22 Jan 2009:Every cloud has a silver lining and when the going gets tough, the tough get going that`s what is Azim Premji`s broad message to his fellow Wiproites. In an internal mail, seemingly aimed at boosting the employee morale, Wipro chairman lists out seven things that Wiproites can do to come out on top in an environment, which he says looks more like a "bear hug" than a "squeeze."
Here are seven things Premji suggests to his 95,000 employees to weather the tough times.
Premji says this is the right time to invest in the "right opportunities. The best time to invest is always when things are at rock bottom. Look for opportunities in markets like India and Middle East ."
All big Indian IT companies get more than 50 percent of their revenues from the US markets. The financial turmoil in the US is making Indian IT companies look beyond their key market and explore new territories. IT majors are rapidly expanding in Europe, Asia, the Middle-East and Latin America to cut their dependence on the United States .
Wipro too is making large investments in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, including India . Infosys Technologies too plans to cut its dependence on the US down to about 40 percent from the present 60 percent.
Premji repeatedly says in the note that in these times do maximum opportunities abound. Paraphrasing Charles Dickens he says, "in the winter of despair, lies the spring of hope." Showing the positive side of slowdown, he says that oil prices have crashed from $140 to under $75 with expectations of further fall.
In the note he says that `demographically weak` large economies with "productivity problems," mean customers will face significant cost pressures, which could be a driver for more outsourcing.
A similar viewpoint is shared by many analysts who believe that the global financial turmoil may boost outsourcing industry as the focus shifts towards cost cutting, making companies shift work to cheaper locations.
According to them, existing contracts could continue and outsourcing could be stepped up but there could also be massive restructuring of offshore deals.
The crisis in the US has brought in the urgent need for increasing the dependence on the existing resources and maximising their usage. According to Premji the need of the hour is to optimise existing resources to the core. He says, "Make assets go as far as they can by increasing their use."
It`s also time for belt tightening. The note suggests employees to spend thriftily on capital expenditure, "To make assets go as far as they can by increasing their use," and critically, "cut down discretionary expense."
Though what exact form this may take has been left unstated.
On their part, IT companies have already gone into cost-cutting mode. There were reports of Indian IT companies replacing their AC staff buses by non-AC ones, cutting on food allowances, cutting official travel cost etc.
Some have also gone for layoffs, though no company said that it was a part of cost cutting. Recently, in an internal memo the leading enterprise software company SAP also outlined measures to cut cost.
Premji`s fifth commandment to employees is: "be absolutely customer centric."
He says in his note, "We must have a clear solution that will help our customer`s business in these troubled times, so Wipro can be seen as a partner of choice compared to our competition."
Productivity is going to be a big mantra going forward.
Premji emphasises that every employee should combine their skills with talent and work harder towards achieving his goals.
According to him, it`s time for employees to adopt multi-tasking approach and maximise productivity.
"Manage risks," is Premji`s last but not the least commandment for Wiproites.
Given that global slowdown is a reality with recession looming large, it is time to hedge risks. Especially in the scenario in which US -- reeling under a financial crisis, is IT companies’ biggest market.
Source:
http://Times of India
Here are seven things Premji suggests to his 95,000 employees to weather the tough times.
Premji says this is the right time to invest in the "right opportunities. The best time to invest is always when things are at rock bottom. Look for opportunities in markets like India and Middle East ."
All big Indian IT companies get more than 50 percent of their revenues from the US markets. The financial turmoil in the US is making Indian IT companies look beyond their key market and explore new territories. IT majors are rapidly expanding in Europe, Asia, the Middle-East and Latin America to cut their dependence on the United States .
Wipro too is making large investments in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, including India . Infosys Technologies too plans to cut its dependence on the US down to about 40 percent from the present 60 percent.
Premji repeatedly says in the note that in these times do maximum opportunities abound. Paraphrasing Charles Dickens he says, "in the winter of despair, lies the spring of hope." Showing the positive side of slowdown, he says that oil prices have crashed from $140 to under $75 with expectations of further fall.
In the note he says that `demographically weak` large economies with "productivity problems," mean customers will face significant cost pressures, which could be a driver for more outsourcing.
A similar viewpoint is shared by many analysts who believe that the global financial turmoil may boost outsourcing industry as the focus shifts towards cost cutting, making companies shift work to cheaper locations.
According to them, existing contracts could continue and outsourcing could be stepped up but there could also be massive restructuring of offshore deals.
The crisis in the US has brought in the urgent need for increasing the dependence on the existing resources and maximising their usage. According to Premji the need of the hour is to optimise existing resources to the core. He says, "Make assets go as far as they can by increasing their use."
It`s also time for belt tightening. The note suggests employees to spend thriftily on capital expenditure, "To make assets go as far as they can by increasing their use," and critically, "cut down discretionary expense."
Though what exact form this may take has been left unstated.
On their part, IT companies have already gone into cost-cutting mode. There were reports of Indian IT companies replacing their AC staff buses by non-AC ones, cutting on food allowances, cutting official travel cost etc.
Some have also gone for layoffs, though no company said that it was a part of cost cutting. Recently, in an internal memo the leading enterprise software company SAP also outlined measures to cut cost.
Premji`s fifth commandment to employees is: "be absolutely customer centric."
He says in his note, "We must have a clear solution that will help our customer`s business in these troubled times, so Wipro can be seen as a partner of choice compared to our competition."
Productivity is going to be a big mantra going forward.
Premji emphasises that every employee should combine their skills with talent and work harder towards achieving his goals.
According to him, it`s time for employees to adopt multi-tasking approach and maximise productivity.
"Manage risks," is Premji`s last but not the least commandment for Wiproites.
Given that global slowdown is a reality with recession looming large, it is time to hedge risks. Especially in the scenario in which US -- reeling under a financial crisis, is IT companies’ biggest market.
Source:
http://Times of India
