By the numbers, QLogic Corporation (NASD: QLGC), which designs and sells storage network infrastructure for server vendors, is an above-average company. The average company in this sector sells $274,000 of product per employee but QLogic averaged over $568,000 for the last year. Net income per employee is $122,388—almost four times the industry average. And not surprisingly, the stock price has been rising in recent months. The Aliso Viejo, California based company is now listed in the highly coveted Standard & Poor's 500 index. This year, QLogic has shown very good results, despite the gloomy economy.

At the helm of this Southern California company is an unassuming engineer who seems the antithesis of the stereotype public company CEO. H.K. Desai, whom everyone calls "HK," has led the company since 1996. He spent 10 years at Unisys's R&D Center in nearby Mission Viejo before joining Qlogic as an engineer. His views on leadership:


You reported a net profit after taxes of $23 million on sales of $107 million last quarter. How do you do it?
We are lucky to be in a market that is growing tremendously at this time. I think 40% of IT spending this year is in storage and that has helped us. Also, we executed the transition into Fiber Channel technology very well. Our edge is in rapid time-to-market and in superior product design. Our team-oriented culture, where we believe in empowering all employees, also contributes to our good numbers.

Is cost control one of the keys to QLogic's success?
We are extremely frugal in our overhead and in R&D expenditures. Unless something is absolutely essential, we try not to buy it. This frugal attitude also translates into design that reduces our prices, since we have the highest level of integration into silicon possible.

With your strong cash position, some expect to see M&A activities. What kind of companies might you buy?

We try and buy for technology and not for market share. And we are interested only in the storage market. We also will not make acquisitions that would have us compete with our OEM customers—for example, into storage systems.

Sun/HP/IBM all have teams in India. How come QLogic has no development center in India?
At one time we started to look at locating some software resources in India. But then the downturn began and we can find good talent right here. I think it is difficult to manage such a remote development team.

Some in the semi-conductor business think that design of chips and ownership of Intellectual Property are going to become decoupled in the near future? What is your take on that?
At QLogic we like to develop and own the IP. We may subcontract small portions but our core business includes controlling the Intellectual Property.

Did QLogic support the Infiniband movement? Is it going to become a market force?
We have always been technology agnostic. So we are also investing in I-SCSI, which competes with Infiniband. The problem with Infiniband is that it requires a complete change of infrastructure. As a result one of the first things our clients want us to build is an Infiniband to Fiber Channel Switch.

Who are the leaders do you personally admire?
I draw my inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi and from Winston Churchill. From Gandhi I have learned about compassion. Churchill taught me how to “fight the war.”

What advice would you offer to an aspiring corporate executive of Indian origin for career growth?
I would not recommend starting a company right out of college. Most successful people of Indian origin here began their careers at larger companies. That being said, you do learn more and grow faster at a smaller company like QLogic.

How do you like being a CEO?
I have to be the cheerleader for the team. This is much harder than it seems. I am responsible for maintaining the team-oriented culture and for empowering our employees.

You have been CEO for 7 years. Many see QLogic as a direct reflection of your personal charisma and leadership. You are still young but do you give much thought to succession?
(Smiling) Two years ago, over the Christmas holiday I thought briefly about retiring. But then my wife said, “If you retire and stay at home I would have to go to work.” QLogic is my life and I have no plans to do anything else for a long, long time. From a board perspective of course we have a succession plan in case something happens to me.