Wipro's Azim Premji: 'Ecology Is One of Our Big Bets for the Future'
Wipro chairman Azim Premji believes
that just as the past few decades have been the "Information Age,"
the next few decades will be the "Ecological Age." And just as he
transformed Wipro from a small oil and soap business into a US$6 billion IT and
FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) powerhouse, Premji is now betting on ecology
as the next big business opportunity for the group.
Wipro Water and Wipro Eco-Energy
were set up in 2008 and 2009 as part of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIE).
In a recent company reorganization, Premji has appointed two of his top
executives to head these fledgling businesses. Wipro Eco-Energy has been spun
off as a separate business unit under the leadership of T.K. Kurien, who was
formerly president of Wipro consulting, global programs and strategic initiatives.
Pratik Kumar, executive vice-president (human resources), has been given
additional charge of WIE, which includes the group's hydraulics and water
businesses. In an interview with India Knowledge@Wharton, Premji talks about
ecology as a social and business imperative, the vast opportunities that it
holds, and Wipro's foray and plans in this space.
An edited transcript of the
conversation appears below.
India Knowledge@Wharton: When did you first start thinking of ecology as a business
proposition? How did you zero in on the areas of water and eco-energy, and how
do these fit in with Wipro's overall gameplan?
Azim Premji: Ecology and economy are becoming inextricably entwined and
the world is becoming more conscious of this fact. Despite widely differing
perspectives and agendas, there seems to be a remarkable global consensus that
has built up over a fairly short period of time that climate change and ecology
is one of the truly defining issues for humanity. This is not a 'few quarters
trend'; this is something that will build over the next few decades and will
become the defining force for all of us. We think that if the past few decades
can be characterized as the "Information Age", the next few will be
the "Ecological Age".
One of the simplest ways to address
this at Wipro -- simple, because in a way [that] was within our control -- was
to try and implement methods and policies which resulted in a positive impact
in each of these areas: economy, ecology and society. Hence the idea was that
Wipro should go green internally. Next was the question of how we influence our
other stakeholders: employees, partners and customers. All of these questions
led us to an incremental business opportunity we could create in our existing
businesses.
Around January 2007 we narrowed down
on ecology as the key strategic socio-economic dynamic that we would invest in.
We finally decided on water and renewable energy as two areas within the
ecology domain we would evaluate and enter. The choice of ecology has a double
benefit: in itself ecological considerations will dramatically change and drive
opportunities across the world and secondly, a lot of these factors will also
leverage infrastructure growth. Our focus on water and eco-energy does not only
make ecological sense, but underlines business sense, as well.
India Knowledge@Wharton: How big do you expect these new businesses to become in the
long term for Wipro? Is this Wipro's big bet for the future?
Premji: According to a U.N. report, the global market for
environmental products and services is expected to be more than $2 trillion by
2020. Together both the businesses [Wipro Water and Wipro Eco-Energy] currently
employ around 300 people and in the last year and a half we have done several
key projects for large organizations in the country. We have big plans for this
business and believe that it has the potential of becoming a significant
business in the next five years. Yes, in that sense, it is one of our big bets
for the future.
India Knowledge@Wharton: How much have you invested till now in Water and Eco-Energy
and what kind of investments are you looking at making over the next three to
five years?
Premji: We have made and will make adequate and significant
investments. Whatever investments are required to make these businesses fulfill
their promise, we will do.
India Knowledge@Wharton: What areas are you focused on at Wipro Water?
Premji: We have a methodical, step-by-step approach. We are not in
a hurry. We are focused on segments where customers value engineering,
technology and execution capability. We are in high-purity water segments where
we can deliver complete solutions for large and small- scale industrial water
treatment, effluent treatment and reuse solutions. We offer desalination
solutions also. Over a longer period we will be across multiple segments and
geographies.
India Knowledge@Wharton: What is Wipro Eco-Energy focused on and how do you see it
evolving?
Premji: We can offer a range of clean energy and energy efficiency
technologies customized for specific client situations and integrated with a
lot of system intelligence. We consult, engineer, implement, integrate and
manage these systems.
In simple terms, we can help build
green facilities and infrastructure for you, make your factories green or help
manage your service operations to become green. We can do this for a bank, a
telecom services company, a steel plant, an airport operator, a tire
manufacturing firm, etc. We can do this at a very large (utility) scale or at
the scale of smaller facilities.
India Knowledge@Wharton: What is your business model in these two new areas?
Premji: Our business model is primarily that of consulting,
engineering, system integration and managed services.
India Knowledge@Wharton: What are the current strengths within the Wipro Group that
you believe you can leverage in these two new businesses?
Premji: We understand how to build and manage businesses that
involve technology, engineering and people at a large scale on a global
platform. Added to this is our focus on process excellence. We also have
expertise in systems integration and high-precision manufacturing.
The fact that Wipro has implemented
what it preaches helps. By addressing our own energy problems first, we have
sharpened our learning in this area. Wipro's 22,000-people campus at Electronic
City [in Bangalore] has turned into a test bed. Besides this campus, we have
the largest number of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold
and Platinum level "green buildings" in India.
India Knowledge@Wharton: Can you share some more details of how you are addressing
energy and water issues within Wipro itself?
Premji: Everything that we are offering to customers, we have done
ourselves. For example, extensive water treatment in combination with rainwater
harvesting ensures that 32% of our total water requirements are met through
recycling and harvesting. Implementation of waste-to-energy conversion at our
biogas and paper recycling plants in our Electronic City facility are important
milestones. [The latest sustainability report is available at http://www.wipro.com/corporate/investors/sustainability-wipro.htm.]
India Knowledge@Wharton: What are the green initiatives within the other businesses
of Wipro? What are the key priorities and challenges?
Premji: All of our businesses have their own green offerings. There
are three aspects of green in the IT business. We think that 'IT for Green' is
far more important than 'Green IT'. IT in itself or IT infrastructure has less
than 2% contribution to greenhouse gases or other ecological concerns. The big
opportunity for IT is to help mitigate the effect of the other 98%. We will
work with customers to create opportunities for their businesses, in the
"Ecological Age", using IT. This is where IT can play a real role and
this is what we are trying to build on.
Let me give two examples. One,
technology-enabled energy management services is integral to intelligent
buildings and intelligent buildings are going to be one of the key battle
fronts for climate change. We have made significant investments in a smart
energy grid along with our technology partners. Two, IT is the heart of
"intelligent" devices which can use less or more energy from the grid
based on load or other factors. Say you had a refrigerator that would use power
based on a combination of the food inside the refrigerator and the load on the
grid. This can dramatically increase energy efficiency. Simply put, IT can help
improve efficiency of all assets. We will help our customers with this and
build on this opportunity.
Our innovation program combines the
rigor of process with widely spread (across employee and partner base) sparks
of creativity. We have built it over the past seven years. We are now
[promoting] 'green' as a big theme in our innovation program. This is a
long-term and fundamental investment theme for IT.
In our PC manufacturing business, we
have made significant progress on the Green PC on all three dimensions: energy
efficiency, RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) and Take-Back
[recycling] program.
In our lighting business, we have
the entire range of LED lighting solutions. Already, 70% of LEED-certified buildings
in India are lit by Wipro Lighting.
India Knowledge@Wharton: What are your key priorities for Wipro Water and Wipro
Eco-Energy?
Premji: [We want] to prepare a sound platform of engineering
ability and technology so that we can scale this up over the long term; we are
very clear that we are in it for the long haul.
India Knowledge@Wharton: What do you see as the key challenges for Wipro in these
new businesses?
Premji: The regulatory environment must execute the policies well
and with stability. Also, technology is rapidly evolving in certain segments
and we must keep pace with that.
India Knowledge@Wharton: Do you plan to get into equipment manufacturing in these
two businesses?
Premji: No plans as of now; however, in the very long view that we
have of the businesses, we won't rule anything out completely.
India Knowledge@Wharton: Do you plan to take these businesses global? If so, when?
Premji: Yes, we will. But we will do that after a while.
India Knowledge@Wharton: You have recently spun off Wipro Eco-Energy as a separate
business to be headed by T.K. Kurien. What was the thinking behind this move?
Will the Water business also be spun off as an independent unit?
Premji: Eco-Energy is a key area of growth and requires that degree
of leadership attention. This structure enables the same leadership attention
on Water as well.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4486
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