Azim Premji is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist who transformed his father's small hydrogenated cooking oil company Wipro into a $8 billion global IT company. After graduating from Stanford, he had to return home in 1966 to lead Wipro after his father's death. He diversified Wipro's offerings and recognized the potential of IT in the 1980s. Under his leadership, Wipro became a pioneer in IT services. Premji also founded the Azim Premji Foundation which works to improve school education in rural India.

1. AZIM HASIM PREMJI

2. ASSIGNMENT 1
ENTREPRENEURIAL CASE : An Analysis of
Entrepreneurial Quality Traits
&
Common Mistakes
Submitted by: Anchal Goel Submitted to: Amrin Thind
Submitted On: 31st
August 2015

4. Task 1:
Case on “Mr. Azim Hashim Premji”
EntrepreneurProfile
Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian business tycoon, investor and
philanthropist, who is the chairman of Wipro Limited, informally known as the ‘Czar’ of the
Indian IT Industry.
Azim was born in Bombay India in a Nizari Ismaili Shia Muslim family originally hailing from
Kutch in Gujarat. His father was a noted businessman and was known as Rice King of Burma.
After partition, when Jinnah invited his father Mohamed Hashem Premji to come to Pakistan, he
turned down the request and chose to remain in India.
Premji has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree (equivalent to a Bachelor of
Engineering degree) from Stanford University, USA. He is married to Yasmeen. The couple
have two children, Rishad and Tariq. Rishad is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of IT
Business, Wipro.
Premji has been recognised by Business Week as one of the Greatest Entrepreneurs for being
responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the world's fastest growing companies.
BriefAboutEnterprise
Being one of India's richest business tycoons and the chairman of Wipro Limited, he led Wipro
since 1966.
Under his leadership Wipro has diversified 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.
Wipro Limited is today a $8 billion (INR 48,000 crores) revenue IT, BPO and R&D services
organization spread over 50 countries.
The IT division of the company generates maximum revenue. Wipro Technologies is the third
largest software development company in India. Wipro works with leading global companies,
such as Alcatel, Nokia, Cisco and Nortel.
According to an annual survey conducted by Brand Finance and The Economic Times in 2010,
it is the 9th most valuable brand in India.

5. Philanthropy : Azim Premji Foundation and University: In 2001, he founded Azim Premji
Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a vision to contribute to systemic changes in
Indian education that facilitates a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society.
Operational since 2001, the Foundation has engaged with over 2.5 million children in 20,000
schools across 13 states through a committed workforce of over 250 professionals and hundreds
of paid volunteers
The foundation has worked largely in rural areas, to help contribute to the improvement of
quality and equity of school education.
Azim Premji's Career
Premji’s career started in 1966 when he had to cut short his education at Stanford University
upon receiving the news of his father’s demise and come back home to take charge of his
father’s company, which had been started in 1945. At that time, Wipro was working out of a
small town in Maharashtra named Amalner and dealt in Sunflower Vanaspati, a cooking oil
brand, and 787, a laundry soap that was the byproduct of cooking oil production.
Premji managed to diversify the company’s offerings by starting the production of bakery fat,
various kinds of lights and related products, toiletries made from locally available ingredients,
hydraulic cylinders, hair care soaps and toiletries for babies. Thanks to his visionary capabilities,
he was able to understand the potential of information technology in the 1980s.
At that time, there was a significant gap in the IT market in India when IBM was shown the
door. So, Premji changed the name of his company to Wipro and started to make
microcomputers so as to gain entry into the sector for high technology products. In this project,
he collaborated with Sentinel Computer Corporation, an American organization. Very soon, he
made a complete shift from fast moving consumer goods to the technology industry.
The Phases of Struggle
1. Left Engineering from Stanford University, California: Because of sudden death of his
father , he had to cut short his education and come back home to took family business of
hydrogenated cooking fats at
the young age of 21 in 1986.
2. Convincing Shareholders: The biggest hurdle was to win the confidence of the
shareholders. When Premji chaired the company’s first shareholder meeting after the demise of
his father, a gentleman stood up and addressed Premji, saying “young man, my strong advice is
that you sell your shares to a more mature holder. There’s no way you can run a complex
company like this.” In the face of such discouraging words Premji had one simple but powerful
idea for the company: to wean away the mosquitoes and flies that hovered around the tins of
hydrogenated fat. Premji introduced the idea of packaging vanaspati in hygenic packets. For a

6. 1960’s India with socialist leanings, the small innovation was indeed a revolution, and Indians
took to the branded ‘vanaspati’ in droves.
3. Diversification: Diversification of family run business into a large empire i.e; From
vegetables oil business to one of the largest IT service provider and software behemoth “Wipro”.
Vanaspati manufacturing company Wipro Products Limited Wipro Technologies
IT Sector Wipro Corporation.
4. Burden of Bribe: Once during the late 80’s, when a bureaucrat from a government-owned
power utility demanded a bribe to supply electricity to Wipro’s facilities, Premji not only refused
to pay the bribe but instead spent 150 times the bribe money to build a captive power plant.
Premji’s mantra for Wipro has been clear–“integrity is non-negotiable”.
The Point of Success:
In 1945, Muhammad Has him Premji incorporated Western Indian Vegetable Products Ltd,
based at Amalner, a small town in the Jargon district of Maharashtra. It used to manufacture
cooking oil under the brand name Sunflower Vanaspati, and a laundry soap called 787, a
byproduct of oil manufacture.
In 1966, on the news of his father's death, the then 21-year-old Azim Premji returned home from
Stanford University, where he was studying engineering, to take charge of Wipro. The company,
which was called Western Indian Vegetable Products at the time, dealt in hydrogenated oil
manufacturing but Azim Premji later diversified the company to bakery fats, ethnic ingredient
based toiletries, hair care soaps, baby toiletries, lighting products, and hydraulic cylinders.
In the 1980s, the young entrepreneur, recognizing the importance of the emerging IT field, took
advantage of the vacuum left behind by the expulsion of IBM from India, changed the company
name to Wipro and entered the high-technology sector by manufacturing minicomputers under
technological collaboration with an American company Sentinel Computer Corporation.
Thereafter Premji made a focused shift from soaps to software. He was responsible for guiding
Wipro through four decades of diversification and growth to finally emerge as one of the global
leaders in the Software Industry.
WordsofSuggestionfromthe entrepreneurtothe Beginners:
1. Be alert for the first signs of change: Change descends on every One equally; it is just that
some realize it faster. In the case of change, being forewarned is being forearmed.
2. Always look at the opportunities that change represents: For every problem that change
represents, there is an opportunity lurking in disguise somewhere. It is up to you to spot it before
someone else does.

7. 3. Keep renewing yourself : In the world of tomorrow, only those individuals and organizations
will succeed who have mastered the art of rapid and on-going learning.
4. “Play to win..!!: Playing to win is not the same as cutting corners instead it is to stretch
yourself to your maximum and use all your potential and Do your best and leave the rest.
5. Never change: your core values : In spite of all the change around you, decide upon what you
will never change: your core values. Take your time to decide what they are but once you do, do
not compromise on them for any reason. Integrity is one such value.
LessonsLearnt asa ManagementStudent:
Lesson 1: Be careful to ask what you want. You may get it.
Lesson # 2: Respond, don’t react.
Lesson # 3: Intuitions are important for making decisions.
Lesson # 4: Learn to work in teams.
Lesson #5: Never lose your zest and curiosity.
Lesson # 6: Put yourself first.
Lesson # 7: Have a broader social vision.
Lesson # 8: Play to win.

8. Task 2:
Merging Entrepreneurial List
Group: 2
Industry: FMCG (Detergent)
List of Entrepreneurs along with their Qualities and Mistakes
1. Mr.AzimHashimPremji:
Qualities –
Personality Traits:
 Value-oriented person.
 Down-to-earth personality.
 High on action.
 Believes in professionalism.
 Prefers solitude to the spotlight
 Always believes in work.
Enterprenuerial Qualities:
 Commitment and determination
 Leadership
 Opportunity obsession
 Tolerance of risk
 Creativity
 Ability to use failure experience as a way of learning
 Self-reliance and ability to adapt
 Motivation to excel.
Mistakes –
 He had taken a major risk in diversification without proper knowledge.
 He had to left his studies at early stage.
2. Mr. V.GSiddhartha:
Qualities -
 Managing time effectively.
 Visualizing goals and success.
 Listening and communicating well.
 Seeking help when need it.
Mistakes –

9.  Not setting the right goals.
 Choosing the wrong business.
 Trying to Do Everything Alone.
 Unaware of securities market.
3. Mr. Rahul Bajaj:
Qualities -
 Plan everything.
 Goal oriented.
 Hard working.
 Quick learner.
Mistakes –
 Not understanding technology.
 Bad pricing.
 Being cheap about marketing.
4. Ms. Jyoti Naik
Qualities -
 Visionary especially for women
 Self employment
 Sheer hard work and dedication converted a small industry into a cottage national
movement for women.
 Innovative.
 Simplicity and coorperation
 Extreme Value driven
 Great emphasis on quality
 Business ethics
 Hard working
 Quick learner
Mistakes –
 Legal issues
 Space concern during rainy season
 Lack of capital
 Raised a huge amount of loan
 Pricing policy is not good.
NOTE:- M. TASIM & BHANU PRATAP SINGH ( No entrepreneur , no information)
Set ofEntrepreneurialQualities (Commonand Netfrom above)
 Hard working
 Self motivated
 Visionary

10. CommonEntrepreneurialMistakes(from above)thatshould be Avoided
 lack of proper knowledge whether due start business at the earlier stage or due to
improper knowledge about the market.
 Inadequate Pricing policy to survive in the market.