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1 – 10 of over 5000
Article
Publication date: 4 March 2014

Sanjay Bahl and O.P. Wali

Information security is a growing concern in society, across businesses and government. As the offshore IT services market continues to grow providing numerous benefits, there are…

1708

Abstract

Purpose

Information security is a growing concern in society, across businesses and government. As the offshore IT services market continues to grow providing numerous benefits, there are also perceived risks with respect to the quality of information security delivered in the supply chain. This paper aims to examine, as a case, the perceptions of Indian software services provider (service provider) employees with respect to information security governance and its impact on information security service quality that is delivered to customers.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a framework built upon the existing dimensions and instruments for total quality management and service quality, suitably modified to reflect the context of information security. SmartPLS, a structural equation modelling technique, has been used to analyse field survey data collected from across various Indian cities and companies.

Findings

Significant finding is that information security governance in an IT outsourcing company providing software services has a highly significant impact on the information security service quality, which can be predicted. The paper also establishes that there is a positive relationship collectively between elements of information security governance and information security service quality.

Research limitations/implications

Since data used in this study were taken solely from the responses of employees of outsourced service companies in India, it does not show if this translates into service improvements as perceived by the customer.

Practical implications

Information security governance should be made an integral part of corporate governance and is an effective strategic technique, if software outsourcing business enterprises want to achieve a competitive edge, provide client satisfaction and create trust.

Originality/value

The paper presents empirical data validation of the connection between information security governance and quality of service.

Details

Information Management & Computer Security, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-5227

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 May 2015

Lakshmanan Ramanathan and Sundaresan Krishnan

The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of outsourcing on open-source software (OSS) and further investigate the factors that impact the adoption of OSS in global…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of outsourcing on open-source software (OSS) and further investigate the factors that impact the adoption of OSS in global information technology (IT) outsourcing organizations serviced by Indian IT services organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors developed a conceptual model that describes the factors influencing the OSS adoption by using the technology-organization-environment framework. This quantitative explanatory study used self-administered questionnaire to collect data from 482 middle and top management employees of Indian IT services organizations. The authors analyzed the data using partial least squares to test this conceptual model.

Findings

The proposed conceptual model identified the factors which play a significant role in OSS adoption such as reliability, legal concern, software costs, management support, OSS support availability and software vendor. In contrast, this study did not find enough evidence that IT outsourcing was a significant determinant of OSS adoption.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of the research is that it is focused on global IT outsourcing organizations (clients) serviced by Indian IT services providers (vendors). Hence, the authors cannot generalize the finding to other regions. Also, the analysis is based on the view point of employees in vendors. Views of clients’ employees must be analyzed and triangulated with current evidence.

Practical implications

IT services providers can offer “OSS as a service” for its clients and help them address the gaps in support availability and achieve reduction in total cost of ownership of software.

Originality/value

IT services providers can use this research model to increase their understanding of why some IT outsourcing organizations choose to adopt OSS, while seemingly similar ones facing similar market conditions do not.

Details

Journal of Systems and Information Technology, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1328-7265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Pamela Meil and Hal Salzman

Is the rise of the Indian software industry simply another Asian state-dominated industrial growth story or is India distinctive, an economy where small technology entrepreneurs…

Abstract

Purpose

Is the rise of the Indian software industry simply another Asian state-dominated industrial growth story or is India distinctive, an economy where small technology entrepreneurs also find niches for development and can be drivers of innovation? Research has focused on the large integrated Indian and international service providers. This study examines the opportunity for growth among smaller innovative technology entrepreneurial firms. Two areas of inquiry are: What factors have been responsible for spurring growth in the Indian IT industry? What type of work is being carried out at Indian firms and is this profile changing? This paper aims to examine the emergence of technology entrepreneurs, particularly in terms of their links to multinational firms and their role and position in global value chains. The paper takes a multi-level approach to understanding development trajectories in the IT sector in India: a global value chain approach to the extent that company processes are seen in their larger networked context across organizations and an institutional approach in terms of state policies that influence the creation of infrastructure that, in turn, shapes organizational development trajectories. Additionally, it examines the role of the various actors within IT sector organizations – the workers, the managers and, in the case of the small companies in our sample, the owners – on the outcome of growth trajectories in the Indian IT sector. We find that the various levels of change and policy all contribute to the outcome in company trajectories: the dominance of multinational enterprises on the market, the entrepreneurial vision and survival strategies of returned technology expatriates, and the changing policies of the government in promoting indigenous business.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative research interviews; comparative case study; literature review; multi-tier analysis.

Findings

The technology entrepreneurial development in India appears to represent quite a distinctive path in terms of both firm development and broader economic development. It is focused on the IT sector, in which high skill “knowledge work” is carried out and which has been able to develop despite lack of basic infrastructure (roads and reliable electricity).

Research limitations/implications

After the opening up of the business environment to large Western multinational enterprises (MNEs), it was difficult for indigenous Indian entrepreneurs to compete in innovative product development markets. Developing such companies depended on individual risk taking, as no specific infrastructure existed for niche production. However, the knowledge base and innovation clusters did offer opportunities for obtaining contracts. The Indian entrepreneurs did have to make a lot of compromises about defining their business and the tasks they could undertake. More research is needed on the paths and development opportunities for these smaller Indian-owned firms.

Practical implications

Unique opportunities are emergent and defy easy policy prescriptions, other than precluding change that does not foreclose emergent possibilities (e.g. such as strong state controlled business development).

Social implications

Indian-owned innovative companies, although having difficulties competing with large Indian and Western MNEs, do put pressure on these MNEs to move work up the value chain, thereby providing more interesting and challenging opportunities for Indian knowledge workers.

Originality/value

This paper provides a unique company-level perspective about entrepreneurialism in the Indian software sector from the perspective of different actors in the process. It then links this company-level perspective to a larger context both in terms of trajectories of development at the macro level, as well as the role that the company’s place in multinational value chains has in its development perspectives. It gives a special insight into the motivations and obstacles facing entrepreneurs in India’s dynamic software sector.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2013

Daisy Mathur Jain and Reema Khurana

The purpose of this paper is to study sustainability of the global business model of software outsourcing with perspective of Indian vendors.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study sustainability of the global business model of software outsourcing with perspective of Indian vendors.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to obtain results as per the stated purpose, the authors have done an extensive literature review search in the e‐journals databases: ABI/INFORM Complete, EBSCO Business Source Complete, Emerald Management Xtra and Science Direct. Over and above these databases and journals, NASSCOM reports, survey and some books were also referred for literature review. Finally 59 references listed at the end of the paper were used for the stated purpose.

Findings

The paper studies trends in software industry and outsourcing models, which Indian vendors are offering to their global clients. Each model is evaluated analytically for its advantages and shortcomings subsequently the paper concludes by stating the need for a sustainable global business model in software outsourcing from Indian perspective.

Research limitations/implications

The paper studies business of software at a global level and subsequently narrows its focus on the models being provided by the Indian vendors. It identifies need for a sustainable model to be used by the Indian vendors; the limitation of the paper is it concludes with the need identification and is from an Indian vendor perspective. The needs identified can be further used as a basis for hypothesis formulation, questionnaire design, data survey and analysis so that blue print of the proposed model can finally emerge, also the study can be expanded to include global vendors.

Practical implications

The following paper analytically studies current trends in global business of software sourcing, and identifies pros and cons of the models adopted by Indian vendors. It identifies the need for a sustainable global business model for software outsourcing; in case the need is fulfilled it will definitely add value to India as a software sourcing destination and lead to more revenue generation which will eventually culminate into a large‐scale and long term economic and social impact. The study also has several research and public policy formulation implications.

Originality/value

The paper is completely original work of the authors where the value addition is clearly seen by studying the advantages and shortcomings of the existing models of software outsourcing adopted by Indian vendors and identifying the need for sustainability therein.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2011

Saji K. Mathew

Although risks and client‐vendor relationships in IT outsourcing have been studied in prior research, there is a paucity of studies providing insights on the mitigation of client…

1107

Abstract

Purpose

Although risks and client‐vendor relationships in IT outsourcing have been studied in prior research, there is a paucity of studies providing insights on the mitigation of client risks through the relationship. This research aims to focus on mitigation of the ex post risks of firms engaged in offshore software development (OSD). Client risks due to service provider behavior are identified first. Further, this work seeks to identify relationship variables that could reduce the impact of determinants of risk on a risk category.

Design/methodology/approach

This research followed a multiple case study method aiming to build insights and directions that would facilitate further research. The paper's goal of sampling was to choose cases which were likely to extend the emergent theory pertaining to risks and their mitigation through relationships.

Findings

Findings from this study show that shirking, loss of control over information assets, and service provider lock‐in are the three categories of ex post risks. A relationship management strategy ensuring reasonable profits to the vendor could mitigate shirking risk. Trustworthiness of vendors established through credibility and benevolence in prior engagements could mitigate the risk of loss of control over information assets. Further, dependence balancing through a multi‐vendor offshoring strategy and joint investments in relationship‐specific assets could mitigate the risk of service provider lock‐in.

Practical implications

The findings from this research provide useful insights in vendor selection and management process.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the growing body of literature in offshore IT outsourcing and makes two significant contributions: identification and categorization of risks due to vendor behavior and their determinants in OSD; and understanding the role of relationship dimension in mitigating such risks in OSD.

Details

Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8297

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 July 2023

Karthik Padamata and Rama Devi Vangapandu

The purpose of this study is to capture patients' and employees' perception of quality of care in the Indian private hospitals and to find the possible perceptual gaps between…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to capture patients' and employees' perception of quality of care in the Indian private hospitals and to find the possible perceptual gaps between both the groups.

Design/methodology/approach

Authors have referred to the Victorian patient satisfaction monitoring (VPSM) scale and studied the responses of 327 patients and 327 employees collected from six private Indian tertiary care hospitals. SPSS v26 software was used to conduct the data reliability test, descriptive analysis and Mann–Whitney U test.

Findings

Authors have found significant differences in perceptions of quality of care between the patients and employees in the Indian hospitals. Employees have high positive perceptions towards the provided medical care whereas the patients have less favourable perceptions for many quality indicators.

Practical implications

This study findings help the healthcare managers, practitioners and healthcare workers of the Indian hospitals to understand the perceptions of both the employees and the patients towards healthcare quality elements and help to reduce the existing perceptual gap in the process of providing quality healthcare services.

Originality/value

To the best of authors knowledge, this is one of the pioneering studies conducted in Indian healthcare industry to capture and compare the perceptions of both the employees' and the patients' perceptions of various quality of care elements. This study highlighted the existing perceptual gap between the employees and the patients on various healthcare quality elements and indicated the critical areas for improvement to provide high quality healthcare services.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2016

Siddhant Masson, Rachit Jain, Narendra Mani Ganesh and Sajeev Abraham George

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate performance of Indian telecom service providers through a benchmarking study of their operational efficiency and service delivery…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate performance of Indian telecom service providers through a benchmarking study of their operational efficiency and service delivery effectiveness. The paper also carries out a peer-to-peer comparison and identifies-specific areas of improvement for different service providers to attain sustainable growth and profitability.

Design/methodology/approach

A two stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model was used to compare the performances of the service providers. The first stage represents how efficiently a unit is able to use its infrastructure and resources to generate better quality services. The second stage captures how well the company is able to communicate and deliver these services to the customer.

Findings

The results of the study support the applicability of the two stage DEA for comparing the performances of the telecom service providers as they are in line with the financial performance indicators and brand ranking. It is observed that those companies which score high on both operational efficiency and service delivery effectiveness have achieved superior profitability.

Research limitations/implications

This study has been carried out at a pan-India level and hence does not take into account circle level or local performance which varies significantly for most service providers. Besides, this the analysis was constrained by limited data in the public domain, which necessitated estimations and extrapolations for some variables of few service providers.

Practical implications

The study has helped to provide inputs for the Indian telecom companies for potential performance improvements by providing a comparative analysis of their operational efficiency and service delivery effectiveness. It has enabled to derive deeper insights on potential target areas for managerial attention that could be translated into implementable actions. The benchmarking analysis has also helped to understand whether the current performance of the service provider is sustainable, unprofitable or ephemeral.

Originality/value

This paper goes beyond the traditional benchmarking studies of Indian telecom service providers introducing a two stage DEA model to understand the operational efficiency as well as the service delivery effectiveness. The study has helped to derive valuable academic and practical insights on the issue of performance measurement of the Indian telecom service providers.

Article
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Manzoor Hassan Malik and Showkat Hassan Malik

The aims of this paper are twofold. First, the trends and patterns in key variables of performance of sample software companies during the study period are overviewed. Second, the…

Abstract

Purpose

The aims of this paper are twofold. First, the trends and patterns in key variables of performance of sample software companies during the study period are overviewed. Second, the determinants of information technology (IT) export across the sample companies during the period of economic slowdown have been analyzed.

Design/methodology/approach

Secondary data have been used in the study. Regression analysis is concerned with the study of the dependence of one variable, the dependent variable, on one or more other variables, the explanatory variables, with a view to estimating and/or predicting the mean or average value of the former in terms of the known or fixed values of the latter. The data collected through survey were scrutinized, and statistical software were used for analysis. The variables documented in the study include the exports, capacity utilization, profits, exchange rate and dummy for recession, dummy for countries of export.

Findings

The Indian IT sector was set for smaller growth due to global economic slowdown. Large IT service players were able to some extent cope with tighter client spends, but it was smaller IT companies which were facing the severe heat. Production of sample companies decreased at an average of 34 per cent in 2008. The profits of the sample companies have decreased by 34.34 and 78.67 per cent, respectively, during 2008. In case of determinants of software exports, it is observed that capacity utilization is positively related to exports. The estimated mean of exports increases by about 1.370.

Originality/value

This paper focuses on originality in the sphere of scientific work. Secondary data have been used in the study. The data were collected from the Annual Reports of four randomly selected software companies. Both face-to-face interview and on-line survey based on a structured questionnaire to the sample companies were used to collect the data. All the work has been done in original by the authors and the work used has been acknowledged properly.

Details

Journal of Science & Technology Policy Management, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4620

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1997

S. Subba Rao

The Internet has existed in India for about 18 months. An attempt has been made here to give information about India's Internet service providers and information infrastructure…

Abstract

The Internet has existed in India for about 18 months. An attempt has been made here to give information about India's Internet service providers and information infrastructure, and to group the Internet information sources originating from India into various categories: viz. art, business, campus wide information systems, companies and organisations, data and software, directories, discussion lists/forums, electronic journals, e‐mail based infoservers, entertainment, investment, medical, multimedia, multipurpose, online information, religion and tourism. The paper also discusses the Internet in the social and commercial context of India and concludes with India's rapid response in providing its resources over the Net to establish its presence, the growth of Web sites, privatisation of access, and PC penetration in the SOHO and home segment.

Details

The Electronic Library, vol. 15 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2016

Manzoor Hassan Malik and Nirmala Velan

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of trends of Indian information technology and business processing management (IT-BPM) sector and to analyse the determinants…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of trends of Indian information technology and business processing management (IT-BPM) sector and to analyse the determinants of IT-BPM sector during the period 1991-2014.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on annual data collected from National Association of Software and Service Companies and Department of Electronic and Information Technology for the period 1991 to 2014. The methodology adopted for studying the objectives are simple averages, percentages, ratios, growth rates, graphs prepared on the basis of data from the IT-BPM sector and regression analysis. Trends and patterns in key variables, such as total revenue, domestic revenue, export revenue, employment and exports of the IT-BPM sector have been examined. Factors influencing IT-BPM export growth have been analysed using ordinary least square multiple regression model, with growth rates of gross domestic product (GDP), labour productivity, exchange rate and previous year’s export, as the explanatory variables.

Findings

The export revenue from IT-BPM sector increased continuously over the years, at an average growth rate of 36.60 per cent during the period 1991 to 2014. Similarly, domestic revenue of IT-BPM sector also increased, but at a lower growth rate. This is because domestic market in India is captured by multinational giants against Indian firms, which do not possess full comparative advantage in the case of IT-BPM sector. Indian firms are producing low skill activities required for production, mainly concentrated only in the export sector. Direct employment, excluding hardware from IT-BPM sector, has grown at an average rate of 18.08 per cent over the study period. The determinants of IT-BPM exports indicated previous year’s export demand to be significantly contributing the highest to export growth rate. This was followed by GDP growth rate, implying that overall growth of the economy leads to significant increase in export growth. Increased labour productivity followed next in significantly encouraging export growth.

Research limitations/implications

Generalization of the results may not be possible, as Indian conditions and policies vary.

Practical implications

The paper has implications for the expansion of domestic market, diversification of trade and products, innovations for increasing competitiveness and sustainability in the global market in the wake of stiff competitions from new competitors.

Originality/value

This paper focuses on originality in analysis of determinants of export growth.

Details

Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4620

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 5000