A Successful Entrepreneur: Azim Hashim Premji
1. Entrepreneur Profile: Personal & Business
A. Personal
Premji was born on July 24th 1945 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, to a Gujarati Khoja Ismaili Shia Muslim family. Azim H. Premji was born to M.H. Hasham Premji. His father M. H. Premji owned the Western India Vegetable Product Company (which later became Wipro Ltd.) which made hydrogenated vegetable oils and fats. His grandfather was the rice king of Burma. His father had declined an invitation from Muhammed Ali Jinnah to go to Pakistan. Premji attended St. Mary`s School I.C.S.E. in Mazagaon, Mumbai. While he completed his initial education at St. Mary's School, Mumbai, Premji was forced to leave his studies in electrical engineering from Stanford University, California, USA. He was just finishing his undergraduate engineering studies at Stanford University in 1966 when his father M.H. Premji, suddenly passed away at the age of 21 to take over the family business. He immediately returned to India where he took over the family`s fledgling vegetable oil business, Western Indian Vegetable Products Limited (now called Wipro). Premji started off with a simple vision: to build an organization on a foundation of values. He eventually received permission to take correspondence art courses to complete the requirements for his bachelor`s degree in Electrical Engineering. He has since after a gap of over thirty years completed his degree in Electrical Engineering. Under Premji’s leadership, the Amalner-based vanaspathi manufacturing company, the Western India Vegetable Product later became Wipro Products Ltd, Wipro Technologies and Wipro Corporation, embarked on an ambitious phase of expansion and diversification. As a result, the $1.5 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats grew within a few years to a $662 million diversified, integrated corporation in services, medical systems, technology products and consumer items with offices worldwide. The company’s IT division became the world's first to win SEI CMM level
A. Personal
Premji was born on July 24th 1945 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, to a Gujarati Khoja Ismaili Shia Muslim family. Azim H. Premji was born to M.H. Hasham Premji. His father M. H. Premji owned the Western India Vegetable Product Company (which later became Wipro Ltd.) which made hydrogenated vegetable oils and fats. His grandfather was the rice king of Burma. His father had declined an invitation from Muhammed Ali Jinnah to go to Pakistan. Premji attended St. Mary`s School I.C.S.E. in Mazagaon, Mumbai. While he completed his initial education at St. Mary's School, Mumbai, Premji was forced to leave his studies in electrical engineering from Stanford University, California, USA. He was just finishing his undergraduate engineering studies at Stanford University in 1966 when his father M.H. Premji, suddenly passed away at the age of 21 to take over the family business. He immediately returned to India where he took over the family`s fledgling vegetable oil business, Western Indian Vegetable Products Limited (now called Wipro). Premji started off with a simple vision: to build an organization on a foundation of values. He eventually received permission to take correspondence art courses to complete the requirements for his bachelor`s degree in Electrical Engineering. He has since after a gap of over thirty years completed his degree in Electrical Engineering. Under Premji’s leadership, the Amalner-based vanaspathi manufacturing company, the Western India Vegetable Product later became Wipro Products Ltd, Wipro Technologies and Wipro Corporation, embarked on an ambitious phase of expansion and diversification. As a result, the $1.5 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats grew within a few years to a $662 million diversified, integrated corporation in services, medical systems, technology products and consumer items with offices worldwide. The company’s IT division became the world's first to win SEI CMM level
References: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azim_premji 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wipro 3. http://www.wipro.com/corporate/aboutus/index.htm 4. http://www.mission10x.com/Home.aspx 5. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?267394