IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v62y2008i1p39-72.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic Development Strategies and Macro-and Micro-Level Human Resource Policies: The Case of India's “Outsourcing†Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Sarosh Kuruvilla
  • Aruna Ranganathan

Abstract

This detailed case study of India's “outsourcing†industry illustrates the challenges in linking macro and micro human resource policies with an economic development strategy based on export-oriented services. The rapid expansion in the outsourcing of services to India has raised the possibility that this sector will be a key engine of India's economic growth. Based on extensive field research carried out over a four-year period, the authors of this study argue that four interrelated human resource policy challenges threaten the outsourcing industry's growth: two “macro†problems (current skill shortages and the inability of the country to produce higher levels of skills for the long-term growth and sustainability of the industry), and two micro problems (very high levels of employee turnover and rapidly increasing employee costs). The authors evaluate current policy responses and suggest options.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarosh Kuruvilla & Aruna Ranganathan, 2008. "Economic Development Strategies and Macro-and Micro-Level Human Resource Policies: The Case of India's “Outsourcing†Industry," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 62(1), pages 39-72, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:62:y:2008:i:1:p:39-72
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390806200103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979390806200103
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/001979390806200103?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Devesh Kapur & Pratap Bhanu Mehta, 2004. "Indian Higher Education Reform: From Half-Baked Socialism to Half-Baked Capitalism," CID Working Papers 108, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    2. Green, Francis, et al, 1999. "The Role of the State in Skill Formation: Evidence from the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 15(1), pages 82-96, Spring.
    3. Ralph E. Gomory & William J. Baumol, 2001. "Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262072092, April.
    4. Dossani, Rafiq & Kenney, Martin, 2003. "Went for Cost, Stayed for Quality?: Moving the Back Office to India," UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, Working Paper Series qt0b7764tt, UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, UC Berkeley.
    5. Greene, William, 2005. "Growth in Services Outsourcing to India: Propellant or Drain on the U.S. Economy?," Working Papers 15865, United States International Trade Commission, Office of Economics.
    6. Ashish Arora & Jai Asundi, 1999. "Quality Certification and the Economics of Contract Software Development A Study of the Indian Software Industry," NBER Working Papers 7260, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yeongjun Yeo & Chansoo Park, 2018. "Managing Growing Pains for the Sustainable Growth of Organizations: Evidence from the Growth Pathways and Strategic Choices of Korean Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-24, October.
    2. Kuruvilla, Sarosh & Noronha, Ernesto, 2016. "From pyramids to diamonds: legal process offshoring, employment systems, and labor markets for lawyers in the United States and India," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65136, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Micheline Riemsdijk, 2013. "Talent Acquisition in the IT Industry in Bangalore: A Multi-Level Study," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 104(4), pages 478-490, September.
    4. Tashlin Lakhani & Sarosh Kuruvilla & Ariel Avgar, 2013. "Across Boundaries: The Global Challenges Facing Workers and Employment Research 50th Anniversary Special Issue," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 440-472, September.
    5. Jean Jenkins, 2013. "Across Boundaries: The Global Challenges Facing Workers and Employment Research 50th Anniversary Special Issue," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(3), pages 623-643, September.
    6. Beladi, Hamid & Dutta, Meghna & Kar, Saibal, 2016. "FDI and Business Internationalization of the Unorganized Sector: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 340-349.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. J. Bradford Jensen & Lori G. Kletzer, 2010. "Measuring Tradable Services and the Task Content of Offshorable Services Jobs," NBER Chapters, in: Labor in the New Economy, pages 309-335, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Suma Athreye & Lucia Piscitello & Kenneth C. Shadlen, 2020. "Twenty-five years since TRIPS: Patent policy and international business," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(4), pages 315-328, December.
    3. Clair Brown & Julia Lane & Timothy Sturgeon, 2013. "Workers' Views of the Impact of Trade on Jobs," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 1-21, January.
    4. Kuruvilla, Sarosh & Erickson, Christopher L. & Hwang, Alvin, 2002. "An Assessment of the Singapore Skills Development System: Does it Constitute a Viable Model for Other Developing Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1461-1476, August.
    5. Pawan Agarwal, 2006. "Higher Education in India - The Need for Change," Development Economics Working Papers 22139, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    6. Christopher P. P. Shafuda & Utpal Kumar De, 2020. "Government expenditure on human capital and growth in Namibia: a time series analysis," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Goyal, Ashima, 2005. "New technology and labour Markets: Entrants, outsourcing and matching," MPRA Paper 24620, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Ernesto Noronha & Premilla D’Cruz & Muneeb Ul Lateef Banday, 2020. "Navigating Embeddedness: Experiences of Indian IT Suppliers and Employees in the Netherlands," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 95-113, June.
    9. Supriyo De, 2009. "Intangible Determinants Of Market Value In The New Economy: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis Of The Indian Software Industry," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 54(03), pages 379-398.
    10. Ghosh, Saibal, 2009. "Productivity and Financial Structure: Evidence from Indian High-Tech Firms," MPRA Paper 19467, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Martin Tobal, 2019. "A model of wage and employment effects of service offshoring," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(1), pages 303-338, February.
    12. Goyal, Ashima, 2007. "Distant labour supply, skills and induced technical change," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 133-150, June.
    13. Pawan Agarwal, 2006. "Higher Education in India: The Need for Change," Working Papers id:576, eSocialSciences.
    14. Barry Eichengreen & Poonam Gupta, 2010. "The Service Sector as India’s Road to Economic Growth?," Working Papers id:2604, eSocialSciences.
    15. Mohamad Fahmi, 2007. "Equity on Access of Low SES Group in the Massification of Higher Education in Indonesia," Working Papers in Economics and Development Studies (WoPEDS) 200709, Department of Economics, Padjadjaran University, revised Oct 2007.
    16. Barry Eichengreen & Poonam Gupta, 2011. "The Service Sector as India’s Road to Economic Growth?," India Policy Forum, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 7(1), pages 1-42.
    17. Sugeeta Upadhyay, 2008. "On the Economics of Higher Education in India, With Special Reference to Women," Working Papers id:1694, eSocialSciences.
    18. Gupta, Asha, 2022. "A Case for For-Profit Private Higher Education in India," University of California at Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education qt56d324gm, Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.
    19. Javorcik, Beata & Sawada, Naotaka, 2018. "The ISO 9000 certification: Little pain, big gain?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 103-114.
    20. Balaji Parthasarathy, 2010. "The computer software industry as a vehicle of late industrialization: lessons from the Indian case," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 247-270.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:62:y:2008:i:1:p:39-72. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.