Understanding the future of global software production: Investigating the network in India

Abstract

The software industry in India that mostly exports information technology (IT) services has emerged in the last decade as an important constituent of the world software industry. The industry is organized into MNC networks, whose structural, relational, and territorial dimensions has been investigated. The quasi-disintegration and internationalization of MNC production activities, the commodification of services, the availability of highly skilled low cost personnel, and Indian IT services firms link with MNCs have aided in the emergence of IT services industry in India. The research elucidates that MNCs are key drivers in this complex and interdependent network that involve important Indian firms. This is the first study to investigate the Indian IT services industry in the context of global software production network. © 2006 International Federation for Information Processing.