Human Capital in the Indian IT/BPO Industry. Vijay Pereira Ashish Malik

Transcription

1 Human Capital in the Indian IT/BPO Industry Vijay Pereira Ashish Malik

2 Human Capital in the Indian IT/BPO Industry

3 Palgrave Studies in Global Human Capital Management Series Editors: Sumit Kundu James K Batten Eminent Scholar Chair in International Business, Florida International University, USA Vijay Pereira Senior Lecturer in Strategic and International HRM, and Business Services Leader (Human Capital Development), University of Portsmouth, UK Ashish Malik Lecturer, University of Newcastle, Australia Surender Munjal Director, James E. Lynch India and South Asia Business Centre and Lecturer in International Business and Strategy, University of Leeds, UK Globalisation has led to spatial division and disaggregation of work across the globe, leading to the evolution of novel forms of work organisation and contextually embedded approaches such as co-working and co-creation in an interconnected and interdependent ecosystem. Whilst there are many advantages of scale and scope associated with these work design forms, there are also many problems and challenges. Palgrave Studies in Global Human Capital Management presents new research that examines the intersection of globalisation, technology, innovation, HRM practices and work organisation. With an emphasis on human capital management in international business, the series stresses the importance of culture and contextually situated knowledge a dynamic work environment, especially in the context of big emerging markets to enhancing productivity and competitiveness with a skilled work force. Human Capital in the Indian IT/BPO Industry is the first book in this series. We thank Professor Peter J Buckley OBE, FBA, for writing the foreword for this book and James E. Lynch India and South Asia Business Centre, University of Leeds for their support in researching Human Capital in India. James E. Lynch India and South Asia Business Centre, University of Leeds, was founded by Professor Peter J Buckley in Palgrave Studies in Global Human Capital Management Series Standing Order ISBN (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England

4 Human Capital in the Indian IT/BPO Industry Vijay Pereira University of Portsmouth, UK Ashish Malik University of Newcastle, Australia

5 Vijay Pereira and Ashish Malik 2015 Foreword Peter Buckley 2015 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act First published 2015 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

6 To Veronica, Anisha and Amelia, my family, for their forbearance and love VP To Namita, Madhav and Dhruv for their love, patience and support AM

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8 Contents List of Tables and Figures xii Foreword Preface 1 Introduction 1 Defining training in the context of human capital 4 The human capital problem in context 5 Book contributions 8 Theoretical contributions 8 The high-technology services sector in the context of a developing country 9 Client or customer perspectives 9 Temporal dimension 10 Methodological contribution 10 Practical contribution 10 Identifying future research opportunities 10 Overview 13 2 Global Offshore Outsourcing and the Indian IT/BPO Sector: Theoretical Perspectives 14 Introduction 14 Business process outsourcing, offshoring and offshore or global outsourcing 15 The development of outsourcing/offshoring 18 The growth of offshoring or global outsourcing 19 Drivers of offshoring 20 BPO: The case of human resource outsourcing/offshoring 21 The IT software services and product development outsourcing/offshoring 25 The guiding research questions of outsourcing research 26 The offshoring phenomenon: Theories and strategies 28 xiii xv vii

9 viii Contents TCE theory 31 RBV, core capabilities and resource dependency 32 Quality management capabilities 34 Quality management approaches in the IT sector 34 Empirical data supporting the influence of TQM on training 36 Quality management in India s IT sector 37 Market-based organisational learning framework 38 Learning orientation 39 Market information processing 40 Resource dependency 42 RBV dimension 1 social complexity 44 RBV dimension 2 knowledge-based view 47 RBV dimension 3 core competencies and core-related specificity 50 HC theory 53 Empirical evidence: Return on employer-funded training 54 Neo-human capital theory 56 NHCT: Empirical evidence 57 Human capital, evolutionary RBV and HRM 59 Chapter summary 62 3 The Role of Human Capital Management in Firm Performance and Change 65 Introduction 65 Indigenous, improvised, innovative and sophisticated HR practices 67 The role of HR in employee attraction selection attrition 72 HRM, ASA and firm performance 73 HRM firm performance link 74 High-performance work systems 75 Bundling and Fit of HPWPs 76 High-performance variants: Employer branding as a dimension of HPWS 78 Employer branding and branded talent developers 83 Role of competitive strategy, HPWPs and training in human capital management 84

10 Contents ix Market characteristics, competitive dynamics and HR strategy 85 Empirical evidence: Business strategy and training 87 Product specification strategy and training 88 HPWPs and HR strategy 89 Competitive strategy, production function and training 90 Work organisation, technology and training 91 Critique of training demand models 92 Conceptual framework and chapter summary 94 4 Theory-Building Through Case-Study Research 97 Introduction 97 Justification for a qualitative case-study research design 98 Case-study research in management and human capital 99 Analysis of case-study data 104 Cross-case analysis 105 Thematic template longitudinal analysis 105 Longitudinal template analysis and linkages to theory Case-Study Analysis 110 Introduction 110 SOFTSERV 110 About SOFTSERV 110 Business processes, strategy and work organisation 112 Nature and extent of training 113 Workplace change 116 Quality management systems 116 Market orientation 117 Learning orientation 118 Employee attrition 119 Enterprise size, complexity and firm ownership 119 Temporal dimension of products and projects 120 Strategic HRM approach, skills level and workforce composition 120 Conclusion 121

11 x Contents PRODDEV 122 Organisation structure and processes 123 Business processes, strategy and work organisation 123 Nature and extent of training 125 Workplace change 126 Quality management systems 126 Market orientation 127 Learning orientation 127 Employee attrition 128 Temporal dimension of projects 128 Geographical dimension 128 Strategic HRM approach, skills level and workforce composition 129 Discussion 129 Conclusion 130 BPOLAND 130 About BPOLAND 130 Human capital management at BPOLAND 132 Drivers and influence of change over time HR response 138 BPOLAND About BPOLAND Human capital management at BPOLAND Drivers and influence of change over time HR response Discussion and Conclusions 150 Introduction 150 Developing a theoretical framework 150 Key elements and interaction between internal and external factors 153 Competitive strategy 153 Workplace change and work organisation 154 Temporal dimension and employee turnover 154 Organisational capabilities 155 Gaps in the educational curriculum 156 Variation in training and HCM practices 157 Employee performance 157 Costs and strategy 157 Clients specifications 157 HRM and client management capabilities 158

12 Contents xi Employee retention and career aspirations 158 Conclusion: Towards a theoretical model of HCM in the Indian IT/BPO industry 158 References 161 Index 196