'Anything is possible', says Wipro boss

Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, advised the graduating batch of 2005 at XLRI here to beleive that "anything is possible" to build India into an economic powerhouse in their lifetime.

He was speaking after being awarded the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace from B Muthuraman, chairman of the board of governors of Xavier Labor Relations Institute (XLRI) at the 46th annual convocation here.

The Wipro chief said he hoped the young leaders graduating from XLRI would continue to remain inspired by the beauty of the city of Jamshedpur and to use their "anything is possible" motto to build great businesses that would contribute directly to a great India, just as Jamshedji Tata had done more than a century ago.

Tata had done this at a time when more than a dozen previous initiatives to make steel in India had failed, including at a large company promoted by the British government, he reminded the XLRI students.

Jamshedpur city was the most visible demonstration of good business in India was an inspiration and indication to all that the business organizations have meaning and purpose beyond making money and that contribution can be made in the development and growth of the country directly.

Premji said the Indian IT scenario would like schools to provide training based on holistic employee development.

"Not training employees fearing poaching is not correct. The high attrition in the BPO sector is partly due to the graveyard shifts and can be reduced to an extent if we penetrate the European market, where the time difference is less compared to USA," he added.

Premji said jobs today required smartness and 55 hour work-weeks.

B-school students should spend 55 hours a week in academic and other activities to be better equipped to take up the stress, he felt. The networking abilities and intuitive decision making process of MBAs should be developed in the B-schools.