A comparative assessment of the information technology services sector in India and China

The purpose of this paper is to assess the nature of competition in the information technology (IT) services sector between India and China. Using primary and secondary data sources, we compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the IT services sector in the two countries along the main dimensions of Porter&rsquo;s competitive advantage model. The principal findings indicate that the IT services sectors in the two countries are distinctively different, have developed along different paths and are highly complementary to each other. China has a well established hardware sector and its IT services sector focuses mostly on servicing its domestic market. India&rsquo;s IT services sector is predominantly export orientated with focus on the US and Western European markets. Contrary to popular beliefs, given the complementary characteristics of the IT services sectors in India and China, it is unlikely for the two countries to compete against each other in the near future and greater strategic co-operation between IT service providers in the two countries is a more likely outcome.<br /

Using involvement to enhance employee engagement in IT firms: Examining leadership initiatives in a key developing national context

Many organisational leaders increasingly use employee involvement to serve their interests, spurred by the unitarist rationale of leader‐member exchange (LMX). Existing research into employee involvement and participation (EIP) management has mainly focused on manufacturing firms in advanced economies and has not kept pace with developments in settings where practice is primarily governed by organisational leaders plus greater use is made of informal and technologically assisted EIP. Consequently, this paper investigates the management of EIP in IT firms at the forefront of these developments in India. The findings reveal how an array of informal initiatives, including social media, are being used to permeate traditional LMX and EIP boundaries to reinforce unitarist leadership goals. Limitations to some of these initiatives are elucidated, as they are unevenly used and contested by employees. Thus, the paper contributes to critiques of LMX as an ancillary framework for EIP