Bringing Two Titans Together

Just as Wipro and Infosys are as different organisationally as one could imagine and yet similar in their drive to be among the best in the world, Mr Murthy and Mr Premji are different and yet similar as their companies are. Now, is there a contradiction? Not really. Both of them go by the book, are sticklers for correctness, honesty of purpose and, above all, ethical to the core.
We will leave that nitty-gritty aside. Mr Premji invited Mr Murthy for breakfast before the interaction. That is how it began on the terrace of Mr Premji's office over idli, vada, uttapam, scrambled eggs and corn flakes. After quickly, and somewhat frugally, gulping down a couple of mouthfuls, the two IT titans settled down to talk about some of the issues we raised
Expectedly, the conversation began with the weather. "It is a bit colder this year," Mr Murthy said. "I love that," Mr Premji responded even as some of us tried our best not to shiver in the chilly Bangalore morning. Then, they answered questions on what it takes a company to be a global entity, what it took them to shape, reshape and constantly exploit opportunities to expand, grow and reach where they are. From how external environment shaped their ambitions to how they saw and used a commercial opportunity.
On how some of them, certainly their two companies (though they did not specifically say so out of modesty) will be among the top ten globally in the next few years, on challenges for the IT industry, on how manufacturing is looking up and so on.
On how, way back in 1979, Mr Murthy had met Mr Premji for a job in his company - Mr Premji, "He was too big for us"; Mr Murthy, "It was for him (Premji) to decide. He did not get back to me (with the job offer)". This is a story some knew for a long while, but did not get the opportunity to ask both of them together. Mr Premji wanted the conversation to move away quickly. "We were trying to put together an act then and we met over drinks," he tried to explain.
But then, it was Mr Murthy who put another spin. "I am grateful to him for that. We now have two companies (Wipro and Infosys) instead of one. I believe when God closes a door, he opens a window." He went on effusively to say how Mr Premji had always treated him with kindness, respect and how he was bowled over by his value system and openness. "We have differences just as we now differed on taxing the IT industry. He (Premji) does not smile here, and then go out and say he does not believe in that. He openly said so now and that is one of the things I admire in him."
Mr Premji was equallly effusive. "Infosys and Murthy, because he has led the charge for many years, have been pioneers in many ways. They are growing faster than us which is a challenge and an incentive for us because it helps me raise standards and humbles me all the time".
Even as we were planning the event, we plotted quite a bit on getting a picture of Murthy standing in front of a Wipro logo or some such thing and were not very sure whether he would oblige. (We actually have a picture of him drinking coffee from a mug with the Wipro logo. There was no prompting).
If we wanted some association between him and Wipro, Murthy had more to give than we asked for when he narrated an incident. "One day we had a visitor from Nortel who walked into my office and found me working on a Wipro desktop. We still did not have laptops those days. Then he found the bulbs in my rooms were made by Wipro. He cheekily asked me whether the tiles were also from Wipro. I said Wipro does not make them but the day they do, I will use them," he went on. "The point is that they make products of quallity," he added. No qualms about using each other’s product. Or for that matter, co-operating with each other and even working together in some specific projects and markets. Will such co-operation deepen and go further. That is another story we will tell you some day.
Meticulous about time management as they always are, Premji quitely reminded us when the time was up. We sought another ten minutes (it actually went beyond that as well). As the interaction was closing, Mr Murthy said, "Azim, I want two minutes of your time".
Mr Premji responded, "I want five minutes of yours. I will take you around the Premji Foundation, we will talk as we go." The two got into Mr Murthy's car and drove away to the Foundation building. ET was not privy to what they discussed in that two or five minutes. Sometimes many things are kept out of our radar. It is a bit of a humbling experience. But then, as Premji said, it is good to be humbled once in a while. Otherwise, as he put it, you may walk around with a swollen head and that is not good. Excerpts from Interview

Wanna check your right salary? Click here

IT professionals across all levels can now check whether their employers are paying them adequately or not. IIM-A, IISc along with nation-wide ITPF (IT Professionals Forum) have launched ITPaycheck.com, which provides latest compensation status of different positions across the IT and BPO sector.
From software engineer and sales executive to project manager and vice president, the site caters to all.
According to ITPaycheck.com, the total remuneration for a vice president in the IT industry is Rs 22,95,163 approximately. The total variable pay of a V-P in the industry is approximately Rs 19,70,658.
In contrast, a software engineer in the industry gets about Rs 4,61,774 as total pay and Rs 4,32,334 as total variable pay.
The site also displays the highest paid professionals across the IT Industry today. According to ITPaycheck.com, Rajesh Hukku, chairman i-Flex Solutions is one other highest paid with an annual salary of Rs 432.00 lakh for 2005-06. Other highest paid professionals are - Ramesh Emani, President Wipro Technologies (Rs 84.50 Lakh), S Ramadorai, CEO & MD,TCS (Rs 214.43 Lakh), S D Shibulal, Director HR, Infosys (Rs 101.74 Lakh), Jaithirth Rao, CMD Mphasis (Rs 129.46 Lakh) and Phaneesh Murthy, CEO & MD, iGate (Rs 273.85 Lakh).
The salary can be displayed in minimum, maximum or weighted brackets along with number of years of experience. The site will also be expanded to include other sectors, as well.
ITPaycheck.com acts as a source of collection and sharing of salary break-ups across all levels. Over the next three months, the site aims to collect data and start another project called Freshers-paycheck.com .

standards across all countries.

Windows Vista Arrives to India

In New York, they hired acrobats to display the Windows logo, In Australia, they had skywriters grab attention, while in Agra they had dancers perform in front of the Taj Mahal, and all this to try and get PC users the world over take notice of its latest offerings — Windows Vista and 2007 Office System. Redmond-based software maker Microsoft launched its latest version of Windows, called Vista, on Tuesday, ending one of the most challenging periods in its corporate history.

Says Microsoft India MD Neelam Dhawan: "We are expecting 1,500 outlets to sell Vista and train 1,800 resellers for Vista. The enterprise edition of the OS that was launched in November last year already has 885,000 users till the last count, in addition to 150,000 developers working on the Vista platform."

The company launched Vista for business users two months ago. Now Vista has been released to consumers, who can buy four home versions, namely Vista Starter, being the basic to Vista Ultimate, the high-end one. At the same time, its 2007 Office comes in two versions — Home and Student and Basic.

It is the world's largest software producer's first significant launch in the last six years after Windows XP in 2001. Microsoft had previously delayed the launch of its new OS, originally due in the second half of 2006 to 2007. Says Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan: "In the meantime, Microsoft also came up with Service Pack 2 for XP, which is as good as an OS itself.

In addition, efforts to improve security and building user interface from ground level took a long time for the launch of Vista." The OS required Microsoft to invest nearly $6 billion. However, upgrades from the existing OS to Vista still remain a concern for the software maker.

While Microsoft has pledged to continue support for XP users until 2011. But because only about 15% of existing computers have memory and graphics cards powerful enough to run premium versions of Vista, most users will have to buy a whole new computer if they want to upgrade.

Says Doug Hauger, COO, Microsoft India, "PCs which have been in the market for the last 3 years may be capable to run Vista but may not get all effects which the OS offers." Microsoft simultaneously rolled out its two flagship products in over 30 countries. The new operating system boasts an improved interface and security tools. Vista marks a complete overhaul of its previous OS - Windows XP.

Hottest Technology of 2007

What gizmos are you going to buy this year?
If what was on display at CES and Macworld was any indication--and it usually is--you'll soon be shopping for networked televisions, cellphones with video and touch screens and a host of other products that take advantage of breakthroughs in HDTV, multicore computing, ubiquitous broadband and third-generation cellular networks.
So if last year was the year of HDTV--digital TV sales topped an estimated $23 billion as prices on digital sets fell through the floor--this year will go further. Consumers who bought up the screens in droves--almost 24 million were sold--now hunger for content that would truly exploit the capabilities of their new sets. They'll get it in 2007.More Details..

BRIC Nations Fastest Growing International IT Markets

Recognising India and the other three BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia and China -- among the fastest growing IT markets globally, US-based technology giant IBM anticipates over two times the worldwide growth rate from its operations in these regions in the next four years.

The global major, which recorded total revenue of 91.4 billion dollars in 2006, foresees an opportunity of 150 billion dollars by 2010 in the four BRIC countries alone.

Collectively, Brazil, Russia, India and China contributed 4.5 billion dollars in 2006, representing nearly five per cent of the the company's annual revenue. "The emerging markets of India, China, Brazil and Russia are among the fastest growing IT markets in the world and grew at 16 per cent in 2006," IBM's Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge said at an analyst conference to discuss the company's fourth quarter results.

While the company's India and Russia businesses witnessed growth of over 30 per cent in the quarter ended December 2006, China and Brazil registered growth rate of 18 per cent and nine per cent respectively.

The company CFO said IBM was continuing to invest to strengthen its leadership position in the emerging markets.

IBM has expanded capabilities to its centres in India, Brazil and Argentina, while adding 20,000 employees in the low cost countries, he said. IBM's India headcount is estimated to be at 50,000 for the year 2006. "We continue to invest to build capabilities in these countries (BRIC markets) to address the fast-growing domestic market opportunities and to enhance IBM's globally integrated operations," Loughridge told the analysts.

The four markets collectively witnessed an annual growth rate of 18 per cent in the quarter. With a growth rate of more than two times the worldwide rate, the BRIC markets have an opportunity to grow to 150 billion dollars by 2010, Loughridge said.

IBM's worldwide fourth-quarter revenue rose seven per cent to 26.3 billion dollars, while its income from operations rose eight per cent to 3.5 billion dollars in the period ended December 2006.

Asia Pacific, which delivered revenue growth of 5 per cent in the quarter, remained strong led by India and China, the company CFO said.

"IBM had a terrific quarter and a good year with record cash performance, profit and EPS as well as record payouts to shareholders. We are well-positioned in the growth areas of a changing IT industry, focussed on our evolving business model and poised for long term success for our clients and shareholders," IBM Chairman, President and CEO Samuel J Palmisano said in a statement.

Hewlett-Packard Tops in global PC sales - End of 2006

US computer maker Hewlett-Packard reveled in news that it had extended its lead as the world's top personal computer vendor late last year, pressuring arch-rival Dell.
HP ended 2006 with annual sales growth of 24 percent and took "a clear lead in worldwide shipment volume" in the last three months of the year, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.
Dell Inc., meanwhile, did not recover from a slow third quarter and "stumbled through the end of the year" with international growth dropping to 1.5 percent, IDC said.
HP basked in its sales triumph in a difficult year marked by a boardroom spying scandal and a soft US commercial market.
"We are particularly pleased with the momentum HP experienced this holiday season," said HP vice president Todd Bradley.
"Our market-leading growth is further evidence of the sound, well-executed business strategy we've put in place."
The rivals ended the year in a virtual tie in 2006 worldwide computer shipments. Dell narrowly held on to the number-one position, with 17.1 percent of the market, compared with HP's 17.0 percent share, according to IDC.
Overall PC shipments in 2006 reached 228.6 million, 10 percent higher than the previous year. More Details..

What is a Multinational or Transnational Corporation?

A multinational corporation (MNC) or multinational enterprise (MNE) or transnational corporation (TNC) or multinational organization (MNO) is a corporation or enterprise that manages production establishments or delivers services in at least two countries.

MNC Types:
Multinational corporations (MNC) are often divided into three broad groups:
Horizontally integrated multinational corporations manage production establishments located in different countries to produce the same or similar products. (example: McDonalds)
Vertically integrated multinational corporations manage production establishment in certain country/countries to produce products that serve as input to its production establishments in other country/countries. (example: Adidas)
Diversified multinational corporations manage production establishments located in different countries that are neither horizontally or vertically integrated. (example: Microsoft)
Very large multinationals have budgets that exceed those of many countries. Popular claim is that out of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are multinational corporations.[1] Actually the claim is based on miscalculation, where two numbers descriphing totally different things are compared: the GDP of nations to gross sales of corporations. Problem with the comparison is ofcourse, that GDP takes in account only the final value, whereas gross sales don't measure how much was produced outside the company. According to Swedish economist Johan Norberg, if we were to compare nations and corporations, we should be comparing GDP to goods only produced within the particular company (gross sales do not take in account goods purchased from 3rd party vendors and resold, just as GDP doesn't take to account imported goods). That correction would make only 37 of 100 largest economies corporations and all of them would be in bottom box: only 5 corporations would be in top 50.
Multinational corporations can nevertheless have a powerful influence in international relations, given their large economic influence in politicians' representative districts, as well as their extensive financial resources available for public relations and political lobbying.
Multinationals have played an important role in globalization. Given their international reach and mobility, prospective countries, and sometimes regions within countries, must compete with each other to have MNCs locate their facilities (and subsequent tax revenue, employment, and economic activity) within. To compete, countries and regional political districts offer incentives to MNCs such as tax breaks, pledges of governmental assistance or improved infrastructure, or lax environmental and labor standards. This process of becoming more attractive to foreign investment can be characterized as either a race to the bottom, a push towards greater freedom for corporate bodies, or both.

World's First MNC Corporation
There is a dispute as to which was the first MNC. Some have argued that the Knights Templar, founded in 1118, became a multinational when it stumbled into banking in 1135. However, others claim that the British East India Company or the Dutch East India Company were in fact the first proper multinationals. More Details..