Even as Srini Pallia, a Wipro veteran, is set to take charge as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, analysts expect the stock's underperformance to continue in the near-future. This, they believe, will be on the back of likely loss of market share, and difficult business environment. "We expect Wipro to underperform peers on growth once again in FY25 as channel checks and media reports suggest Wipro is losing share with select clients across multiple verticals.
IT major Wipro on Thursday said it will pay Rs 7 crore (Rs 70 million) each to its former joint chief executives Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani as severance packages.
Wipro has announced changes in the management structure of its IT business and expansion of its board. The firm appointed Girish Paranjpe, Suresh Senapaty and Suresh Vaswani to the Board of Wipro Ltd. Wipro also re-structured its IT business by appointing Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani as joint-CEOs. Paranjpe was the president of the banking, financial services & insurance business unit of the global IT business of Wipro. Suresh Vaswani was the president of Wipro Infotech
Blame it on improved business climate, restructuring within companies or just the basic need to pursue better opportunities -- the Indian information technology industry is seeing heavy churn at the top.
"Three-five years is the ideal time frame for a CEO to continue in the same position in a company," says Girish Paranjpe.
IT major Wipro on Friday reported 9.75 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,284.9 crore for the second quarter ended September 30.
In an interview with Mahesh Kulkarni and Archana Prasanna, Wipro's joint chief executive officer Girish Paranjpe says the company expects uniform growth in information technology spends, despite flat to marginally positive IT budgets in 2010.
Many analysts say the management structure was faulty, as the model can work at best as a stop-gap arrangement.
In April 2008, Wipro's technology business saw one of its biggest churns in the wake of the appointment of Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani as joint CEOs under an experimental management structure devised by Chairman Azim Premji.
The company plans to set up a new IT park near Kolkata and recently the company's Chairman, Azim Premji, had signed an agreement with the state government to acquire additional land.
"We found value in people being given flexibility instead of asking them to come to work when there is no work. We have also given them a choice of coming to office 10 days at a stretch in a month, rather than coming two days every week," says Girish Paranjpe, joint CEO of its information technology business.
"Our strategy is to recruit non-engineering graduates, in addition to engineering and make them fit into the slot. We are still working out the details," Wipro Technologies joint CEO Girish Paranjpe said.
Wipro, despite the 1.5 per cent drop on the volume front, has seen a positive uptake in terms of client additions and revenues.
Among Indian IT outsourcing companies, Wipro is the first company to give a flat to 2 per cent growth expectation for the July-September 2009 (third) quarter. Joint CEOs Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani spoke to Bibhu Ranjan Mishra on the company's growth path.
An MBA from Harvard Business School, Rishad, 32, joined the company almost two years ago as a business manager in the Banking and Finance division, which was then headed by Girish Paranjpe, the present joint CEO of the company's IT business. During his stint with GE Capital, Rishad was working in the treasury. Industry analysts say that Wipro is adhering to corporate standards, by treating the chairman's son at par with other employees.
India's third-largest software company, Wipro, has initiated a second round of major business and executive changes within a few weeks. A fortnight ago, the company announced the appointment of Suresh Vaswani and Girish Paranjpe as joint chief executive officers of Wipro Technologies, the company's global IT arm.
Wipro has announced changes in the management structure of its IT business and expansion of its board. The firm appointed Girish Paranjpe, Suresh Senapaty and Suresh Vaswani to the Board of Wipro Ltd. Wipro also re-structured its IT business by appointing Girish Paranjpe and Suresh Vaswani as joint-CEOs. Paranjpe was the president of the banking, financial services & insurance business unit of the global IT business of Wipro. Suresh Vaswani was the president of Wipro Infotech
It looks like IBM is betting on Vaswani to replicate the success he had with Dell
However, the IT firms will get some benefits, as software exports from their Chinese campuses will yield more in local currency
There is no substitute for hard work. I think the smartest people in life don't get ahead. It's the hard working people who do, says Rishad.
'The Aam Aadmi Party is the most successful and exciting start-up by an IIT-ian in the history of India,' former Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
Rishad joined the company in June 2007.
India's export-oriented information technology outsourcing industry is perhaps more optimistic today about growth prospects than it was in the past five years.
Anand Chandrasekharan, CTO of Mad Street Den tells Shobha Warrier of Rediff.com that he wants to make his company the one-stop artificial intelligence company in the world.