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Business Profile
Some business stories, like the Wipro success story, show that with the right vision and a drive to grow consistently, anything is possible. Wipro is one such company profile offering certain learnings that can tempt the entrepreneurial spirit in any new and upcoming small business.
Wipro (Western India Products) was started as a family grain trading business, which was expanded into oil manufacturing in 1945 by Mohamed Hussain Hasham Premji at the young age of 21. Over the next two decades, the business continued to grow successfully, producing the iconic sunflower vanaspati oil used in Indian cooking. This growth forms a crucial part of the Wipro case study.
His son, Azim Premji, took over the reins of the family business after his father's untimely death in 1966. For the next 50+ years, Azim Premji took the company on an exhilarating journey of growth, moving away from oil manufacturing and towards computer hardware like minicomputers, consumer products, and industrial equipment. Through a focused and versatile business model, Wipro found its calling in the fast-growing Information Technology (IT) industry. Today, Wipro is India's third most-valued IT company in terms of market capitalization.
Defining Traits
Wipro is founded by a family with a deep-rooted entrepreneurial spirit. Staying close to their values and mission to serve and grow, it didn't matter if the family traded grains, manufactured oil, or produced minicomputers; they proved that for a business to succeed in any industry, the basic foundation needs to be strong yet pivotable, something we see in the Wipro Business Model.
Wipro's success story is largely down to creating a long-standing culture of excellence within their employees, who clearly support and aspire towards a common goal along with the founders. As a leader, Azim Premji, who led the company for 53 years, has publicly modeled his company's focus on honesty and never compromising on family values.
There are two main aspects that create success in a business: one is its employees, and the other is the customers they serve. Wipro has stayed keenly attuned to the basic principle of business management of meeting the evolving needs of its clients within every industry that they have served. One could go so far as to say, for Wipro, this has been an obsession, making sure to grow aggressively in the direction of the market's voice.
In the Wipro case study, we see how they expanded globally when the IT industry was growing at a fast pace internationally. They saw an opportunity for India, and they seized it, even getting listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2000.
Key Takeaways
The inspirational stories that define the Wipro success story have remained consistent through the 75 years of business. The first would be their honest approach to business, irrespective of the industry they were operating in. Followed by the creation of an extended family-like company culture by placing the focus on their employees and customers, who form the support structure of any successful operation. And the final takeaway would be their adherence to philanthropic principles of giving back to society.
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