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 /

A Comparison of the Industrialization Paths for Asian Services Outsourcing Industries, and Implications for Poverty Alleviation

This paper examines three software and/or information technology enabled services (ITES) industries - two in the early stages of development (in the People's Republic of China [PRC] and the Philippines) and one mature one (in India). Being latecomers to offshoring work, the PRC and the Philippines have developed this industry in cooperation with multinational enterprises (MNEs). PRC firms have worked with and upgraded within MNEs' value chains within the PRC market, while the Philippines has relied on MNEs to come in and set up facilities, with domestic firms setting up facilities where lower (knowledge) barriers to entry prevail. The paper also explores the ITES industries' implications for economic growth and poverty reduction. ITES industries can contribute to overall economic growth and exports, but due to their small size, will generally tend to have more observable impacts on the cities in which they are located. From the limited case data available, it appears that the ITES industries impact on overall employment and other economic sectors to varying degrees, relative to other sectors. As these industries do not help the more impoverished or less educated, they cannot be said to be a solution for the less employable or impoverished, let alone to the problem of rural poverty

Information Technology and Its Role in India's Economic Development: A Review

Information technology (IT) is an example of a general purpose technology that has the potential to play an important role in economic growth, as well as other dimensions of economic and social development. This paper reviews several interrelated aspects of the role of information technology in the evolution of India's economy. It considers the unexpected success of India's software export sector and the spillovers of this success into various IT enabled services, attempts to make IT and its benefits available to India's rural masses, e-commerce for the country's growing middle class, the use and impacts of IT in India's manufacturing sector, and various forms of e-governance, including internal systems as well as citizen interfaces. The paper concludes with an overall assessment of these different facets of IT in the context of the Indian economy

United by a common language? Trade union responses in the UK and India to call centre offshoring

The offshoring of business processes from the global North to low-cost countries of the global South has grown spectacularly in the current decade. Self-evidently, transnational relocation presents considerable challenges for organised labour since it suggests both a 'race to the bottom' in respect of pay, conditions and workers' rights and wholesale redundancies in the developed economies. This paper examines the specific case of the migration of call centres from the UK to India and trade union responses in both geographies. Informed by theoretical developments, insights and evidence from diverse disciplines and literatures, the authors concur particularly with Herod's conviction that union strategies to counter TNCs should not be counterposed between 'organising globally' and 'organising locally'and that 'organising at both scales simultaneously may best serve their goals'. Following reflection upon the nature of the call centre and consideration of important contradictions in the offshoring process, we present evidence of UK union responses ranging from the nationalistic, even xenophobic, to the internationalsist, and conclude that membership mobilisation on a principled basis has been key to the limited successes unions have achieved. The paper also evaluates developments in India and the emergence of an embryonic organisation UNITES which is attempting to organise its call centre and business process outsourcing (BPO) workforce.We conclude by considering the gap between the potential and the reality of effective internationally co-ordinated union activity

A macro and micro perspective of the global software industry with specific orientation to India, China and the Philippines

Much has been made of the importance of the Indian market as the future of the software industry. However, according to mainstream internationalisation theory the market in India may be seen as a less preferential market to other higher growth and low cost markets such as China and Russia. India will have to move higher up the value chain if it is to maintain this favourable position. This article sets out to explain the main reasons why India is proving attractive for foreign direct investment by examining theories of internationalisation and drawing on key FDI data. Contrasts are also made with other important markets including China and Philippines. The article then goes on to examine industry specific variables. The article then considers some alternative historical and cultural factors that may also have a role in explaining the success of this particular industry and location