Wipro

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Wipro Limited

Type

Public

Traded as

BSE: 507685
NSE: WIPRO
NYSE: WIT
BSE SENSEX Constituent

Industry

IT services, IT consulting

Founded

Amalner, Maharashtra (December 1945)

Founder(s)

Mohamed Hasham Premji

Headquarters

Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Area served

Worldwide

Key people

Azim Premji
(Chairman)

Services

IT, business consulting andoutsourcing services

Revenue

US$ 7.30 billion (2012)[1]

Operating income

US$ 1.25 billion (2012)[1]

Profit

US$ 1.09 billion (2012)[1]

Total assets

US$ 89.55 billion (2012)[1]

Total equity

US$ 5.60 billion (2012)[1]

Employees

135,920 (2012)[1]

Divisions

Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting

Wipro Infrastructure Engineering
Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited
Wipro Technology Services Limited

Website

www.wipro.com

Wipro Limited (formerly Western India Products Limited) (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685) is an Indian multinational
provider of Information technology (IT) services, consulting and outsourcing services. It is headquartered in Bangalore,
Karnataka, India.[2][3] As of 2012, the company has over 130,000 employees and a worldwide presence with global centers
across 54 countries.[4]
The company operates in four segments: IT products and services, Consumer care and lighting, Healthcare and
Infrastructure engineering.[5]
Contents
[hide]

1 History of Wipro
o

1.1 Early formative years

1.2 1988-1992

1.3 1994-2000

1.4 2001 onwards

2 Spirit of Wipro

2.1 Intensity to Win

2.2 Act with Sensitivity

2.3 Unyielding Integrity

3 Business Divisions of Wipro

3.1 Wipro IT

3.2 Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting

3.3 Wipro Infrastructure Engineering

3.4 Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited

4 Leadership
5 Sustainability at Wipro

5.1 Ecological Sustainability

5.2 Workplace Sustainability

5.3 Education and Community

5.4 Customer Stewardship

5.5 Supplier

5.6 Public regulation and policies

6 See also

7 References
8 External links

[edit]History
[edit]Early

of Wipro

formative years

The company was incorporated on 29 December 1945 at Mumbai by Mohamed Hasham Premji as Western India Products
Limited, later abbreviated to Wipro. It was initially set up as a manufacturer of vegetable ghee, vanaspati, refined oils
including salad oil in Amalner, Maharashtra under the trade names of Kisan, Sunflower and Camel. [6] The company logo
still contains a sunflower to reflect their original business.
In 1966, post his fathers death Azim Premji rushed back from Stanford University and took over Wipro as a chairman at
the age of 21.[7] He was instrumental in transforming Wipro into a multi-billion dollar diversified corporation. [8] Azim
Premji is a major shareholder in Wipro.[9] During the 1970s and 1980s, the company shifted its focus and began to look
into business opportunities in the IT and computing industry, which was at a nascent stage in India at that time. In 1977,
the name of the Company was changed from Western India Vegetable Products Limited., to Wipro Products Limited., with
effect from 7 June.[6]
The year 1980 marked the arrival of Wipro in the IT domain and in the year 1982, the name was changed from Wipro
Products Limited to Wipro Limited[10] Meanwhile Wipro continued to expand in the consumer products domain with the
launch of `Ralak' a tulsi based family soap and `Wipro Jasmine', a toilet soap. [6]

[edit]1988-1992
In 1988, Wipro diversified its product line into heavy duty industrial cylinders and mobile hydraulic cylinders. [6] A joint
venture company with General Electric of U.S.A., in the name of Wipro GE Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd. was set up in 1989
for the manufacture, sales and service of diagnostic and imaging products. [11] Later, in 1991, tipping systems and Eaton
hydraulic products were launched. The Wipro Fluid Power division, in 1992, developed expertise to offer standard
hydraulic cylinders for construction equipment and truck tipping systems. The market saw the launch of the "Santoor"
talcum powder and "Wipro Baby Soft" range of baby toiletries in 1990. [11]

[edit]1994-2000
It was in 1994 that Wipro set up an overseas design centre, Odyssey 21 for undertaking projects and product developments
in advanced technologies for overseas clients. Wipro Infotech and Wipro Systems were amalgamated with Wipro in April
that year.[11] Five of Wipro's manufacturing and development facilities secured the ISO 9001 certification during 1994-95.
In 1999, Wipro acquired Wipro Acer.[12] Wipro SuperGenius personal computers (PCs) became the only Indian PC range to
obtain the US-based National Software Testing Laboratory's (NSTL) Certification for Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance.
[8]

Wipro Limited joined hands with a global telecom major KPN (Royal Dutch telecom) to form a joint venture company

Wipro Net Limited to provide internet services in India. [9] The year 2000 was the year Wipro launched solutions for
convergent networks targeted at Internet and telecom solution providers in the names of Wipro OSS Smart and Wipro
WAP Smart.[13]

[edit]2001

onwards

In February 2001, Wipro became the first software technology and services company in India to be certified for ISO 14001
certification.[14] Wipro also achieved ISO 9000 certification to become the first software company to get SEI CMM Level
5[15][16] in 2002. Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting Group entered the market of Compact Fluorescent Lamps, with the
launch of a range of CFL, under the brand name of Wipro Smartlite. [17] As the company grew, a study revealed that Wipro
was the fastest wealth creator for 5 years (19972002).[18][19] The same year witnessed the launch of Wipros own laptops
with Intel's Centrino mobile processor.[20] Wipro also entered into an exclusive agreement with the owners of Chandrika
for marketing of their soap in select states in India.[21][22] It set up a wholly owned subsidiary company viz. Wipro
Consumer Care Limited to manufacture consumer care and lighting products. [23] In 2004, Wipro joined the billion dollar
club.[24] It also partnered with Intel for i-shiksha.[25][26] The year 2006 saw Wipro acquire cMango Inc., a US based
Technology Infrastructure Consulting firm[27][28] Enabler, and a Europe based retail solutions provider.[29] In 2007, Wipro
inked a large deal with Lockheed Martin.[30][31] It also entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Oki Techno Centre
Singapore Pte Ltd (OTCS)[31][32]and signed an R&D partnership contract with Nokia Siemens Networks in Germany.[33]
[34]

The year 2008 saw Wipros foray into the clean energy business with Wipro Eco Energy.[35][36] In April 2011, Wipro

signed an agreement with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for the acquisition of their global oil and
gas information technology practice of the commercial business services business unit. [37][38] The year 2012 saw Wipro
make its 17th acquisition in IT business when it acquired Australian analytics product firm Promax Applications Group
(PAG) for $35 million.[39][40]

[edit]Spirit

of Wipro

The Spirit of Wipro is the core of Wipro and represents its values and what Wipro aspires to be. These values are

[edit]Intensity

to Win

Make Customers Successful

Team, Innovate, Excel

[edit]Act

with Sensitivity

Respect the individual

Thoughtful and responsible

[edit]Unyielding

Integrity

Delivering on commitments

Honesty and fairness in actions[41]

The Spirit is an indivisible synthesis of all three statements and means manifesting the three values all the
time. Wipro organizes the Spirit of Wipro Run every year in which employees and families are encouraged
to participate to celebrate the Wipro spirit.[42] In 2011, this run was organized over a period of 24 hours
across 11 cities in India and 45 overseas locations across five continents a first in the runs six year
history.[43][44]In its 7th year, the Spirit of Wipro run is being held in more than 82 cities across the world with
more than 40000 registered runners. The run is scheduled to be held on 15 September 2012.

[edit]Business
[edit]Wipro

Divisions of Wipro

IT

Wipro Technologies, the global IT business of Wipro Limited is a leading Information Technology,
consulting and outsourcing company with a comprehensive portfolio of services and an organization wide
commitment to sustainability and innovation.[45] The IT Products segment sells a range of Wipro personal
desktop computers, Wipro servers and Wipro notebooks. It is also a value added reseller of desktops,
servers, notebooks, storage products, networking solutions and packaged software for international brands.
[46]

Wipro entered into the technology business in 1981 and has over 130,000 employees and clients across 54
countries today.[47] IT revenues stood at $ 5.9 billion for the year ended March 31, 2012 with a repeat
business ratio of over 95%.[48][49]
Wipro Technologies enables clients to respond and change according to business needs, to do business
better and be future-ready.[50] It provides IT services, outsourced R&D, infrastructure services, business
process services and business consulting.[51] The business model at Wipro Technologies Ltd is an industry
aligned customer facing model[52][53][54] which gives greater understanding of customers businesses to build
industry specific solutions.

[edit]Wipro

Consumer Care & Lighting

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCLG), a business unit of Wipro Limited operates in the FMCG
segment offering a wide range of consumable commodities. Established in 1945, the first product to be
introduced by WCCLG was vegetable oil, later popularized under the brand name 'Sunflower Vanaspati'. It
offers personal care products, such as Wipro Baby Soft and Wipro Safewash, toilet soaps like Santoor and
Chandrika and international brands like Yardley.[55] Its portfolio of lighting solutions includes products like
Smartlite CFL,[56] LED, emergency lights and more.[57]

Through its customer-centric products and acquisitions, Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting has become a
fast growing company in the FMCG segment. [58][59][60]

[edit]Wipro

Infrastructure Engineering

Wipro Infrastructure Engineering is the hydraulics business division of Wipro Limited and has been in the
business of manufacturing hydraulic cylinders, truck cylinders, and their components and solutions since
1976. This division delivers hydraulic cylinders to international OEMs and represents the Kawasaki, Sun
Hydraulics[61] and Teijin Seiki[62] range of hydraulic products in India. It has entered into partnerships with
companies like Kawasaki[63][64] and aerospace giant EADS.[65] The commitment to quality has made Wipro
Infrastructure Engineering the second largest independent manufacturer of cylinders in the world. [66][67] The
company has recently ventured into water treatment systems and solutions to cater to the needs of various
industries.[68][69]

[edit]Wipro

GE Medical Systems Limited

Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited is Wipros joint venture with GE Healthcare South Asia. It is engaged
in the research and development of advanced solutions to cater to patient and customer needs in healthcare.
This partnership, which began in 1990,[70] today includes offerings like gadgets and equipment for
diagnostics, healthcare IT solutions and services to help healthcare professionals combat cancer, heart
disease and other ailments. There is complete adherence to Six Sigma quality standards in all products. [71][72]
[73]

[edit]Leadership
Chairman Azim.H.Premji
Chief Executive Officer T.K Kurien - CEO, IT Business and Executive Director
Chief Financial Officer Suresh Senapaty - CFO and Executive Director

[edit]Sustainability

at Wipro

Wipros approach to sustainability is structured on enabling itself, as an organization, and its customers to
be more ecologically sustainable. It is driven by issues considered important to employees, current and
future generations, customers, investors, suppliers and the community as a whole. Wipro has been ranked
1st in the 2010 Asian Sustainability Rating (ASRTM) of Indian companies [74] and is a member of
the NASDAQ Global Sustainability Index[75] as well as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.[76]

Based on the issues identified by the stakeholders, the Wipros sustainability framework has been defined
and it comprises 6 pillars:[77]

1.

Ecological Sustainability

2.

Workplace Sustainability

3.

Education and Community Care

4.

Customer Stewardship

5.

Supplier

6.

Public regulation and policies

[edit]Ecological

Sustainability

Ecological sustainability is driven by many energy efficiency measures such as desktop power
management, efficient waste management systems and LEED certified buildings.[78] They are aimed to
reduce the GHG intensity of its operations from 2.6 MT per employee to 1.3 MT by 2014-15. [79]
The Eco-Eye[80]
A corporation wide initiative on ecological sustainability - Eco Eye focuses on reducing ecological footprint of
business operations, engaging with employees, customers, partners and supply chain on sustainability and
furthering research-led advocacy on energy, water and biodiversity.[81]

[edit]Workplace

Sustainability

The major focus of attention under this pillar is employee diversity and inclusivity, health and
safety, learning and growth along with feedback, engagement and culture building.

[edit]Education

and Community

Wipros corporate sustainability was pioneered in Education and Community in 2001.

A. Education:
The initiatives undertaken by Wipro towards this are:
Wipro Applying Thought In Schools (WATIS)
This initiative began in Bangalore in May 2001[82] with the aim of addressing systemic anomalies in Indias urban
education system. The decade long programme has reached out to 10500 educators and 800000 children across
2000 schools.[79] Some of its latest initiatives include a Quality of Education Survey (QES) [83] and the
SeasonWatch, a socio-ecological scientific study.[84]
Mission 10x

Mission10X is a non profit initiative created by Wipro to enhance employability skills of engineering graduates.
Mission10X was formally launched by on 5th September 2007 celebrated as Teachers day in India. The
program reaches out to students through empowered teachers in Mission10X Learning Approach (MxLA).

B. Community Care:
Wipro Cares
Wipro Cares is a trust set up based on funds donated by Wipro-ites and matched by Wipro to help the community.
The trust focuses on projects in healthcare, education, environment, etc. [85][86]
Earthian
Launched in 2011, earthian is Wipro's sustainability program for schools and colleges designed to spur Indian
youth to think and act sustainably. The program engages with the education system through faculty programs,
school activities, projects and community forms with an aim to embed sustainability into the education system.
It happens in two phases: in the first phase participants are required to submit an entry on a sustainability theme,
and in the second phase, selected institutes become a part of a long-term continuous engagement program. In its
first edition, Wipro received over 1700 registrations from across the country.[87][88]

[edit]Customer

Stewardship

Wipro has built a portfolio of IT enabled sustainability solutions

for its customers:[89][90]

Clean Energy: Biogas, Utility scale/ rooftop solar plants,

Green buildings

Green IT infrastructure: Remote data center/desktop

management, Green computing energy star 5 desktops and
laptops

Managed Energy Services: Remote management of IT

infrastructure

IT for Green: Smart Grids, process optimization

[edit]Supplier
Wipros suppliers play an important role in their green computing
efforts. The suppliers are expected to be 100% compliant on labor
and human rights, must subscribe to Wipros COBCE (Code of

Business Conduct and Ethics) and must be aligned with Wipros

ecological sustainability policies and practices.[79]

[edit]Public

regulation and policies

Wipro is a part of many industrial networks like CII, Mission for

Sustainable Growth. As a part of public disclosure, they have
published sustainability reports since 2008.[77] It is also part of
public forums like the World Economic Forum.[91]

[edit]