Indian Indian Information Technology Research Articles

Comparative Analysis of Process Innovation Strategies: A Study of Family and Non-Family Indian IT Firms

This conceptual paper delves into the dynamic realm of process innovation within the Indian Information Technology (IT) sector, scrutinizing the unique strategies and methodologies adopted by both family and non-family-owned firms. Employing a comprehensive analysis, we aim to uncover distinct approaches employed by these entities to drive and effectively implement process innovation. This paper contributes valuable insights into the intricate interplay of familial structures and corporate innovation, shedding light on how these factors shape the trajectory of technological advancements in the Indian IT landscape.

Industry 4.0 and the Changing Employment Relations: A Case of the Indian Information Technology Industry

This article aims to explore the dynamics of employment relations (ER) in the Indian information technology (IT) industry in the context of an ongoing technological revolution. The study utilises the grounded theory approach to draw insights from 32 professionals including project/product managers, senior management representatives and employees from junior to mid-career level currently working in the IT industry. Findings indicate that the following four forces drive the ER in the Indian IT industry: (1) labour laws, (2) compensation and HR, (3) unions and organisations, and (4) health and workplace security. Labour laws need to be updated to suit the requirements of knowledge-based professions. Compensation and HR management styles vary widely due to the disparity and heterogeneity of work. There is scope for a non-politicised union in the industry. The health and security of IT professionals need attention. Findings suggest the changing concepts of workspaces in IT, dilution of HR in IT due to increased outsourcing and the rise of independent workers in future. This article makes theoretical and conceptual contributions to the ER literature. It captures the driving forces of ER in the Indian IT industry. The article also contributes to decent work, convergence–divergence paradigm and outsourcing in Human Resource Management.

Antecedents and Ramifications of Employee Engagement in Indian Information Technology (IT) Sector

In this study we investigate the antecedents and ramifications of employee engagement in Indian Information Technology (IT) sector. Primary data was collected from 453 Indian IT employees post-pandemic and Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was utilized. The study found positive and significant relationship between engaging leadership, perceived organization support and job characteristics i.e. antecedents on work engagement and positive and significant relationship between work engagement and task performance, organization citizenship behavior i.e. ramifications. The study contributes to literature by highlighting the role played by engaging leadership particularly after Covid crisis from an employee engagement perspective.

Career Satisfaction in Maximising Professionals of Indian IT Industry: Mediating Roles of Contrasting Responses Based on Counterfactual Reasoning

This study conceptualises career maximisation and its consequences in the Indian Information Technology (IT) workforce, a globally significant non-Western talent pool. It examined how maximising tendency in career decision-making (MT-CD) mediated career satisfaction through two contrasting responses based on counterfactual reasoning―career regret (dysfunctional) and career adaptability (functional). The study comprised of two parts. In Study 1, scales for MT-CD and career regret were developed and initially validated using a 172 respondents’ dataset. In Study 2, data from 434 respondents were analysed for psychometric evaluation and further validation of scales along with determining hypothesised relationships. Two dimensions of MT-CD were identified―‘state of internal career ambiguity’ and ‘striving for career excellence’. Both attributes produced career regret (an aggregated measure of ‘corporate regrets’, ‘career choice regrets’ and ‘developmental regrets’ dimensions), decreasing career satisfaction. Only ‘striving for career excellence’ led to career adaptability, which subsequently increased career satisfaction. Altogether, career regret competed with career adaptability, supressing its positive indirect effect on maximising ITPs’ career satisfaction. This study expands the current empirical research on career maximisation into non-Western contexts, adding unique knowledge to the Indian IT workforce’s vocational literature.

Technical Efficiency Analysis of Indian IT Industry: A Panel Data Stochastic Frontier Approach

Globalization and the development of modern technologies have led to the emergence of service trade. The success of Indian information technology (IT) has changed perception of globe about India and has captured the attention of the globe as it seems a paradox that a developing economy is emerging as a global hub for software exports. In the past three decades, the contribution of the Indian IT industry to national income, employment generation and offsetting the current account deficit is remarkable. In this consideration, the present study is an attempt to analyse the technical efficiency of the IT industry of India during the period 2000–2016 by applying panel data stochastic frontier analysis approach. The study reveals that foreign capital, age and profit ratio have a significant impact on mitigating the technical inefficiency of the IT industry while the research and development (R&D) expenditure has turned out statistically insignificant in determining efficiency. Indian IT industry is mostly driven by service exports which are not survivable in the long run. The study suggests that the Indian IT industry has to transform itself from low value-added to high value-added, from service-driven to product-driven.

Work Systems in the Indian Information Technology (IT) Industry Delivering Artificial Intelligence (AI) Solutions and the Challenges of Work from Home.

Our study is based on a workplace ethnography conducted between Jan-May 2020 in an AI research lab of an Indian service-based IT organization, whose operations shifted from co-located work to work from home (WFH) owing to the recent pandemic. The field notes of the ethnographer, working as a full-time intern in a running AI project within this lab, is the basis for the qualitative data for this study. We discuss the socio-technical aspects and the specific challenges of distributed team-working due to the WFH norms facing such emerging research units, which are rapidly diffusing across the IT industry in the offshoring context, particularly in India. We rely on work system theory as a map to bring out key findings from our ethnographic observations. The findings point to the importance of having workflows compatible with the specific work roles in such emerging work systems – particularly for the beginner roles in the AI space. Our study contributes to the IS literature by depicting the challenges of distributed teams in a relatively novel setting emerging in offshoring contexts like the Indian IT sector, and suggests implications for managers handling AI projects and tackling employee-focused Human Resource practices in such settings.

Fostering change-oriented OCBS: an analysis of India’s IT talent

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how workplace resourcefulness (positive psychological climate), as well as personal resources (psychological capital [PsyCap]), influence work engagement to promote change-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (Ch-OCBs) among Indian information technology (IT) personnel.Design/methodology/approachThe social exchange theory and job demands-resources model are used to provide rationale for proposing a comprehensive mechanism including antecedents, moderators as well as mediators enabling Ch-OCBs among IT personnel. Structured questionnaires were administered targeting IT professionals and their supervisors to test the proposed relationships. The obtained data from 30 supervisors and 240 subordinates were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, SEM and moderated path analysis technique.FindingsPsychological climate, PsyCap and work engagement positively relate to Ch-OCBs; PsyCap moderated the relationship between psychological climate and work engagement. Specifically, the relationship between psychological climate and work engagement has come out stronger for employees with high PsyCap. Work engagement fully mediated the relationship between psychological climate and Ch-OCBs.Practical implicationsThe findings can be critical in promoting voluntary change-focused behaviors among Indian IT personnel, for Indian and foreign (non-Indian) multi-national corporations that are interested in reaping profits by availing change-driven extra-role services of their efficient and the most preferred Indian IT employees of the world.Originality/valueThis study addresses to the call for more research on change-focused promotive part of OCB and advances the literature by providing evidence on the proposed set of associations from fast-pacing Indian economy.

Factors influencing the moving up the value chain by Indian IT service organisations

Indian information technology (IT) service organisations that were providing low value-added services are moving up the value chain of IT services to overcome threats of competition and automation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of Indian IT service organisations' capabilities on moving up the value chain. Using a resource-based view perspective, this research examines the influence of the service provider's capabilities on moving up the value chain. The research was conducted by collecting responses from 188 employees of Indian IT service organisations. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. The study shows that the service provider's capabilities, namely, relationship management capability, project management capability, domain understanding and IT advancement positively impact service quality and innovativeness. The service provider's service quality and innovativeness, and the absorptive capacity of the client enhance the effectiveness in moving up the value chain.

Freely Engaged: Volition and Work Engagement Among Temporary Agency Workers of the Indian IT Industry

A lack of job security and other challenges mark the circumstances of temporary agency workers (TAWs). Yet, data from 511 TAWs of the Indian information technology (IT) industry captured via a structured questionnaire revealed the presence of volition or TAWs holding temporary jobs by choice. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase one, logistic regression was used to differentiate between voluntary and involuntary TAWs. In phase two, multiple regression was used to analyse the influence of volition on work engagement–overall and its individual components (vigour, dedication, and absorption). Logistic regression analysis showed that TAWs who were younger, single, educated in smaller cities and had worked for less than a year with a client were more likely to voluntarily choose temporary work. Further, multiple regression analysis demonstrated that such volition significantly boosts TAWs’ work engagement, in line with Self-Determination Theory’s perspective on autonomous motivation. The predictive model of categorizing TAWs into voluntary and involuntary groups based on demographic and job characteristics will help client and staffing organizations design customized policies for each group and promote factors enabling voluntary selection of temporary work arrangements.

Role of Empowerment and Interpersonal Relations in Reducing Cynicism and Politics Among Indian IT Workers

This article tests a model describing the relationship between organizational cynicism and perceptions of organizational politics (POPS) and the mitigating role of empowerment and interpersonal relationships in satisfaction with work and managers. Data were collected from 361 employees of an Indian information technology (IT) services organization. The analysis of the model showed that empowerment of employees and interpersonal relations among employees alleviated the negative spiral of organizational cynicism and POPS. Lower levels of interpersonal relationships accentuated the organizational cynicism–POPS relationship.

Complacency Leading to Reduced Competitive Intensity in the Indian Information Technology Services Sector Resulting in Diminished Market Opportunity

Indian Information Technology (IT) services sector today commands a huge share of worldwide IT sourcing spend. India stays to be a driving force for worldwide sourcing growth despite rising de-globalization moves across Western economies, challenges posed by East European nations, Russia, China and East Asia. A pertinent question that comes up is how will India take on the rivalry, while the Indian IT services sector seems to be content and complacent. One can see that the hunger for growth which we saw in the late 1990s and the decade of 2000s is fast eroding. India’s incentive to the world market was its economies of scale and cost advantage; however, the disruption created by the extant outsourcing or offshoring business model is fast receding. The Indian IT Services players turned complacent while competing as disruption and differentiation gave them a unique advantage and value proposition. This article builds on various articles in this domain while analysing how complacency affects competitive intensity, in turn resulting in a reduced intensity in market growth opportunity. This article endeavours to evaluate whether Indian IT services sector is trapped in its self-projected image leading to Narcissus effect.

Impact of M&As on Employment in the Indian Information Technology (IT) Industry

Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As) are an important feature of both domestic investment and global FDI. Post-liberalization, India has been an important contributor to both domestic and global M&As, led by the IT sector. This study attempts to investigate the impact of M&As on employment for Indian Information Technology (IT) firms for the period 2007–2015. The Indian IT sector has been a leader for the Indian economy, with its contribution to economic growth, exports and employment generation. However, there is a significant gap in studies examining the impact of M&As on employment in the IT sector. This study makes an important contribution as it attempts to fill that gap, using mixed-methods techniques for a study of both domestic and cross-border M&As. We combine multivariate regression analysis with qualitative techniques of content analysis and interviews for an in-depth view. The study finds that M&As had a positive influence on employee strength in the context of the Indian IT sector, for both domestic and cross-border deals. The study thus highlights the important policy prescription of M&As being a source of employment and growth, even during periods of slowdown in the global and domestic economy.

EMERGING SUBJECTIVITY AND MEANING WITHIN THE LABOR PROCESS OF INDIAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The limitless possibility of ‘being’, whatever one wants ‘to become’ in the contemporary ‘liquid modern times’ inherently accentuates complexities and ambiguities (Bauman 2000) in the ‘conceptualization of self’. Rather than offering  conduit for fulfillment and stable anchoring for personal identity (Alvesson and Willmott 2002), work in the new economy and corresponding altered employment relations, seem to impose corporate narratives of ‘how one ought to be’. Resulting identities warrant for continuous identity work and thus aggravate perpetual feelings of insecurity and anxiety (Collinson 2003). In absence of traditional anchors of meaning (Sennett 1998) and corresponding unrealized quest  for alternative forms of attachment and belonging (Jackall 1998), subjectivities at work are precarious at the very least. Given the context, the paper interrogates worker subjectivity within the labor process of Indian Information Technology (IT) to delineate meaningful work experiences for employees. The findings explicated from ethnographic field work indicate that despite significant contribution to the Indian economy and catapulting sizeable number of families into higher social strata, the software economy has also resulted in what has been described as ‘deteriorating culture’ by most of the respondents. Unsurprisingly, transactional employment relationships, eroding mutual trust and individual predisposition to self-securing orientation have been found to be prominent characteristics of Indian IT workplaces. It seems that contradictions inherent in the individualization oriented IT labour process in a quasi-collectivistic society such as India erodes the capacity of work in providing salient identity dimensions to its employees. Interestingly, the findings from the field also indicate that work itself has no meaning but it is the instrumentality of work in achieving other life projects, particularly those associated with positive valence in the society which makes work experience as meaningful or meaningless.

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

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.

Voice behavior of Indian IT employees: a moderated mediation model

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore how promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors of Indian information technology (IT) employees vary in their relationship with other factors. This study investigates a moderated mediation model involving different factors like managerial openness, voice self-efficacy, turnover intentions and promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a cross-sectional design to collect data from 254 executives working in the IT companies located in India. This study uses IBM SPSS 22 along with the Hayes’ PROCESS module to investigate the moderation and mediation effects.FindingsThe results reveal that both promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors fully mediate the negative relationship between managerial openness and employee turnover intentions. The results also support that voice self-efficacy strengthens the relationship between managerial openness and promotive voice behavior but not prohibitive voice behavior.Originality/valueThis is one of the very few studies to explore voice behavior from the Indian context and thus heeds to the call made by researchers to explore voice in a non-Western context. The treatment of voice as a combination of promotive and prohibitive voice rather than as a unitary concept enhances the voice literature and invites further research.

Work engagement, job crafting and innovativeness in the Indian IT industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of work engagement on job crafting and innovativeness in the Indian information technology (IT) industry. The authors also theorized and examined the moderating effect of perceived supervisory support (PSS) and openness-to-experience (OTE) in aforementioned relationships respectively.Design/methodology/approachThe authors base their arguments on the job-demands and resource (JDR) theoretical model and broaden-and-build theory. Field data from 377 working IT professionals were collected using the survey method. The model was tested using partial least squares (PLS) technique.FindingsResults support the main effects hypothesis. The authors find a significant and positive relationship between work engagement and job crafting behavior and innovativeness.Research limitations/implicationsThe study makes a reasonable contribution to existing knowledge on work engagement and its outcomes. However, the use of cross-sectional data may constrain causal inferences.Practical implicationsInnovativeness and job crafting behaviors are valuable to most organizations, but more critical in IT organizations. As illustrated in this paper, work-engaged employees display higher levels of innovativeness and job-crafting behavior. These results suggest that IT organizations should focus on work-engagement for better productivity and faster growth.Originality/valueThis study is an attempt towards a better understanding of work engagement and its micro level individual outcomes which have not been examined earlier.

Understanding the requirements Of the Indian IT industry using web scrapping

Abstract India produces over two million engineering graduates a year as well as another million graduates in related fields such as computer science, biotechnology etc. Employers cite new graduates lack communication skills, problem solving skills and technical skills. The Indian Information Technology (IT) sector has fast changing technical requirements and understanding its requirement is very important for academics and professional trainers so that they can better prepare students with relevant skills. In this paper, we have developed a simple methodology to analyse the requirements of the Indian IT industry by parsing their job portals and extracting information from their job descriptions. We selected the top 10 IT companies by market cap to conduct our analysis. We extracted the number of jobs that contained each keywords like Java, CCNA, SAP, Agile and computed the popularity of each skill and ranked them accordingly. We find that IT industry requires software and skills like Java, Python, SQL are covered by most universities but paid and in demand commercial software tools like SAP, Oracle are not part of the curriculum. This methodology can also track the evolution of skills and predict new skills that can become popular in Industries in the future.

Understanding the Paradigm Shift in Strategy of M&As in India in a Volatile Period Through Motive Analysis: Evidences from the IT Industry

The reform period in India led to corporate restructuring, including mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Specifically, the reform process helped the Indian information technology (IT) sector to gain a competitive edge. With the gain in competitive edge, IT companies experienced the foreign-led rapid organic and inorganic growth. However, the subprime crisis of 2008–2009 not only caused a decline in inorganic investment but also caused a shift in preference from the international sector to the domestic sector. This study provides evidence of the paradigm shift in merger and acquisitions (M&A) strategies of Indian IT companies through motive analysis (2000–2015). In that context, this article explores the trend and pattern of motives for both domestic and cross-border M&As (CBMAs) by Indian IT firms and specifically seeks to investigate the main motives of CBMAs. The empirical evidence suggests a marked difference and dynamism in the pattern of motives for domestic and CBMAs across different sub-time periods. Furthermore, it indicates that the market and efficiency-seeking motives seem to be the dominant drivers of IT sector firms for emerging countries like India, whereas the role of efficiency-seeking motive became more prominent after the period of subprime crisis.

Abusive supervision and knowledge hiding: the mediating role of psychological contract violation and supervisor directed aggression

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to test the relationship between abusive supervision and employee’s knowledge hiding behaviour among Indian information technology (IT) employees. The paper also strives to theoretically discuss and then seek empirical evidence to the two mediational paths (namely, psychological contract violation and supervisor directed aggression) that explain the focal relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding.Design/methodology/approachTo test the proposed hypotheses, the study draws cross-sectional data from Indian IT employees working in various IT firms in India. Data were collected at two time points (T1 and T2) separated by one month to counter the priming effect and neutralize any threat of common method bias. The final sample of 270 valid and complete responses was analysed using SmartPLS 3 to test the hypotheses.FindingsResults showed that abusive supervision is positively related to employee’s knowledge hiding behaviours. Also, both psychological contract violation and supervisor directed aggression partially mediates the abusive supervision-knowledge hiding behaviour linkage.Originality/valueFirst, the current study has tested the positive relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding behaviours unlike most of the previous investigations that have focussed on knowledge sharing behaviour (the two are different constructs having different antecedents). Second, the study also empirically investigated the two parallel mediational routes, namely, psychological contract violation and supervisor directed aggression that explains the blame attributed by the beleaguered employee that led to covert retaliatory behaviour, such as knowledge hiding.

Career decisions of married Indian IT female expatriates

Purpose Despite more than 50 years of research into gender and work, the impact of female expatriates persists to be underrepresented in mainstream international human resource management (IHRM) literature. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore the perceptions of married Indian information technology (IT) women regarding career and expatriating discussions they have with their husbands and its impact on their decision making to undertake international assignments. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 married Indian IT women who had undertaken international assignments after marriage. The study includes two data sets, 1: women on less than one-year assignment; 2: women on greater than one-year assignments. Findings The study found that women who went on short-term assignments of less than one year travelled alone and found it fortunate and convenient to leave their children in the care of their husbands, in-laws, parents and maids. While in the cases of women travelling for longer-term assignments, most husbands accompanied them. The study suggests that while spousal support was the key, having a shared purpose with husbands along with extended family support was equally significant to facilitate women undertaking an international assignment. As an impetus, the authors note a change within the Indian society where both partners come together to make decisions about expatriating. Research limitations/implications The authors discuss the implications for IHRM as they relate to gender diversity within organisations. Originality/value The research, underpinned by the early workings of a theory of career hierarchy, explores the complexities in expatriation decision-making processes of married women from the emerging economy of India with traditional family values, who are working within a modern and liberal IT industry.