Faster, Better, Speedier

You see him first. Then you

hear him. And his laughter

continues to ring in your ears much after you have left his office. That's Vivek Paul, the 41-year-old President and CEO of Wipro Infotech Software and Services Group, who has taken over the reigns from the 57-year-old Ashok Soota. The contrast to Soota's and Azim Premji's quiet and soft spoken ways can't be more telling. This is the first big change that has come in the wake of restructuring that took place in April this year. Also, in keeping with Premji's management style.

Actually, it was a change that was waiting to happen. For one, there were not many in the industry who were willing to bet on Soota remaining in Wipro after the business was split in two. As for the choice of a rank outsider, well, that also is in keeping with the management style of Premji who has often brought in outsiders for key positions. But what the move also clearly underlines is Chairman Premji's software ambitions. A well-recognized name locally, nearly 50% of Wipro Ltd's Rs1443 crore came from software exports. His goal, as declared last year, is to become the largest software exporter by 2003 by getting to a $1 billion in revenue.

It is anybody's guess from where that growth would come from. Says Premji, "The first ingredient to building a global business as opposed to having an international one, is being close to your customers both in proximity and by proactively understanding their requirements. And to realize our vision of being a global leader in software services, it was clear that we at Wipro have to move our center of gravity closer to our customers overseas." And so, in a dramatic departure from past ways of working, the CEO will be located at Wipro's Santa Clara office in California in the US.

While the person in question sees more advantages than disadvantages, there are many who question the wisdom of having a long-distance CEO. According to Paul, "I can get a lot closer to the market and consequently drive the organization in ways that a salesperson sitting in the US cannot." While they don't fully disagree on the logic of the argument-after all, getting orders is more important than the delivery part of the business-they are not sure of its feasibility. Especially when it comes to providing leadership to human resources and finance. Ironically, it is for the same reason that Paul prefers to be a remote CEO. Says he, "As CEO, I can concentrate on larger issues instead of getting bogged in transactional issues."

In his opinion, there are enough people in Team Wipro, as he calls them, to focus on the domestic affairs. He is not wee bit worried. Between travelling 6 to 8 times a year to India and Team Wipro, he is certain that operations will be seamless. Interestingly, it's also one area where he intends to focus a large part of his energies on. In fact, of the three broad areas which he has identified for immediate overhaul, getting rid of the 'turbulence' in the processes and making it more global to enable seamless operation across the world is one of them. Says he, "It's the 'how' of what we do. When we improve this, we can do everything faster."

The other two areas are: getting close to customers to build services around that need; and invest in replicable services built on IP (Intellectual Property) services.

All of the above would indicate definite changes in the structure. But there is no evidence of it yet. And probably, mainly because Wipro is fresh from its restructuring in April and Paul is 'loathe' to bring any changes immediately. However, some changes can be expected around October-November. For sure, some senior managers will be relocated to the US. Whether, we will see realignment of business responsibilities is debatable at this juncture.

It is early days yet to talk of Wipro's Software and Services Group's strategy in the global markets, as very little of that is out for public consumption. Currently, Paul is in the 'listening mode'-he would rather listen to everyone concerned and formulate the business strategy-so that "once the consensus on the strategy is gathered, we agree on the direction and then just do it."

Since the entire process is spread over three weeks of extensive interaction, one can look forward to the strategy toward the end of August or early September. But one thing is for sure. There will be an increased focus on the domestic market with the intention of steeply increasing the learning curve and deploying the learning in the global markets.

Just 11 days old in the organization at the time of meeting, Paul, brings with him a formidable reputation: a tough manager with a no-nonsense attitude on one hand and on the other, a highly ethical and sensitive person with the ability to empower and take people along with him. Wipro-ites have had a feel of him earlier when he worked with the joint venture Wipro-GE Medical Systems Ltd in 1990.

In less than three years, at 35 years of age, he went on to become the CEO and President-a post he held till 1996-with the additional responsibility as Chairman of the Sales and Marketing Council of Wipro Corporation.

Executive Vice President of Siemens Medical Engineering Division Ltd CR Sahu still swears by Paul. Then with Wipro GE, Sahu describes his five-year professional association with Paul in one word: "fantastic." Says he, "He brought channel business and key account concepts and achieved a milestone of Rs100 crore, doubling business."

Can Paul do it again? Sahu is willing to bet everything on Paul's "dynamism and foresight" to do it again. As for the man himself, this is what he has to say to the challenge.

"Faster, better, speedier is what Wipro wants to be and will be. As for reaching the top, I have four more years to make it to the number one slot." Will it be the case of famous last words? Hope not but, in all sincerity, there are many in the past who have had to live up to Chairman Premji's expanding expectations and fallen short. One thing for sure is that Paul will be among the most watched and marked men!

LATHA

KUTTAPPAN-CHANDRADEEP in Bangalore