Research on the Application of E-commerce to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): the Case of India

SMEs account for a large proportion and play an important role in the development of each country in the world, including India. The globalization will bring many advantages for enterprises however SMEs will face fierce competition at the local, national and International level. In order to maintain and promote the important role of SMEs in the context of increased competition, SMEs have to change and adopt new technologies. E-commerce and digital technologies are bringing opportunities to help SMEs improve their competitiveness, narrow the gap with big enterprises thanks to their fairness and flexibility of the digital business environment.       According to UNIDO (2017), India is one of the countries successfully applying e-commerce to SMEs. Contributing to this success is the important role of the Indian government. Therefore, this paper focuses on researching the application of e-commerce to SMEs in terms of the role of government in promoting and creating an ecosystem for SMEs and e-commerce development

Indian IT industry: a performance analysis and a model for possible adoption

India's software and services exports have been rising rapidly. The annual growth rate ranges between 20 -22% in IT services and nearly 55 % in IT-enabled services (ITES), such as call centres, Business Process Outsourcing ( BPO) and other administrative support operations. Together they are predicted to grow at 25% pa till 2010.The IT industry is highly export oriented and the exporters are predominantly Indian. The Indian BPOs (ITES) are moving up the value chain, handling high end data for airline information, insurance, banking sector and mortgage companies, enterprise resource planning, among others. Some of the companies have already moved into significantly higher value added segments such as mission- critical applications, development and support, product design, HR Management, knowledge process outsourcing for pharmaceutical companies and large complex projects. Software exports make up 20 % of India's total export revenue in 2003-04, up from 4.9 % in 1997.This figure is expected to go up to 44% of annual exports by 2010. Though India accounts for just about 3 % of the world market for information technology services, this sector has been growing at a scorching pace, helped by a large pool of English-speaking workers, nearly 4 million engineers and the increasing tribe of tech-savvy entrepreneurs in the country. The Information Technology industry currently accounts for almost 4.8 % of India's GDP. It will account for 7 % of India's GDP by 2010. Software and IT enabled services have emerged as a niche sector for India. This was one of the fastest growing sectors in the last decade with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 50 per cent. Software service exports increased from US $0.50 million in 1990 to$5.9 billion in 2000-01 to 23.6 billion dollars in 2005-06 recording a 34% growth. A compound annual growth of over 25% per annum is expected over the next 5 years even on the expanding base. The impact on the economy of projected software and IT enabled service exports of 60 billion by 2010 is likely to be profound. One manifestation is that India notched up a current account surplus in 2001-02, for the first time in 24 years. India further needs an open environment under GATS to promote exports of services through outsourcing and off-shoring . The present study examines the growth performance of India’s IT industries, with particular attention paid to the role of policy in this process. The study recognizes that emergence of a strong Indian IT industry happened due to concerted efforts on the part of the Government, particularly since 1980s, and host of other factors like Government-Diaspora relationships, private initiatives, emergence of software technology parks, clustering and public private partnerships. In this study we further look at the major parameters of the Indian IT and ICT industry in global context and give justification for including the main factors responsible for the IT boom in India. The study has looked into the past and present trends of the Indian IT industry and has considered further needs of IT sector to act as a catalyst of growth and development. The study has examined whether the Indian IT growth does have enough lessons for other countries to model their IT policy which may help them to shape their IT industry as driver of growth and development. IT firms were actually required to export software in the early days of the industry. This arose in the context of a shortage of foreign exchange in India in the 1970s and early 1980s.Software firms that needed imported inputs were required to earn foreign exchange themselves through export of software. This enabled them to get an idea of global markets very early. Besides formulating the national vision to promote software industry in India in the early 1980s by the government, there were deliberate attempt by the companies to promote software production like compilers, device drivers and operating system to cater to the domestic hardware sector. The high tariffs for the hardware sector had meant that the production of domestic hardware segment (including PCs which were introduced in the same period) had to be sustained requiring necessary software’s like operating system and drivers. Subsequently by mid 1980s, software started coming up unbundled with the hardware. This further gave fillip to the software industry and exports. The 1990s and early 2000 saw the rise of Software Technology Parks and formation of the Ministry of Information Technology, respectively. Despite liberalization of the 1991, the software industry flourished signifying the inherent strength that it developed due to benign and enabling environment provided over a period of time and also the fact that the 1990s saw the dramatic decline in telecommunication costs (government explicit intervention) and the commercialization of the internet along with the Y2K “problem”. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model is used to work out technical efficiency of Information and Communication Technology ( ICT) Industry in host of countries which are front runners as far as ICT is concerned. India lags behind the most as far as ICT (not IT) is concerned. However, information and Communication technology industry has brought revolution in India because it has reduced intermediation in business and society, provided solutions across sectors and is increasingly becoming an important tool for national development. DEA is also applied to benchmark the performance of the 92 Indian Software Companies for 2005- 2006. The impact of various determinants on technical efficiency of the Indian Software companies is worked out using tobit regression. The impact of the explanatory factors on net exports of 92 software firms in 2005-06 is also worked out using simple regression exercise. The study also works out technical efficiency of 36 telecommunication firms in India and examines the determinants for new technology adoption by such industries. The study uses a Malmquist index to estimate total factor productivity changes decomposed into efficiency change( catching up to the frontier technology) and technical change( movement of the frontier) for the common software firms existing between 1996 and 2006 E-government is the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by government agencies. Its use promises to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of government and alter its relationship with the public. The study outlines E-Governance models for effective governance and for higher agricultural growth and development. E-Commerce primarily refers to buying, selling, marketing and servicing of products or services over internet and other computer networks. E-Commerce in India is just taking off with the advent of Railway and Online Air bookings and Net banking. The business is likely to grow to Rs 2300 crore by 2007 .Electronic commerce allows efficient interactions among customer, suppliers and development partners cutting down on transaction time and reducing the costs of doing business. The role of government is to facilitate the development of E-Commerce. For promoting South-South Cooperation and making it meaningful, the governments of the member countries need to pool resources and capabilities in R&D and human resource development for harnessing the fruits of Information and Communicating technologies. The study spells out in detail a number of examples where ICT has been used by rural communities for their benefit and for policy and development goals of the government in general. Web based software development and software product development (like device drivers) is necessary for providing complete business and consumer oriented solutions. These are also areas of interest for the Indian IT entrepreneurs to work upon in times to come. India’s relatively unsafe e-security environment is costing the BPO/ITES industry. The new IT Act (2000) needs to crucially define cyber harassment, phishing and cyber stalking to take care of cyber crimes in India. With the Indian IT/BPO exports to reach 60 billion by 2010, such companies need to invest in upgrading security measures for sustaining competitiveness. Organizations are not obliged under the IT Act to implement data security measures to protect consumers and clients. All this makes it obvious that qualitative progress cannot be made without enacting comprehensive data protection legislation. The Information and communication technologies (ICT) indicators of India are 13 million PCs, 40 million internet users- country with the fifth-largest number of Internet users,143 million mobile phones and 60 million subscribers for fixed lines in 2006. These are modest figures in comparison with the ICT penetration indicators achieved by the front runners like Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, UK, US, Nordic countries in Europe, among others (see the text for our strength and weaknesses in the ICT infrastructure in comparison with some other front runner countries). India’s Strengths lies in its availability of pool of scientists and engineers and quality of maths and science education along with quality of business schools. We are also ranked quite high in terms of cluster development, foreign technology licensing and Government prioritization of ICT. The weaknesses are the telecommunication infrastructure and speed of new business registration. However, Information and communication technologies(ICT) has brought about revolution in India particularly since 1990s .This is because it has reduced intermediation in business and society, reduced mobile and fixed telephony rates(because of concerted policy interventions by the government), provided solutions across sectors, provided both CDMA and GSM mobile technologies (and now Wi-Max technologies for internet access at different public places using PC), re-organizing firm level behavior, empowering individuals by providing them with more information and is increasingly becoming an important tool for national and rural development through E-governance, E-Banking and E- Commerce programmes. In addition, the success of the Information Technology industry in India is intertwined with information and communication technologies as most of the Information technology enabled services use such technologies for providing their services. The quantitative results of the paper answers the following- what orientations in inputs should be done by inefficient software and telecommunication firms and ICT Industry in general to reach the ‘ best practice frontier’( and have operational excellence), examines the relationship between technical efficiency and net exports of software firms along with the impact of host of explanatory factors like size of firms in terms of sales and total cost, among others on technical efficiency and net exports for cross section of software firms using tobit analysis, gives some reasons for relatively low ICT penetration in India and what can be done to transform India’s relatively good ICT readiness and ICT environment into higher ICT usage, answers why telecommunication firms are adopting new technologies and estimates total factor productivity changes in software firms which can be further used to model wage and price estimation of products and services offered by software firms over time. The paper confirms the improvements in productivity, efficiency change and technical change of the Indian Software industry from 1996 to 2006. Synopsis Chapter Wise Chapter one describes the major parameters of the Indian Information Technology (IT) Industry in India today and in the immediate past. The chapter further analyzes the reason for the ‘boom’ in the Indian IT sector. We also outline an electronic governance Model which can become a tool for effective governance. DEA is applied to benchmark the performance of the 92 Indian Software Companies for 2005- 2006. The impact of various determinants on technical efficiency of the Indian Software companies is worked out using tobit regression. The impact of the explanatory factors on net exports of 92 software firms in 2005-06 is also worked out using simple regression exercise. . Further this chapter uses a Malmquist index to estimate total factor productivity changes decomposed into efficiency change and technical change for the common software firms existing between 1996 and 2006. Chapter two gives an account of the position of the Indian Information Technology (IT) Industry and the Indian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry in the global context and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of ICT Infrastructure across some countries. Technical Efficiency of the Indian ICT sector is worked out using the mathematical model of Data Envelopment Analysis. The study also works out technical efficiency of 36 telecommunication firms in India and examines the determinants for new technology adoption by such industries. Chapter Three describes why and how the Indian IT industry can act as a catalyst of growth and development. An account of an effective electronic governance model for Agriculture Sector is also given. Chapter Four looks at the past of IT industry since 1960s keeping policy in mind. This chapter also outlines an export success model . Such models can be emulated by other countries. Chapter five describes the hurdles and constraints faced by the India IT industry and give an account of the policies and strategies which can be adopted to address the hurdles and concerns of the ICT sector. The last Chapter gives the conclusions, suggestions and policy advice for making IT as a tool for addressing some core inadequacies in the system like poverty, inequality, healthcare and education, among others.IT; ICT; ITPOLICY; OUTSOURCING; DEA ANALYSIS; TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY; TOBIT; NETEXPORTS; MALMQUIST INDEX; TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY CHANGE; EFFICIENCY CHANGE; TECHNICAL CHANGE

The impact of it services & ITeS-BPO on India’s growth

It has been noted that IT Services and ITeS-BPO segments have been responsible for significant impacts to the growth of Indian economy. This study examined the perceptions about the impact of these two segments on India’s economic growth, carried out in a group of individuals that work in Bangalore’s Electronic City. Based on existing literature it was hypothesized: (H1) IT Services and ITeS-BPO professionals have no different perceptions about the main direct impact of Indian IT/ITeS industry on the economic scenario; (H2) IT Services and ITeS-BPO professionals have no different perceptions about the main indirect impact of Indian IT/ITeS industry on the economic scenario; (H3) IT Services and ITeS-BPO professionals don’t attribute different factors responsible for the key advantage of the Indian IT/ITeS industry; (H4) There is no consensus among IT Services and ITeS-BPO professionals about India's ability to sustain its competitive advantage in the long run; (H5) IT Services and ITeS-BPO professionals have no different perceptions about whether or not the services sector could be an engine of growth; (H6) IT Services and ITeS-BPO professionals have no different perceptions about the "job-less growth" phenomenon. Data was analyzed from a group of 102 individuals who attended the online survey. Four hypotheses were confirmed: H2, H4, H5 and H6. The perception of the respondents about the main direct impact of Indian IT/ITeS industry on the economic scenario and the perception about the factors responsible for the key advantage of the Indian IT/ITeS industry significantly vary according to the segment they work for.Tem-se observado que os segmentos de IT Services e ITeS-BPO foram responsáveis por impactos significativos para o crescimento da economia indiana. Este estudo analisou as perceções sobre o impacto desses dois segmentos no crescimento económico da Índia, realizado num grupo de indivíduos que trabalham na Electronic City de Bangalore. Com base na literatura existente foram levantadas as hipóteses: (H1) Os profissionais de IT Services e ITeS-BPO não têm perceções diferentes sobre o principal impacto direto da indústria de IT / ITeS no cenário económico; (H2) Os profissionais de IT Services e ITeS-BPO não têm perceções diferentes sobre o principal impacto indireto da indústria de IT / ITeS no cenário económico; (H3) Os profissionais de IT Services e ITeS-BPO não atribuem diferentes fatores responsáveis pela vantagem da Índia na indústria de IT/ITeS; (H4) Não existe consenso entre os profissionais de IT Services e ITeS-BPO sobre a capacidade da Índia para manter a sua vantagem competitiva no longo prazo; (H5) Os profissionais de IT Services e ITeS-BPO não têm perceções diferentes sobre se o setor dos serviços pode ser um motor de crescimento; (H6) Os profissionais de IT Services e ITeS-BPO não têm perceções diferentes sobre o fenómeno da diminuição do emprego. Os dados foram analisados a partir de um grupo de 102 indivíduos que participaram no questionário online. Quatro hipóteses foram confirmadas: H2, H4, H5 e H6. A perceção dos entrevistados sobre o principal impacto direto da indústria indiana de IT / ITeS no cenário económico e a perceção sobre os fatores responsáveis pela vantagem da Índia na indústria de IT/ITeS variam significativamente de acordo com o segmento em que trabalham

Nigeria-india Economic, Political And Sociocultural Relations: Critical Reflections For Continuous Mutual Co-operation

The establishment of the Diplomatic House in Nigeria in 1958 (two years prior to Nigerian independence) by India laid the foundation for what was to become solid, warm and concrete bilateral relations between India and Nigeria. The subsequent diplomatic and commercial visits between officials of the two countries crystallised and concretised their cooperative ties regarding political, economic and socio-cultural issues. This paper examines the politico-diplomatic, socio-cultural and economic relations between India and Nigeria. Using a historical approach, the paper argues that although in economic terms the balance of trade is in favour of Nigeria due to increasing importation of Nigeria's crude oil into India, Indian investment activities in Nigeria have exemplified what might be termed an unequal relationship in which India has an edge over Nigeria. Nevertheless, in view of the magnitude of the cordial relations between the two countries, their development potentials and some socio-political and cultural commonalities, they stand a very good chance of further solidifying and enriching their interactions with regard to several important issues, such as the development of democratic institutions and the redefinition of economic relations between the two states. This, the paper argues, would not only strengthen their political and economic relations, but also bring mutual benefits

Behind India’s Bomb

The Indian nuclear tests of May 11 and 13, 1998, shook an unsuspecting world. Long at the forefront of the movement for universal nuclear disarmament, India had continually chastised the five declared nuclear powers (the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom) for not moving to eliminate their nuclear arsenals as called for by the 197o nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. After demonstrating its own nuclear capacity in 1974, India had refrained from testing for more than two decades. And apparently, neither the emergence of a government in New Delhi led by the right-of-center Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nor the Indian elites' deep reservations about the global nonproliferation regime had disturbed this quiescence. Indian decision-makers had indicated that they would not carry out nuclear tests until they had completed a lengthy "strategic review' of security threats and how best to cope with them

Understanding SOA Perspective of e-Governance in Indian Context: Case Based Study

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a contemporary phenomenon which is targeted for efficient and inclusive business automation. E-Governance services worldwide are no less than a business paradigm with clearly defined delivery and are creating potential for citizen centric services. Various information technology enabled services are planned for benefiting the support structure (e-government) and interfacing this structure with citizens\u27 demands (e-governance). SOA principles and models are being used for building good e-government systems. Good results of e-government systems notwithstanding, such projects are not free from challenges in many countries. Graduating e-government systems to e-governance systems needs a critical evaluation of citizen participation. In Indian context, this challenge is prevalent because of various issues including digital divides, supply driven approaches of the government systems and inadequate inclusion of developmental perspectives. Various e-governance pilot projects which delivered expected results could not sustain during scale up. This phenomenon provides a scope to appreciate underpinnings of e-governance strategies. In this paper, e-governance systems are given due importance and it is posited that citizen participation with developmental perspectives would lead to better citizen centric services and would also provide scope for demand driven growth of e-governance services. It is also argued that SOA principles adopted with citizen orientation in the value chain would provide this desired result. In Indian context, this issue is relevant as it poses a major challenge for e-governance policy makers to successfully incorporate citizen participation, especially with development perspectives and sustain this participation during scale up. Mapping of SOA oriented components are discussed through two case studies in Indian context to appreciate the issue