently been assessed and certified on critical quality models, generic and domain specific, bears testimony to the goodness of the QMS.
Quality Perspective Of Wipro’s Services:-
Wipro’s attention to quality is evident in the end deliverable and its overall support of its client. The following are the ways in which quality has manifested itself on Wipro’s projects:
1. Responsiveness. Wipro’s strong attention to client satisfaction results in a commitment not only to respond quickly to client requests but to do so with suggestions for improvements. 2. Efficient problem resolution and rework reduction . Because Wipro tracks many metrics
through its robust software developmentprocesses, the capture of software bugs, and thorough documentation, it is able to provide a detailed and fast examination of problems such as bug fixes and the causes of delays. Wipro can see trends, identify reasons for issues, and quickly resolve problems. 3. Adherence to project schedule. Wipro’s attention to detail and deadlines allows it to meet
tight time frames for delivery. 4. Reduced cost. While Wipro’s cost advantage as an offshore Indian firm contributes to its
ability to provide its clients with cost savings, its on-time delivery and swift problem resolution are equally important. 5. Less employee turnover. Wipro has developed a critical mass of employees dedicated a
partic particula ularr projec project. t. This This contin continuit uity y has dimini diminishe shed d any rework rework needed, needed, enhance enhanced d Wipro Wipro’s ’s intellectual capital, and provided a sense of security with its client.
Grivence Procedure followed by WIPRO:
Wipro Wipro proced procedure ure,, called called Ombuds Ombuds proces process, s, involv involves es the appoint appointmen mentt of ombuds ombudsmen men in the Company’s offices. These ombudsmen are senior officials in the particular business unit of the 15
organi organizat zation ion to whom employ employees ees can addres addresss their their grievan grievances ces.. The ombuds ombudsmen men,, acting acting indepe independen ndently tly,, will will then then initia initiate te an invest investiga igatio tion n and submit submit a report report to the compli complianc ancee committee, committee, which will then take suitable suitable action. Wipro actively actively encourages their employees to reveal identity. In Wipro, the concern is disclosed through E-mail or telephone, fax or any other method to the following persons each of whom has been designated as "Ombudsperson". In case of any any conc concer ern n rela relati ting ng to a memb member er of the the BU comp compli lian ance ce comm commit itte teee incl includ udin ing g the the ombudsperson the same shall be referred to the corporate ombudsperson. Similarly, any concern relating relating to the corporate compliance compliance committee committee including the corporate corporate ombudsperson ombudsperson shall shall be refe referr rred ed dire direct ctly ly to the the Audi Auditt comm commit itte tee. e. Th Thee Conc Concer ern n shal shalll be inve invest stig igat ated ed by the the Ombudsperson either by himself or through any other person as may be deemed necessary by the Ombu Ombuds dsper perso son. n. A copy copy of the the Conce Concern rn disc disclo lose sed d shal shalll be furn furnis ishe hed d to the the Corp Corpor orat atee Ombudsperson for information. A decision vis-a-vis the Concern disclosed at a Business Unit level shall be taken by the Business Unit Compliance Committee comprising of the following persons; Ombudsperson Business Unit CEO Business Unit CFO Business Unit HR Head Business Unit Chief Legal Officer.
LEADERSHIP STYLE OF AJIM PREMJI
According to people who know Ajim Premji, he is low-key and it’s his ability to relate to minister to gardener—th gardener—that at has contribute contributed d to his success. success. During a recent anyone –from prime minister visit to Emory University’s Goizueta Business School as part of the 2008 Leadership Speaker 16
Series, Premji—named one of the “Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time” by BusinessWeek — shared his ideas on leadership with students and several Atlanta-area business leaders. Setting the standard for an organization is a necessary aspect of good leadership as well, and
Premji doesn’t believe this is possible if the leader doesn’t do so with honesty and integrity. He advised the audience never to sacrifice integrity for short-term results. Striving for excellence is also a Premji standard, and he realizes that he, and leaders like him, set
the tone for their organizations. During his lecture at Goizueta, he touched on several things he bel belie ieves ves Wipr Wipro o can can impr improve ove upon upon and and talk talked ed about about the the step stepss being being take taken n to make make such such improvements. According to him “Excellence is not an act, it’s a habit”. To aid in this accomplishment, Wipro leadership must be “globalized.” “This requires a huge adjustment,” notes Premji. With 80,000 employees—15,000 of them located outside of India— leadership needs to be culturally sensitive. Working in teams is also an integral part of how
Wipro does business, and an employee’s ability to be a contributing member of a cross-cultural team has become increasingly important to the company’s success. One of Premji’s Premji’s greatest talents talents is his ability ability to recognize recognize talent talent . “He’s just like a good coach. Good coaches can get more potential out of an athlete than the athlete realizes. Not surprisingly, Premji believes self-confidence is a necessary part of good leadership. That confidence allows leaders to take risks and learn from them, including lessons gleaned from the occasional failure that accompanies risk taking.
According to Ajim Premji there are 10 steps to leadership which goes as below: First, leaders must develop powerful personal credibility. This means they should not only be consistent in what they say and do -but must deliver on their commitments. The leader has to generate a collective enthusiasm for the team, and the team must have faith in the leader before before they commit to his or her dream. All research shows today that personal credibility-is credibility-is the most important ingredient of leadership. Second, great leaders tell people clearly what they expect from them, whether it be in terms of performance or values. The more that is expected from people, the more they tend to deliver. Low 17
expec expecta tati tions ons can can lead lead to low low ambi ambiti tion on and hence hence low low perfo perform rman ance. ce. Winni Winning ng leader leaderss are demandi demanding ng leader leaders. s. They They demand demand discip disciplin line, e, account accountabi abilit lity y and contin continuous uous increa increase se in performance and productivity. Third, great leaders are great teachers and coaches. Expectations alone are not enough. Neither are rewards and punishm punishments ents.. People need guidance on the path they need to follow. This does not mean that the leader should spoon-feed spoon-feed his people. It only means means that the leader must must have the capacity to look ahead and give the right amount of guidance at the right time. At Wipro, we encourage our top management to address our high potential managers. I personally invest half-a-day of my time in every leadership development program in Wipro. Fourth, successful leaders need to have energy and be able to energise others. Leadership demands extrao extraord rdina inary ry physica physical, l, menta mentall and, some some would would say, say, spirit spiritual ual energy energy to remain remain on top of the demands made on them. I have found that my own job has become amazingly complex in the last few years. There is no longer any debate on whether a person should work smart or hard. Leaders Leaders must work both hard hard and smart, smart, long and intense intensely. ly. In a recent recent survey survey at the World World Economic Forum, Forum, ninety-nine ninety-nine per cent of the leaders attributed their success to hard work. Fifth, leaders do not always have to be in the limelight. One has to realize that leadership is not privilege but a responsibility. Think of birds flying in a formation. At different times,
different birds lead the formation. The leader must know where to lead and where to step back. I remember this story which someone told me Sixth, winning leaders face reality. They do nut dither. Leadership is about making tough yesWinning leaders leaders are willi willing ng to decide decide with with imperf imperfect ect data, data, if needed, needed, because because no decisions. Winning leadership is about making judgements that others, are either unwilling or unable to make. Seventh, leade They ey cons consta tant ntly ly lear learn n from from thei theirr own own leaders rs keep keep renewi renewing ng thems themsel elves ves. Th experiences and those of others. They constantly constantly learn from their own experiences and those of other others. s. They They creat createe knowl knowled edge ge captu capturi ring ng and and shar sharin ing g proce process sses es and and meth method odss in the the organization. Eighth, leaders surround themselves with people who err on the side of optimism. If people are always in the company of cynics, they will soon find themselves becoming like them. A cynic 18
knows all the reasons why something cannot be done. Instead, leaders spend time with people who have a "can-do" approach. They choose their advisors and mentors correctly. Pessimism is contagious, but then so is enthusiasm. In fact, reasonable optimism can be an amazing force multiplier. Ninth, leaders play to win. Playing to win is not the same as cutting corners. When you play to win, you stret stretch ch yourse yourself lf to your your maximum and use all your potential potential . It also helps you to concentrate concentrate your energy on what you can influence instead of getting bog bogged ged down down with the the worry of what you cannot change. Leaders do their best and leave the rest. Tenth, leaders respect themselves. Without self-confidence, it is impossible to lead. This is needed even more in conditions conditions of uncert uncertain ainty ty and change. change. In Wipro Wipro,, one of the leaders leadership hip qualities on which we measure our leaders year after year is self-confidence. Finally, leaders have the ability to preserve when all odds are against them. This is especially important when the leader chooses to do something innovative or take a path not travelled before. The first reaction to this is usually criticism, not applause. But if the leader perserves, he may attract many others to follow. Based on the above description we have tried to identify his leadership style based on three models namely •
i10 model
•
Blake and Mouton Leadership Grid
•
Hersey and Blanchard Situational model
I10 Model
I10 model talks talks about about 10 leader leadershi ship p qualiti qualities es which which are represen represented ted with the help of the following pentagon
Informati 19
Intelligen
Integrit
Indepe ndence
I 10 Leadersh ip Model
Influenc
Insig
Imaginati
Intensi
Impact
Inspirati
Based on this i10 model we find the following attributes in him: Intelligence: He is an intelligent leader and that’s the reason why he was able to take WIPRO to
such an extent and is one of the wealthiest people in the world. He is low-key and it’s his ability to relate to anyone –from prime minister to gardener—that has contributed to his success. He knows well how to utilize his resources.
Information: He is an informative leader and believes in having high quality information with
him before taking any decision. Insight: He as a leader tells his team what he wants from them exactly and for that he needs to
have an insight about the matter. Moreover to utilise the resources well and to run such a large business he needs to have a clear insight about what the goal of the organization is. Imagination: Before taking any decision he looks at how it is going to work and this imagination
is done based on information about abo ut the environment as well as the capabilities c apabilities one has. Intensity: He is also a quick decision maker. He has a clear vision with which he intensifies the
activities where he lacks. Inspiration: He inspires his people by sharing the information with them, by empowering them,
by giving them confidence, confidence, by explaining explaining the vision and what they are going to achieve if they do so. Impact : He is an impactful leader because becau se of his thoughts and style of approaching the things. Integrity: He believes a leader should not only be consistent in what they say and do -but must
deliver on their commitments 20
Blake and Mouton Leadership Grid
Some leaders are very task-oriented; they simply want to get things done. Others are very people-oriented; they want people to be happy. And others are a combination of the two. If you prefer to lead by setting and enforcing tight schedules, you tend to be more production-oriented (or task-oriented). If you make people your priority and try to accommodate employee needs, then you're more people-oriented. Neither preference is right or wrong, just as no one type of leadership style is best for all situations. However, it's useful to understand natural leadership tendencies are, so that leaders can then start working on developing skills that they may be missing. A popular framework for thinking about a leader's 'task versus person' orientation was developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in the early 1960s. Called the Managerial Grid, or Leadership Grid, it plots the degree of task-centeredness versus person-centeredness and identifies five combinations as distinct leadership styles. Understanding the Model
The Managerial Grid is based on two behavioral dimensions: Concern for People - This is the degree to which a leader considers the needs of team members, their interests, and areas of personal development when deciding how best to accomplish a task 21
Concern for Production / task - This is the degree to which a leader emphasizes concrete objec objecti tive ves, s, orga organi niza zati tion onal al effi effici cien ency cy and and high high prod produc ucti tivi vity ty when when deci decidi ding ng how how best best to accomplish a task.
High Peopl People/ e/Lo Low w Prod Product uctio ion. n. Th This is styl stylee of leade leaderr is most most Country Country Club Club Leaders Leadership hip - High concerned about the needs and feelings of members of his/her team. These people operate under the assumption that as long as team members are happy and secure then they will work hard. What tends to result is a work environment that is very relaxed and fun but where production suffers due to lack of direction and control. This form is not suitable for Wipro because in long run too much concern for people and less concern for task will lead to world class results. Under premj premjii Wipro Wipro has become world world class class company company,, which which is not possib possible le with with countr country y club club Leadership Produce or Perish Leadership - High Production/Low People. Also known as Authoritarian or Compliance Leaders, people in this category believe that employees are simply a means to an end. Employee needs are always secondary to the need for efficient and productive workplaces. This type of leader is very autocratic, has strict work rules, policies, and procedures, and views punishment as the most effective means to motivate employees. This type of leadership is only prevalent in time prior to 1950’s. This style I long leads to employee dis-satisfaction. And leadership program in Wipro talks about the Premji’s interest in people development, so he leadership does not fall under this header. Impoverished Impoverished Leadership Leadership - Low Production/ Low People. This leader is mostly ineffective. He/she has neither a high regard for creating systems for getting the job done, nor for creating a work environment that is satisfying and motivating. The result is a place of disorganization, dissatisfaction and disharmony. Azim premji is highly successful business man. He is very effective, other wise how could he lead a company at the age of 21 yr. and made it a diversified as-well-as world class company. Premji’s leadership is above impoverished leadership. Middle-of-the-Road Leadership - Medium Production/Medium People. This style seems to be a balance of the two competing concerns. It may at first appear to be an ideal compromise. Therein lies the problem, though: When you compromise, you necessarily give away a bit of each concern so that neither production nor people needs are fully met. Leaders who use this style settle for average performance and often believe that this is the most anyone can expect. Azim premji is a person who strives for continues excellence. And people of his type do not compromise on average results. Team style - High Production / High People. The leader pays high concern to both people and produc producti tion. on. Motiva Motivati tion on is high. high. Charact Characteri eristi stics cs of this this style style is based based on the propos propositi itions ons of Theory of Theory Y of Douglas McGregor . The manager encourages teamwork and commitment among employees. This style emphasizes making employees feel part of the company-family, and 22
involving involving them in understandi understanding ng organizati organizational onal purpose purpose and determining determining production needs. Results in team environment based on trust and respect, which leads to high satisfaction and motivation motivation and, as a result, result, high production. production. Azim premji style is appropriate appropriate to this style. style. His encouragement through leadership programs at different levels of the organization is encourage people to autonomous in making decisions. Without technical degree he build India’s third largest IT company only because he believed in capabilities of people he selected. He could succeed because he gave his employee right training necessary to fulfill the job assigned to them. So according to our understanding of management practices at Wipro we feel Team style of leadership is most appropriate style of leadership for Azim premji.
Situational Leadership
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S1: Telling / Directing
Follower: R1: Low competence, low commitment / Unable and unwilling or insecure Leader: High task focus, low relationship focus When the follower cannot do the job and is unwilling or afraid to try, then the leader takes a highly directive role, telling them what to do but without a great deal of concern for the relationship. The leader may also provide a working structure, both for the job and in terms of how the person is controlled. The leader may first find out why the person is not motivated and if there are any limitations in ability. These two factors may be linked, for example where a person believes they are less capable than they should be may be in some form of denial of denial.. They follower may also lack selfconfidence as a result. 24
If the leader focused more on the relationship, the follower may become confused about what must be done and what is optional. The leader thus maintains a clear 'do this' position to ensure all required actions are clear.
S2: Selling / Coaching
Follower: R2: Some competence, variable commitment / Unable but willing or motivated Leader: High task focus, high relationship focus When the follower can do the job, at least to some extent, and perhaps is over-confident about their ability in this, then 'telling' them what to do may demotivate them or lead to resistance. The leader thus needs to 'sell' another way of working, explaining and clarifying decisions. The leader thus spends time listening and advising and, where appropriate, helping the follower to gain necessary skills through coaching methods.
S3: Participating / Supporting
Follower: R3: High competence, variable commitment co mmitment / Able but unwilling or insecure Leader: Low task focus, high relationship focus When the follower can do the job, but is refusing to do it or otherwise showing insufficient commitment, the leader need not worry about showing them what to do, and instead is concerned with finding out why the person is refusing and thence persuading them to cooperate. co operate. There is less excuse here for followers to be reticent about their ability, and the key is very much around motivation. If the causes are found then they can be addressed by the leader. The leader thus spends time listening, listening, praising and otherwise making the follower feel good when they show the necessary commitment.
S4: Delegating / Observing
Follower: R4: High competence, high commitment / Able and willing or motivated Leader: Low task focus, low relationship focus When the follower can do the job and is motivated to do it, then the leader can basically leave them to it, largely trusting them to get on with the job although they also may need to keep a relatively distant eye on things to ensure everything is going to plan. 25
Accroding to us Azim Premji is more of a delegating leader. This was because while selecting the people for employment employment he made sure he selected people who are highly motivated and aswell-as committed, with sufficient information and skill. Since he is into diversified businesses he is not an expert in all sectors. So person like with limited expertise will succeed by selecting people with motivation and commitment to work. So by this Azim premji is more of delegating leader.
CONTRIBUTION OF LEADERSHIP STYLE AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN WIPRO
Many factors can be considered when looking at organizational effectiveness, the back-office foundation of service delivery, and its effect on quality. Some of these factors include: 1. Commitment to quality :- A company’s commitment to quality can be truly successful only
when it starts at the top of the organization and employees and managers alike believe in the vision of quality for the company. The objectives of quality must be ingrained within the culture of the company, which is, in turn, passed on to customers and ties back to business objectives. 2. Highly skilled employees . A strong attention to training employees on a company’s quality
processes, whether directly or indirectly, can result in a highly cohesive workforce. A rigorous training program can be a catalyst for consistency throughout the company. Additionally, it may provide a standard approach to software engineering, from requirements gathering through releas releasee and accept acceptance ance testin testing. g. Furthe Furthermo rmore, re, having having a struct structure ure in place place to manage manage skill skill competencies with market demand is essential to getting the right people placed on the right projects. Lastly, having the processes in place to acquire new competencies and stay ahead of the learning curve will be a key asset to clients, who look to services firms to understand the latest technology trends. Whilee it may may be hard harder er to meas measur uree the the bene benefi fits ts of 3. Respons Responsiven iveness ess and flexibi flexibility lity. Whil responsiveness and flexibility and their relationship with quality, the team believes that these attributes can largely contribute to the overall success of a services engagement. Having the tools necessary to support employees in their daily interactions with customers can go a long way toward empowering them to respond quickly to clients’ needs and provide workarounds to problems in a timely manner.
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4. Strong work ethic . Although work ethic is largely a subjective criterion, it can be supported
through a company’s overall attitude toward quality and attention to customer satisfaction. 5. Lower turnover of employees. employees. A strong attention on employees and their training can result
in a lowered rate of employee turnover. This is of significant importance to customers, who invest a lot of time and energy en ergy in educating service providers about their businesses. b usinesses. Lower turnover of employees can also contribute to faster completion of projects because many employees will have the accumulated synergies from working together and with the client. Solid d proj projec ectt manag managem ement ent expe expert rtis isee and and its its 6. Robust Robust project project manage managemen mentt process processes es . Soli supporting tools and applications are a critical success factor for the smooth completion of any proje project. ct. This This has become become even even more more import important ant as large, large, enterp enterpri risese-wid widee projec projects ts may be composed of multiple subprojects and may involve geographically dispersed resources. 7. Strong Strong commun communicat ication ion flow between between client client and services services firm. Another benefit of an
integrated quality system is the continuous monitoring of current projects. This may take the form of customer visibility tools that allow customers to keep track of a project’s progress, particularly when projects are done remotely from the client’s site. It may also help to keep the communication flow open and direct, which may assist the meeting of tight project deadlines. Advantages of using quality standards by Wipro are:1. The offshore Indian firms have used quality as a competitive differentiator for years. 2. Quality certifications provide a common standard that is recognizable to companies regardless of their industry and offers a "stamp of approval" from a third party, whose role is to validate whethe whetherr a company company meets meets certai certain n requir requireme ements nts.. Thus, Thus, quality quality certif certifica icati tions ons can provid providee additional confidence and comfort to clients, particularly when the service being performed can be thousands of miles away. 3. Furthermore, given the strong technical focus of the offshore firms, it seemed a natural evolution to achieve a high level of competency and certification for software development. 4. While quality may sometimes take a back seat to cost when companies turn to external services firms, the team believes that it should be a fundamental requirement in any services engagement.
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While clients’ expectations tend to fluctuate depending on external factors as to whether quality or cost may be more important, the team further believes that these two factors go hand in hand and that, in the long run, cost savings cannot truly be realized without an attention to quality.
CHALLENGES IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Although, Although, WIPRO’s WIPRO’s success with leadership leadership development development is acknowledged acknowledged in India today, challen challenges ges of growth growth contin continue ue to repres represent ent itsel itselff throug through h unprece unprecedent dented ed scale scale and speed speed dimensions. Implications for leadership in WIPRO’s current environment include: 1. Fostering a climate in which a younger workforce rises to challenges of leadership faster than their predecessors, given the rate at which business opportunities present themselves across diverse diverse business business sectors in multiple multiple geographies. geographies. The younger generations generations in most parts of the world stand on newer educational paradigms and are seeped in possibilities that can be accessed faster than was once imagined. A major challenge for leadership development in a relatively young workforce is to be able to balance the needs of novelty with a sense of responsibility for the future. 2. Sufficient learning required to embrace the diversity of cultures, business sector models in different markets and geographies, has to occur more comprehensively. The dominant thinking around institution building has largely originated in India. Accommodating newer thought from foreign cultures and workforce within its mainstream culture is an act of leadership that needs closer attention. 3. We now have lesser time in which to help teams discover their purpose, and follow through in performing service operations. While such teaming is more common, the complex teaming problems arise at managerial and strategic levels as leaders grapple with rapid and complex informati information on flows that affect shortterm shortterm and mid-term mid-term business outlooks. This dimension dimension is amplified when teams work across virtual spaces from different continents. 4. Business Growth can often hide many a weakness in organisational routine. A focus and repeated stress on creating a winning culture could potentially instill a sense of infallibility. Leaders who are insensitive to such possibilities may project a false sense of confidence. A square challenge for leadership at WIPRO then is to be able to manage the scale and speed of business growth with a sense of realism and requisite humility. 28
5. As service providers in IT, the variety of market sectors served is generally a source of revenue potential. However, this potential can be realized only when leaders come to terms with the business model dynamism in client domains. Leadership response to changes in clients’ business models is key to future enablement of business.
COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ON WIPRO’S MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
During the course of this term paper composition I came across certain shocking facts like •
Wipro Wipro is allegedly involved in bribary bribary and unethical unethical practices. practices. Wipros Wipros code of conduct and busine business ss ethics ethics is clever cleverly ly writt written en to mask mask its its unethic unethical al methods methods of busine business. ss. Payment of money to expedite a routine governmental action to which the giver is otherwise otherwise entitled entitled to, this is nothing nothing but bribing bribing the employee employee to stop attending attending to other clients and do Wipros; job on last come first serve basis. It is totally unethical.
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Wipro allegedly ransacked all H1Bs earlier when there was no H1B quota restriction, just because the H1B application saves $700 over L1 visa application. Single guy allegedly getting billed to multiple clients at the same time. This is very common in managerial levels in Wipro. It seems in Wipro, Supervisors and employees with more than 10-15 years in wipro only get wipro shares at IPO price. Rest of the 95% employees won’t get any shares.
These surprising facts force us to give a second thought on the management practices of WIPRO.
BIBLIOGRAPHY •
Wipro Corporate
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iloveindia.com
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Knowledge @ emory Wipro’s Azim Premji on Leadership
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Leadership Development in India-An experiential perspective 29
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Case Study : Azim Hasham Premji's Value-Based Leadership NIPM Newsletter Vol.8
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Article: Management Practices
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Interviews with Azim Premji
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Alleged fraudulent practices by WIPRO-lay-off.org
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