Technology Panel

Rajesh Hukku
Chairman and Managing Director, iFlex

With nearly 23 years of dedication, honed interpersonal skills and multi-cultural experience, Rajesh brings to i-flex, world's number one financial software company, an inimitable style of leadership, and a deep commitment to enhancing and empowering human potential.

Since 1978, he has traversed the entire gamut of Systems Software, Application Software and Project Management. A professional with global vision, Rajesh has worked on projects around the world. His success in concluding business deals in over 40 countries owes much to a deep sensitivity to cross-cultural nuances.

Rajesh became the Chief Executive Officer of Citicorp Information Technology Industries Limited (CITIL, as i-flex was then known) in 1992. As CEO, he piloted CITIL to achieve revenue of USD 33 million from under USD 2 million. He was unanimously selected as Chairman in 1999, and today revenues at i-flex solutions have grown more than 35 times since inception.

An individual with a rare combination of academic excellence and professional prowess, he has also completed his Post Graduate Research in Local Area Networks from College Park, Maryland, USA.

In recent times, Rajesh Hukku has been a recipient of a slew of accolades, prominent among them are TIME Magazine's selection of "technology gurus who survived the global meltdown" and Business Week's Star of Asia -2003. Rajesh's visionary contribution in scripting India's first truly global software product success story was recognized by the Indian industry when he was conferred the prestigious Ernst & Young, Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2002 in Information Technology, Communications and Entertainment category.

An itinerant speaker, Rajesh has been a coveted invitee at prestigious forums as the World Congress of Bankers in Jamaica, SIBOS, NASSCOM (National Association of Software Services Companies, India), India Internet World, and the Computer Society of India, among others. He was invited by the Chilean Government to speak at a Latin American (LATAM) convention. Rajesh has delivered keynote addresses at conventions in China, Jamaica and Seychelles.

Rajesh has also campaigned for the vibrancy and leadership of India at various international Meets. An active member who served on the Executive Committee of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies, India), he has been deeply involved in strengthening the India Inc. brand and helping it expand into new geographies and service lines.

Ram Deshpande
Managing Director, Vishay Components India Pvt. Ltd.

Vishay Components is one of the world's largest manufacturers of discreet semiconductors and passive components.

Ram Deshpande joined Philips India Ltd. in 1971 and has handled different functions in Engineering Department in various capacities as the Technical Manager, General Manager and Plant Manager. Under his leadership, the Organization has earned various TQM awards.

He has led global Manufacturing Excellence program and hence exposed to international manufacturing environment for many years. He has handled the total transition of building a standalone Company - BCcomponents India Pvt. Ltd., coming out of Philips. This company has recently merged worldwide with Vishay Intertechnology, USA in December 2002 and is now known as Vishay Components India Pvt.Ltd.

Last year he led the prestigious export project for the company successfully and now leading another export project for the company.

He is member of Councils of many associations like MCCI, CII & ELCINA. He is Chairman of Industry-Institute Interaction panel of CII-Pune Zone. He is also re-elected for the second time as President of Electronic Component Industries Association (ELCINA).

Indro Mukerjee
Exec VP & GM, Marketing/Sales, Philips

Indro Mukerjee is an Executive Vice President and part of the executive management board of Philips Semiconductor, a $5.5B global player.

Indro Mukerjee graduated in Engineering Science from Oxford University.

He started his career in management consultancy in the Technology sector, specialising in mergers & acquisitions and new product introduction.

His next step was to join Hitachi's European semiconductor division where he worked in a number of progressively senior business management positions. Starting with managing market research moving into sales and marketing and then operations and business management. He was awarded two President's Awards for achievement: for starting up a very successful business division from scratch and for transforming the company's service & logistics into a best in class

During his time with Hitachi Indro spent a lot of time in Japan and got to know the Japanese way of business very well.

In 1993, Indro was headhunted to join a pre-IPO Company, VideoLogic, based in the UK and operating in the rapidly developing filed of PC based multimedia solutions for corporate and OEM markets. As a member of the Leadership Team of the company Indro went through the IPO and developed a commercial and marketing infrastructure to support future growth. During his time with the company, Indro opened markets throughout Asia and established ventures with Japanese companies.

In 1997, Indro was invited to join Philips Semiconductors to lead the European Region. He progressed to leading the Global Consumer segment in 1999 and then joined the Leadership Team of the company in 2001, with the responsibility to manage the global commercial operations, customer service and applications support. During his time with Philips, Indro has lead regional and global teams through a period of change in line with the strong dynamics of the electronics business. This change has seen the rise of Asia, especially China and he has been reorganising on a large scale to position Philips in a leadership role in its strategic markets, particularly in Asia.

Indro speaks several European languages and is a graduate of the Wharton Advanced Management Program.

Sendil Ethiraj (Moderator)
Michael R. and Mary Kay Hallman Fellow & Assistant Professor of Corporate Strategy and International Business, Ross School of Business

Sendil Ethiraj is an Assistant Professor of Corporate Strategy and International Business. He received his Ph.D. and Masters in Managerial Science and Applied Economics at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Ethiraj's research interests lie at the intersection of technology, strategy and organization. He sees firm productivity and competitive advantage as deriving from the complex interplay of technological capabilities, firm strategies and organization designs. Within this broad landscape his research explores two themes. The first explores modular design principles as a vehicle to manage product, technological, and organizational complexity, focusing particularly on the trade-offs inherent in design decisions. The second theme focuses on the R&D strategy of firms, the consistency of R&D decisions with broader firm strategy, and their firm performance implications. Drawing extensively on the theoretical and analytical apparatus developed in the study of complex adaptive systems, he employs both formal modeling and large-sample econometric methods in his research.