According to the Bloomberg reports, the recently joined Wipro’s CEO Thierry Delaporte has yet to visit the Indian outsourcer’s Bangalore headquarters once.
Contents
New CEO Working With Clients Remotely
Although, he already has been on a virtual tour from his home in Paris, meeting with managers, workers and customers spread all over the world.
His main aim is to turn around the struggling business despite the hurdles created by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
In the five months from his joining, he has slashed the top ranks of leadership from 25 people to four.
Main Focus On Customers
Mainly, he is focusing on customer meetings, already had video conferences with 130 and working to land new multi-year contracts with clients in the U.S. and Europe.
As a result, Wipro’s stock surged by over 70% since his appointment.
He plans to get Wipro back on track after years of tumult and stagnating financials.
According to Delaporte, “There’s a particular momentum in the industry just now, and I want to drive that urgency to put Wipro back where it belongs.I know I’m good at one thing – getting things done,”.
Compared to its other peers, Wipro’s revenues rose 3.9% in constant currency terms, while it was 9.8% at Infosys Ltd. and 7.1% at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
Before Delaporte, Abidali Neemuchwala, took over in 2016 with similar ambitions.
Although he decided to depart after a turbulent four years and falling well short of a target to build Wipro into a $15 billion company by 2020.
What Does The Expert Say?
According to a senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc., Vasupradha Srinivasan, “Thierry seems to have the vision and the commitment, but he has an absolutely daunting task,”.
Although, Delaporte is realistic that any turnaround will take time.
Delaporte says that the business is actually simple: Obsess over helping your clients and the rest will follow.
He seems to be ready with the plane, saying “We know what we need to do to make it work. In my Year One, we’ll accelerate growth; in Year Two, we’ll be at the growth level of our competitors; and in Year Three, we will outdo.”
Opportunity In Europe And Asia
So far, the U.S. is Wipro’s biggest market now, but Delaporte considers opportunity in European and Asiean markets.
To pursue the same, he has put together a new deals team, which is headed by a chief growth officer to go after big client contracts.
It seems fruitful too as Wipro has landed orders from European clean energy producers Fortum Oyj and E.On SE in the last few weeks.
In addition to that, Wipro has also stepped up its game in acquisitions.
According to him, Wipro has signed more deals in the past five months compared to the past five years and it will go on.
The company’s chairman, Rishad Premji said, “I am confident you will see a bolder and a more ambitious Wipro as we move ahead,”.