Vijay Pereira

Human capital in the Indian IT / BPO industry

Human Capital in the Indian IT / BPO Industry analyses human capital management in the Indian information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which has created a new paradigm for organising global talent engaged in designing and delivering IT and BPO services. The authors explore the evolution of the innovative talent management strategies of knowledge workers, which has received little attention in existing literature analysis. This book provides a rich theoretical grounding of managing human resources in the context of high-technology professional services firms, focusing on the design and implementation of high performance work system designs in the context of Indian IT/BPO organizations.

Understanding cultural singularities of ‘Indianness’ in an intercultural business setting

Analysing data from the Indian information technology (IT) industry, this paper advances an understanding of cultural singularities of ‘Indianness’. The research context of an intercultural meeting place of IT and business process outsourcing firms’ overseas subsidiaries, Belgium in this case, allows the authors to identify 10 cultural singularities that typify ‘Indianness’. This ethnographic, reflexive study is further validated by employing Ghoshals ‘smell of the place’ metaphor through the authors collective experiences as consultants and researchers, and builds and extends upon the popular cultural dimension frameworks for understanding intercultural business and management. Existing cultural dimensions do not sufficiently describe the contemporary intercultural dynamics that typically take place in workplaces, especially so in offshore and outsourcing environments. A provisional set of parameters for understanding Indian culture, with its relevant impact on business life (customs and manners), business processes and business deliverables are proposed in this study.

Reverse dependency:a longitudinal case study investigation into headquarter-subsidiary relationship in the context of an emerging country

Abstract: This study provides a conceptual framework and typology to measure headquarters and subsidiary dependency on capabilities and resources. Using an in-depth longitudinal case study approach, it highlights a novel phenomenon called “reverse dependency,” which indicates that a headquarters dependency on its subsidiary is rising. This is an emerging phenomenon, probably related to increased globalization and convergence of world economies. The study offers implications for the theory of subsidiary entrepreneurship and location embeddedness.

Investigating cultural aspects in Indian organizations:Empirical Evidence

The purpose of this edited collection is to analyze the cultural aspects of Indian organizations. As the world’s largest and most diverse democracy, Indian society can be best described as an amalgam of multiple cultures, value systems, socio-political and institutional orientations. This book offers a theoretical and empirical basis for understanding the evolving and changing nature of these aspects in Indian organizations. The World Bank predicts that in the near future India will become the world’s second largest economy. The recent high growth rates reported by businesses in the Indian economy needs to be sustainable, especially amidst its high cultural diversity. Whilst there is tremendous interest in understanding the intricacies of Indian culture and a growing literature focusing on topics such as India-specific management and internationalization strategies of Indian firms, the cultural aspects of Indian businesses have been largely ignored. This book aims to fill this gap. It covers various topics in organizational culture and management such as human resource management, cross-cultural communication and coaching, cultural similarity, cultural literacy, multiculturalism, generational cultural values, talent acquisition and knowledge management. It also features case studies from high growth sectors such as the IT and health industries. Presenting contributions from local Indian and international researchers, this book provides a multidimensional perspective that will appeal to students, scholars and practitioners interested in organizational culture and management in India.

Opportunities and challenges for multiple-embeddedness through mergers and acquisitions in emerging economies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine opportunities and challenges from multiple-embeddedness of developed countries multinational enterprises (DMNEs) in emerging economies. It further investigates the effect of global financial crisis on the DMNE’s embeddedness strategies. Design/methodology/approach – Utilising POLS regression on secondary data bases, such as World Bank Development Indicators, over two period, first, from 2003 to 2007 (pre global financial crisis period), and second, from 2008 to 2012 (post global financial crisis), this study models the advantages and challenges faced by DMNEs into emerging markets. Findings – Findings suggest that challenges in terms of institutional and cultural differences have decreased over time. This may be due to the DMNE’s experience of operating in emerging economies. Research limitations/implications – Since the global financial crisis is on-going, further changes in terms of opportunities and challenges are yet to be uncovered. Further investigat...

Culture research in India: critical issues and future research opportunities

This concluding chapter attempts to pull together the various threads and portray three key aspects from the nine empirical chapters presented in this research monograph. As editors of this monograph, we do this by analyzing responses from the authors themselves. We asked the authors of each of the above chapters to furnish pivotal information on three areas: first, to furnish key points regarding Investigating Cultural Aspects in Indian Organizations (from each of their chapter); second, key points regarding strategies to overcome these challenges; and third, key points regarding future opportunities in investigating cultural aspects in Indian organizations. All three areas pertain either to the study/chapter, methods, or practice or also a combination of these. In what follows below we discuss each contribution in turn.

Global talent management in knowledge intensive firms in and between Western Europe and India: future research directions

Considering the multinational dimension of numerous organisations, there is a growing concern with the management of talent at a global level. Accordingly, in this chapter, we focus on important theoretical and empirical research related to talent management in knowledge intensive firms, focusing specifically on Western Europe and India, especially the business process offshoring industry, with an aim to provide future research directions, as there is a vast gap in research in this area. We provide a thorough description of talent management strategies implemented in Western Europe and then move on to discuss the emerging talent management strategies in India, aiming to emphasise some specificities between the two regions. We additionally describe and analyse the talent flow patterns from Western Europe to India, and challenges for these European expatriates in India. Our overall aim is to understand the specific challenges of talent management focusing on the two regions, aiming to provide some hints to both researchers and practitioners.

Making sense and identifying aspects of Indian culture(s) in organisations: demystifying through empirical evidence

The abstract, multifaceted and multidisciplinary nature of the concept of culture has for long led to scholars researching aspects of culture in organisations in India and Indian organisations globally, but in the current context more is needed. Further, India being a diverse, complex and economically re-emerging nation, the aspects of studying culture in organisations in the Indian context becomes more significant and timely. In this editorial piece, we argue that there is a need to acknowledge and appreciate pluralist ideas and conceptualisations of culture, as it will be a good starting point in understanding and demystifying this important and much-less understood concept. We begin by highlighting the importance of studying culture in organisations and provide a historical background of the social and economic changes that have influenced culture in an Indian context. Based on the four contributions in this special issue, we argue that by revisiting some of the existing (and popular) conceptualisations of culture and considering alternate approaches and concepts will help guide future research and scholarship in this vital and highly researched topic. We conclude by stressing that alternate explanations are warranted for overcoming problems of simplistic understandings of this inherently complex concept.

A relational understanding of work-life balance of Muslim migrant women in the west: future research agenda

Abstract Increasing globalisation and work intensification has led to a blurring of roles and boundaries between work and family. Such influences are more pronounced in migrant workers who often struggle to balance their work and life in a new national context. The challenge of work-life balance (WLB) is further compounded in the case of minority migrant groups such as Muslim women living and working in a Western context, as it is unclear how, in the face of discrimination, Islamophobia, family and other sociocultural and religious pressures and the WLB issues of migrant Muslim women (MMW) are enacted. As most studies of WLB are at a singular level of analysis, this paper contributes to the WLB literature through the lens of intersectionality, by providing a multi-level relational understanding of WLB issues of MMW working in a Western context. Future research and themes identified in this paper provide a multi-level and relational understanding of WLB of MMW, and implications for managers tasked with managing WLB issues for MMW in Western contexts are also discussed.

Culture in Indian Organisations: Evidence-Based Research and Practice

A Google search on the 29 November 2014 at 2200 h GMT inputting the words ‘culture in Indian organisations’ generated ‘about 18,000,000 results (0.38 s)’. Similarly the same words in Google Scholar yielded ‘about 89,300 results (0.06 s)’. These results are not surprising given the World Bank predicting that globally in the near future, India will be the second largest economy after China. The recent high growth rates reported by businesses in the Indian economy, whilst laudable from some perspectives (Cappelli et al. 2010), also need to be sustainable, especially amidst its high cultural diversity. As the world’s largest and most diverse democracy, the Indian society can be best described as a ‘cultural melting pot’ with a combination of multiple cultures, value systems and sociopolitical and institutional orientations. Further, India as one of the oldest civilisations is now regarded the second largest growing economy in the world. As such, there is growing international interest in understanding and unbundling the intricacies of Indian culture (Milner 1994; Nicholson and Sahay 2001), especially through empirical evidence.