Azim Hasham Premji's Value-Based Leadership

Azim Hasham Premji (Premji), the Chairman of Wipro, was called upon to manage Wipro when he was just 21 years old, on the sudden demise of his father. Since then, the company has been on a rapid growth path. In the late 1970s, there was a growing demand for computers in India but there were not many indigenous computer manufacturers.

Although he had no knowledge or experience in the field, Premji decided to collaborate with scientists from the Indian Institute of Science⁶ (IIS) in Bangalore and started manufacturing hardware, and later software. Later on, when the Indian markets were liberalized in 1991, Wipro started producing software for export to the US.

Before Premji joined the company, Wipro dealt only in hydrogenated cooking fats, diversifying soon after into bakery fats, traditional Indian toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products and hydraulic cylinders.

At the first annual general meeting of Wipro attended by Premji, a shareholder publicly expressed his doubts as to Premji's ability to handle the business at such a young age and advised him to transfer his ownership and sell his shareholding to a more mature management.

Instead, Premji's resolve was strengthened and he was determined to run Wipro successfully...