Indian Information Technology Industry Research Articles

Ageism: The New Menace for the IT Workforce in India & How to Tackle It

This paper delves into the phenomenon of ageism, characterized by the manifestation of adverse attitudes and behaviours directed towards oneself or others based on age. The repercussions of ageism include stereotypes and discriminatory conduct within interpersonal relationships. The primary aim of this conceptual paper is to explore ageism within the Information Technology (IT) sector in India and propose strategies to mitigate its detrimental effects. Despite the pervasive existence of ageism in the Indian IT industry, disproportionately affecting older employees, it can serve as a catalyst for fostering a culture of continual upskilling and reskilling among this demographic. Policies focused at promoting active ageing by using an inclusive approach towards intergenerational contact among all age groups can help reduce the negative impacts of ageism.

Linking leader humility, reverse mentoring and subordinate turnover intentions: empirical evidence from the Indian information technology industry

Purpose Reverse mentoring is gaining attention as a means to engage and retain young employees by facilitating the exchange of knowledge, ideas and perspectives with their senior counterparts (leaders). Despite its widespread recognition, there remains a significant scarcity of empirical evidence regarding its enablers and effectiveness. Building on this research gap, this study aims to investigate the association between leader humility, reverse mentoring and subordinate turnover intentions using the theoretical frameworks of job demand resource theory and social exchange theory. In addition, the study assesses how leader competence moderates the impact of leader humility on promoting reverse mentoring. Design/methodology/approach The study used time-lagged multi-wave data with a two-week interval between each wave, collected from 386 information technology professionals working in different organisations in India. The hypotheses developed were tested using partial least square structural equation modelling. Findings The finding from the analysis reveals that leader humility had a significant impact in promoting reverse mentoring, which consequently led to reduced subordinate turnover intentions. In addition, leader competence positively moderates the association between leader humility and reverse mentoring. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to empirically examine the impact of reverse mentoring on subordinates’ turnover intentions, as well as the indirect effect of leader humility on turnover intention through reverse mentoring. Furthermore, the study sheds light on the previously under-researched boundary conditions of leader humility.

The influence of knowledge-oriented leadership on business model innovation and open innovation: mediating role of absorptive capacity

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the importance of knowledge-oriented leadership in the context of business model innovation (BMI) and open innovation. This study also seeks to explore the existence of a mediating effect of absorptive capacity.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a survey, from the information technology industry in India. The relationships proposed in the conceptual framework were tested with structural equation modeling (SEM) using Smart partial least squares (PLS) 3.FindingsThe findings highlight a positive influence of knowledge-oriented leadership on BMI and open innovation. Results also revealed that open innovation can facilitate BMI. Additionally, findings highlighted the mediating role of absorptive capacity in these relationships.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that businesses should employ and value leaders who can create, transform, store and use knowledge resources. Companies that employ such leaders encourage the creation and exchange of new knowledge, which consequently would lead to the successful exploration of innovative approaches. A culture of open innovation would help managers break down barriers, overcome inertia and continuously test new business models to generate revenues, increase value, enhance organizational effectiveness and ultimately gain competitive advantage.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to empirically contribute to the role of knowledge-oriented leadership and BMI from the perspective of open innovation.

An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Design to Identify Criteria for Continuous Performance Evaluation

An alternative to the ubiquitous annual performance evaluation is continuous performance evaluation that is posed to give more objective, frequent and constructive feedbacks. Despite researchers recommending following a continuous performance evaluation for employees, there are hardly any progress in this regard. One of the hindrances is in identifying the evaluation criteria. Identifying the relevant criteria – both from employers and employee’s perspective – is important for the success of a continuous performance evaluation process. Given its novelty, it calls for an exploration to understand a holistic set of criteria. For this purpose, an exploratory sequential mixed method was adopted in the Information Technology Industry in India. In the first phase, an unstructured interview was conducted among 11 software engineers (employees). Based on the responses, a semi-structured interview was conducted among 52 software engineers. A qualitative content analysis of the interview transcripts resulted in 33 criteria. Criteria that were similar, synonymous and complementary were combined. An acceptable interrater reliability was obtained in the content coding and categorization process (Krippendorff’s α = 0.822). This was followed by a focus group discussion among employers (represented by 15 project managers) and 11 criteria were eliminated and seven were added. In the second phase, the importance of 28 criteria were sought using a questionnaire based survey. A simple random sampling was adopted and 498 responses were received. (Cronbach’s α = 0.786). After elimination for incompleteness and erratic information, responses from 443 participants were considered for quantitative analysis. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the responses with 28 criteria subjected to exploratory factor analysis. Two criteria were not included for analysis due to a low mean sampling error value. The 26 most relevant criteria were categorized into six factors based on their factor loading. The main criteria factors were titled: Diagnostic, Dynamic, Proactive, Prompt, Resourceful and Responsible. These factors and the criteria within these factors can be used for continuously evaluating the performance of employees.

Diets, Lifestyles and Metabolic Risk Factors among Corporate Information Technology (IT) Employees in South India.

(1) Information Technology (IT) Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), the largest employment sector of India, contributes to rapid economic growth. However, the work of IT employees is sedentary, and the food environments of their worksites expose them to an obesogenic environment. This study aimed to assess their metabolic and lifestyle risk factors. (2) Methods: To examine the health and nutrition status of IT employees, anthropometric, biochemical and clinical assessments were conducted among 183 employees from three IT organizations of varied operational sizes. Their health-, diet- and physical activity-related practices were assessed using a questionnaire. The prevalence of MetS was assessed. Selected biomarker levels were assessed and associated with their self-perceived stress levels. (3) Results: The median age of the employees was 30 years (26-35 years). While 44.02% of employees were overweight, 16.85% of employees were obese. About 3.89% of employees were found to be diabetic, and HDL-C levels were lower than recommended in 64.93% of employees. In all, 29.87% of the study population were considered to have metabolic syndrome since they had metabolic risk scores ≥ 3. Those with metabolic syndrome were significantly older (p = 0.000), and levels of MDA (p = 0.003), homocysteine (p = 0.001), IL-6 (p = 0.017) and IL-4 (p = 0.000) were significantly higher among them. Although the prevalence of MetS was significantly lower among those aged >30 years, the lifestyle risk factors were significantly higher among them. (4) Conclusions: The assessed parameters indicate a high risk of developing NCDs among employees in the IT industry in India. This shows the need for the modification of lifestyle and workplace food and physical activity environments.

COVID-19 - PANDEMIC IMPACTS ON INDIAN IT INDUSTRY

COVID-19 has been a big disruptor. The impact of COVID-19 on organizations and people across the world has been significant. This impact has been completely different across industries and comprehensive. Directly or indirectly, Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected most of the companies in India. Increased economic uncertainty and risk may pose significant financial implications. Although India has managed well to date the spread of the virus. The COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted normal life and economic activity in our nation. The COVID – 19 Pandemic has caused forceful changes in several industries, and data Technology (IT) trade is that the major among them. The negative impacts of COVID are more as compared to positive effects. India is one of the world's hubs of information technology-enabled services. In India, IT companies provide a broad range of services to companies across almost all commercial verticals. It is evaluated that customers in the manufacturing, retail, energy, travel, transportation, and hospitality sectors are directly impacted by this global pandemic. Indian IT corporations might have to be compelled to assess to ensuing impact on their setups from providing company services concerned in these sectors. COVID-19 main impact is on the technology sector. This descriptive article elaborates the studies that how covid-19 global pandemic impacted the information technology industry in India.

IT Leaders’ Experiences of Resilience during the Pandemic : An Appreciative Inquiry

Purpose : The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that leaders need to have the capacity for resilience. When leaders are confronted with disruptions that are now more of a certainty than a possibility, they must have the ability to bounce back, recover, be agile, and be resilient. Objective : To explore the resilience experiences of leaders in the information technology (IT) industry (both mid-level and senior leaders) during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, guided by the theory of self-leadership. Method : Qualitative exploratory study using an appreciative inquiry approach based on 19 mid- and senior-level leaders, both men and women, in the IT Industry in India, chosen purposively. The data in the form of in-depth interviews were analyzed thematically. Findings : Participants’ experience of resilience during the pandemic was expressed as a capability of leaders, which is inherent in the IT industry, given its dynamism. Various facets of resilience and its impact were highlighted. Practical Implications : The IT industry disruption is characteristic of the pandemic. Hence, understanding how leaders handled the crisis will help in training and development, talent acquisition, self-development, and a guiding pathway for budding leadership. Resilient leaders can positively impact self-leadership by inspiring individuals to develop self-leadership skills, fostering a culture within their organizations, and increasing team self-efficacy. Originality : The resilience capabilities of the leaders in the IT industry in India has not been explored qualitatively before, especially during the pandemic.

Travelling ‘down South’: language, cultural capital and spatiality in Chennai’s information technology sector

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of language in shaping work processes in the Indian information technology (IT) industry, which has become synonymous with the country’s ‘new’ middle class. In the South Indian city of Chennai, the industry has attracted a number of migrants from other parts of the country, including from non-metropolitan areas south of Chennai. Frequently referred to (and also self-identifying) as being from ‘down South’, many of these employees have been provided new opportunities for social mobility through IT work. Using qualitative methods, this article interrogates the discursive registers of ‘down South’. It demonstrates how the term is layered over fluency in English, a crucial form of cultural capital in the industry, to mark certain employees as possessing less ‘talent’ (or ‘merit’). Moreover, it moves beyond the emphasis on English in existing literature on the Indian middle class to determine the role of regional languages, particularly Tamil, on the IT office floor. By exploring the intersections of cultural capital with the spatialities of language and linguistic identities, this article reveals the internal diversity of the middle-class IT workforce and contributes to wider discussions on the structures of inequality that shape urban working lives.

Strategies to Retain Employees in the IT Industry: The Case In India

Although the Information Technology (IT) sector accounts for the highest contribution to Gross Development Product in India, it has high employee turnover. This turnover is a waste of investment and detracts from organizations’ knowledge and experience pools. Person organization (PO) fit theories posit that when people are hired by and for organizations (not just individual jobs), they are less likely to quit. This study examines the benefits provided by IT firms to retain their employees and how these benefits’ effectiveness vary by designation and firm. It does so by employing the ‘work environment congruence’ approach to PO fit. Moreover, it proposes how to build a strategic model of the mix of benefits for retaining staff at different position levels (designations) in the firm. Findings show that preferred benefits differ by designation. For all factors except location, organization does not play an important role in retention, but designation impacts it in all the factors. Keywords: Retention strategies, Retaining employees, Information technology, Indian IT industry.

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.

Labour Law Reforms to Information Technology Industry in India

Labour Law Reforms to Information Technology Industry in India

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.

Transformational leadership influences working performance of employees

The Indian information technology industry has become one of the country's most important growing sectors. Transformational leadership is a popular management style in which executives aim to motivate and inspire employees to improve their performance while also integrating their personal goals with the company's success. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the impact of transformational leadership on working performance among IT employees in Coimbatore. This study is based on questionnaire survey method and empirically research design. This study has administered a well-developed questionnaire and distributed among the employees of selected IT industry. The random sampling method has been applied to choose the sample size of 225 employees. For collecting and coding the responses of IT employees related to their impact of transformational leadership on working performance primary data regarding their talent management practices and their organizational commitment, five-point Likert scaling method has been utilized. The collected sample data are investigated by utilizing the statistical techniques namely Mean score analysis, Standard deviation, Correlation analysis, Linear regression analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis by using SPSS 20.0 software.

Beyond respectability? Office taxis and gendered automobility in urban India

With its late-night work requirements and prevalence of women employees, the Indian information technology industry is firmly embedded within urban middle-class imaginaries of the mobile woman traversing the city after dark. This article analyses the emergence of the office taxi, a legally-mandated provision to facilitate night-time travel, as a crucial site for the enactment of gendered automobility. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in the South Indian city of Chennai, it explores the textures of women’s mobility by grappling with ‘respectability’, an important analytical framework for unpacking embodied modes of class and caste consolidation. It highlights how corporate and state praxis work together to create the structural conditions of mobility, and examines the multifaceted ways in which women themselves negotiate these measures. Moreover, it interrogates distinctly neoliberal interpretations of the taxi that result in particular forms of gendered (im)mobility. In doing so, it suggests that thinking with and beyond normative frameworks such as respectability can offer new insights into gendered articulations of mobility, work and urban life.

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.

L&T’S Acquisition of Mindtree Limited: Is It Worth Contesting?

On March 18, 2019, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) made an open offer to buy up to a 31% stake in Mindtree (MT), which was among the top 10 information technology (IT) companies in India. L&T had already purchased the 20.41% stake that V. G. Siddhartha (VGS), the largest individual investor in Mindtree, was looking to sell. Mindtree’s promoters felt that the acquisition by L&T would add no value for the shareholders of the company. They had considered the option of buying VGS’s stake and had discussions with suitors who had shown interest in the same. The latter included PE firms such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and Baring PE Asia. However, in the end, L&T ended up buying the stake given the price it was willing to offer and the good relationship that its CEO, S. N. Subrahmanyan had with VGS. This led to the first hostile takeover in the Indian IT Industry. The struggle between L&T and Mindtree’s founders left investors in a lurch. While Mindtree’s promoters released a statement stating that L&T’s offer was value-destructive for shareholders, they could not provide any better alternatives. As the founders and L&T continued to lock horns, the investor needed to decide whether L&T had offered a fair deal.

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.

Knowledge Spillovers in ICT Industry of India: Evidence from the Firm’s Patent Citation Behavior

This study examines the knowledge spillovers in Indian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry by foreign multinational corporations using patent citation data from 2013 to 2017. Patents granted by the US patent office to applicants located in India are collected along with their citation counts. In order to examine the subject, this study applies negative binomial regression analysis. The outcome of this study shows that foreign ICT firms cited more patents with higher technology scope as compared to patents with smaller technology scope. Results also confirm the positive relationship between knowledge spillovers and geographical localization. This implies that the first inventor of both cited and citing patents share the same geographical region. However, the result of technological similarities is negative. Further, US firms citing both US and non-US patents, and non-US firms are citing more non-US patents and lesser US patents. This reveals that the knowledge flow patterns of US and non-US firms are significantly different.

Masking, claiming and preventing innovation in cross-border B2B relationships: Neo-colonial frameworks of power in global IT industry

This paper analyzes the role of innovation in cross-border business-to-business (B2B) relationships within the born-global information technology (IT) industry to unmask the assertion that some nations, such as India, are simply ‘less innovative’ than others. We reveal a dark side in B2B relationships that masks, claims and prevents innovation. The dark side in innovation in the Indian IT industry is often manifested via three mechanisms of power; namely, a) masking the true ownership of innovation, b) preventing innovation by dominant organizational structures in multinational enterprises (MNEs), and c) finally, the institutionalization of these practices in MNEs. We show when and how the dark side effects in (dis-) innovation are institutionalized in the business system itself through neo-colonial influences and trace power imbalances across multiple interfaces, such as headquarters – subsidiary or service provider – client. We discuss the theoretical contributions and managerial implications of our findings.