Sometimes history repeats itself, but a little differently. Wipro has lost its Vice Chairman Vivek Paul, the highest paid Indian professional manager (at $ 1 million) in quick succession to the exit of Raman Roy, who used to head Wipro BPO.
The question that needs to be asked is, why do the best managers leave Mr. Premji's organization?
As was reported in ET he may have left due to differences with Premji and also proves the theory that People dont work for organisations but for thier managers
ReplyDeleteWell this was seen as about to happen and there was a lot of speculation on this already. The TOI interview
ReplyDeleteTOI interview with Vivek Paul does lay out some reasons
Was there any kind of pressure that forced you to quit?
Well, there was some push and pull. If you have $15 billion ( market capitalisation of Wipro) in family business, how can you not tend to it? I would do the same if I were in his position.
So, you do admit that there was some friction between you and Premji?
Between any two individuals there is always friction. Even within family - brothers and sisters. You need to resolve this and go forward. How you resolve this is important, and in Wipro, we had a mechanism to do that - that is how Wipro had become a globally recognised brand.
I have a post on a similar topic at my blog The disengaged CEO
Looking at the positive side, I'd say Mr. Premji is doing a great job of building entrepreneurs.....
ReplyDeleteIt must be something to do with Premji. With a lot at stake (84%) there is something in his style. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteIt is a pity if good managers are forced to leave a company due to personal reaons like not seeing eye to eye with top management /owners - sure Mr.Premji made Wipro - but I see this happening often with companies where individuals - usually founding - still retain control over every aspect of the working of the company... and this happens esp in family-owned businesses.
ReplyDeleteWipro is a conservative company and it is not suitable for flashy media-savvy people like Vivek Paul. Vivek Paul had built a distinct identity for himself in the Corporate World and this might have not gone down well with premji. I even heard that when some employee of Wipro bought a Mercedes Benz, he was told that such grandeur doesn't fit in well with the Wipro culture and hence he was asked to leave. I guess Wipro is an excellent training ground for budding entrepreneurs.
ReplyDeleteFrom Red Herring
ReplyDeleteQ: There have been rumors about your possible rift with CEO Azim Premji and also that his son may join the company. Did that have anything to do with your departure?
A: In some sense, you don’t make a big move like I have because you are irritated. Being vice chairman of Wipro is a very plum job. You don’t leave it because you are in a bad mood.
For Good Managers/Leaders to quit, there have to be Good Managers/Leaders :) So...the question is not why do Good managers/Leaders leave Wipro, the question really is how does Wipro end up churning out so many good managers/leaders
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