IDENTIFYING VUCA FACTORS IN A PANDEMIC ERA – A FRAMEWORK FOCUSED ON INDIAN IT INDUSTRY

Abstract

If ever the acronym “VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous)” felt appropriate to use, it’s now. Organisations at global and domestic levels are experiencing highest levels of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of which is unprecedented. Organisations across industries have been experiencing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity time and again. However, there are no parallels to the COVID 19 pandemic in the recent history. Researchers in their earlier studies have identified various VUCA factors and challenges that have influenced these organisations during various crisis situations such as Global Financial Crisis of 2008, demonetisation and BREXIT to name a few. However, there is lack of research that elucidates challenges faced in the presence of a pandemic driven VUCA environment. This study is first of its kind to present insights into the Indian Information Technology (IT) Industry in the context of a pandemic landscape. The outbreak of COVID pandemic in the year 2020 has led to the rest of the industries crippling and Indian IT Industry is no exception. Therefore, this generates a need to identify various challenges i.e. VUCA factors faced by organisations across the Indian IT sector in the context of a pandemic environment. It is a qualitative study accomplished with the help of in-depth interviews of strategic business leaders across the IT sector. The literature in the paper has been enriched with different types of studies. The findings are based on data gathered from above sources (primary and secondary). The research makes an attempt to identify various VUCA factors impacting organisations across the Indian IT sector during a pandemic, incorporated in a framework for future reference.