Mission10X

Brief: 
  • Wipro Technologies has united with the academic world to set up Mission10X, a non-profit initiative to improve the employability skills of Indian graduate engineers.
  • Mission10X facilitates systemic changes to existing teaching-learning patterns through capability building workshops and interventions for engineering faculty that have been rolled out across India in a phased manner.
The problem addressed by the campaign: 
  • Low employability of Indian engineering graduates
  • When introducing the programme in 2007, Wipro Limited Chairman Azim Premji stated, “The challenge is not supply of talent but that of talent that meets the needs of the corporate world. It’s not about having a good curriculum or good faculty. What then is the employability enigma? If students augment their skills in a few areas desired by industry, employability in the country can be significantly enhanced.”
Solution: 
  • Mission10X encourages the modernization of engineering education through workshops. Mission10X certificate programmes offer a unique opportunity to faculty members of engineering colleges to go beyond their conventional teaching practices and experiment with innovative learning techniques that focus on helping the students to:
    • Absorb higher levels of understanding of various engineering subjects
    • Effectively apply the concepts learned to varying practical situations
    • Develop key behavioural skills required for employment
  • The workshops also provide an opportunity for the faculty members to acquire multiple certifications. Mission10X continues the engagement with the community members in their transformation journey and helps faculty members in implementing innovations in their classrooms to benefit their students.
  • The Mission10X Portal (www.mission10x.com) is a unique engineering faculty community portal providing a forum for information sharing and learning within the community. It has a large repository of innovative techniques practiced by faculty members across engineering disciplines.
  • As part of its phase 2, September 2010 to September 2013, Mission10X envisages reaching out to 25,000 faculty members deploying 2,500 Unified Learning Kits to reduce the gap in laboratory practices in line with industry demands, and developing 250 academic leaders.
  • The group has collaborated with many international and national educational and industry bodies, such as the University of Cambridge, Dale Carnegie Training, International Federation of Engineering Education Societies, and NASSCOM (an Indian IT Industry Association).
Impact: 
  • The initial goal of Mission10X was to train 10,000 faculty members. This goal was achieved in September 2010. Mission10X now intends to train more than 25,000 additional teachers by September 2013. Typically, an IT services company spends about 2% of its revenues in training its new hires for months before they can be put to work. The Mission10X initiative facilitates enhancement of student’s employable skills through faculty members.
  • Mission10X has recently partnered with Harvard Business School Publishing to launch an Advanced Academic Leadership workshop, exclusively for principals and directors of Engineering Colleges, for professional development. The programme is designed as three progressive levels of workshops, and includes instructor-led training as well as eLearning.
Why has it worked?: 
  • Mission10X identifies the skill areas desired by the engineering industry and facilitates building sustainable model through empower faculty members who in turn help students enhance employability skills.
  • Mission10X has harnessed the support and encouragement of universities across India. Teachers have a strong incentive to participate in the training, not only to enhance student learning, but also as an opportunity to network and advance their own careers. Mission10X has created a powerful professional community where faculty come together to work and exchange ideas. 
Conclusions and Recommendations: 

As a non-profit that incorporates both the interests of businesses and academia, collaboration is essential and others must ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are addressed for success to be achieved.

Foundational Issues: 
Critical skills gaps
Level of Collaboration: 
Level 2: Collaboration across organizations within a country
Region: 
Asia
Economic and political context: 

India:

  • Population: 1.2 billion (July 2011 estimate)
  • Unemployment: 10.8% (2010 estimate)
  • GDP (current):  US$ 4.06 trillion (2010 estimate)
  • Source: World Factbook – CIA, September 2011

WIT financials:

  • Sales: US$ 7.2 billion
  • Profits: US$ 1.2 billion
  • Assets: US$ 8.3 billion
  • Employees: 120,000
About the Author(s): 

Wipro is a leading global IT company that has pioneered many innovations in the IT services, BPO and R&D services space. It is headquartered in Bangalore, India.

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