Friday, January 25, 2013

Is he the ‘suitable boy’?

It would not be surprising if Vivek Paul is actually being considered for the role, but his experience may not fit the bill. Right Mr. Tata?

His name springs up whenever there is a crisis of leadership in any big ticket company, especially in the IT sector. After all, Vivek Paul was known as the poster boy of the Indian IT industry, the way he took Wipro’s international business to towering heights as CEO before he stepped down in 2005. An MBA from the University of Massachusetts, Paul brought the first wave of investment into India through GE medical equipment and a change in the global business mindset towards the country. Paul began his career with Main & Company, and later on he joined PepsiCo. He spent around 10 years in GE after 1990, and was elevated to the post of CEO of GE’s medical equipment joint venture. In 1999, this GE veteran was handpicked by Azim Premji to run Wipro’s software unit in India. He was later on elevated to the post of Vice Chairman of Wipro and CEO of its global IT, product engineering and business process service segments. He has been credited for Wipro’s growth from $150 million (when he joined in 1999) to a $1.4 billion company with 50,000 employees in 2005. A month after resigning, he become a partner at Texas Pacific Group (TPG) capital and put in his papers in December, 2008.

It is in the news that he will replace Ramadorai. In fact, his name was also being taken for the post of Satyam CEO before it went to A. S. Murthy. Compared to Ramadorai and Chandrasekharan, “Paul is more competent, but less likely to take the job actually,” avers Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group. But perhaps the Tatas may go for a strong and experienced veteran who has been into the same business for a long time.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPMMalay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.