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Closing Case The Rise of the Indian Software Industry Website — http://www.tcs.co.in/index.html Case Discussion Questions
Internet Exploration Question This case focuses on the rise of the software industry in India. As a relatively poor country, India is not normally thought of as a nation that is capable of building a major presence in a high-technology industry, such as computer software. In a little over a decade, however, the Indian software industry has emerged as an important force in the global software market. Exports hit $1.1 billion in 1996-97 and are projected to reach $4 billion by 2000-2001. Most of the growth in the Indian software industry has been based on contract or project-based work for foreign clients. More recently, however, Indian companies have been involved in important development projects for foreign clients. For example, India's largest software company, TCS, has completed major projects for Ernst & Young and Microsoft. The success of TCS and other Indian software companies is actually quite remarkable, given Indian's poor information technology infrastructure. The industry has persevered, however, and has gained worldwide prestige. To maintain their momentum, many Indian software firms are now investing heavily in training and leading-edge programming skills. It may be only a matter of time before Indian companies are competing head to head with the likes of Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP for major software contracts in the international marketplace. An important predictor of a country's ability to sustain growth in a particular area is its willingness to learn and continue to acquire new knowledge and skills. An illustration of India's willingness to continue to progress in the software industry is the existence of an organization named the "Silicon Valley Indian Professionals Association" (SIPA). SIPA is a grass roots organization, founded in 1987 by a small group of Indian professionals, to promote cooperation between the U.S. and India in high-tech areas. SIPA maintains a website at {http://www.sipa.org/}. Spend some time navigating the website and then answer the following questions. First, what is the purpose of SIPA? Second, what types of activities does SIPA get involved in? Finally, in your judgment, are organizations like SIPA helpful in facilitating cooperation between countries, and in eventually transferring knowledge from a highly developed country like the U.S. to a developing country like India? |
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