M4A1 Discussion

Peer 1

M4A1-Discussion

Rosary Letuli posted Aug 11, 2018 12:50 PM

India’s Software Industry

India is not naturally endowed with engineering talent as revealed by a study by employability assessment company Aspiring Minds. The study concluded that 95% engineers in India unfit for software development jobs (The Hindu BusinessLine, 2018). Comparing them to the Philippines or Russia, the country did not have a chance of being a force to reckon with in the sector of software engineering. As such, the country’s software expertise is sought from far and wide either by sheer lack or otherwise (Krishna, Ojha, & Barrett, 2017). This can be explained using Porter’s diamond framework.

In the framework, Porter noted that the competitive position does not depend on the natural endowments that are in existent. India is a poor country that lacks natural resources. The model proclaims that the ability of a country to cultivate factor conditions that are specialised in a way that they cannot be replicated by other countries is what sets the country apart from the rest. In this respect, India was able to cultivate the requisite skilled labour, capital and the necessary infrastructure that laid the foundation for the growth of the software industry (Bhattacharjee, & Chakrabarti, 2015).

For an industry to succeed over competing ones, the four interlinked factors for competitive advantage have to be keenly considered. In India, the government encouraged direct competition in and between software companies and in the process developing a firm strategy, structure and rivalry. It also set up the right demand conditions whereby the demand for the software products was high. This induced the companies to focus more on quality and high standards for the products. Perhaps more importantly, according to Bhattacharjee, & Chakrabarti, (2015), the government of India invested extensively in computer hardware. At the same time, the economic strategy maintained an open border that encouraged foreign investment from technology companies like Motorola that cultivated the talent for software development. This encouraged local tech entrepreneurs to come in and bring more competition. Finally, the government invested heavily in the education system and infrastructure so that to stimulate a high rate of production of skilled labour.

The future of the software industry of India looks brighter than it is today. Many more young people are getting into tech schools to train as software engineers. Additionally, there are plenty of resources in terms of skilled instructors who can mentor the young generation into great future engineers.

References

Bhattacharjee, S., & Chakrabarti, D. (2015). Investigating India's competitive edge in the IT-ITeS sector. IIMB Management Review, 27(1), 19-34.

Krishna, S., Ojha, A. K., & Barrett, M. (2017). 12 Competitive Advantage in the Software Industry: An Analysis of the Indian Experience. Information Technology in Context: Studies from the Perspective of Developing Countries: Studies from the Perspective of Developing Countries.

The Hindu BusinessLine, (2018). Employability Assessment. Aspiring Mind; Retrieved August 11, 2018 from https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/95-engineers-in-india-unfit-for-software-development-jobs-study/article9652211.ece  

Peer 2

Wheeler_J_M4_A1

Janice Wheeler posted Aug 11, 2018 12:55 AM

Michael Porter is the creator of the Porter Diamond Theory of National Advantage.  Michael founded the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness located at the Harvard Business School.  He developed this theory as a suggestive for countries to look at what their country possesses, and then shows them how to identify their, “land, location, natural resources, labor,” or whatever it is that could possibly give their country a, “comparative economic advantage.” Investopedia

As highlighted in Wired magazine by Preetam Gupta , the purpose is to create, “a strong technology industry, skilled labor, and government support of a country's economy.” After the ‘Firm Strategy, structure and rivalry’ The Diamond has six additional components:

1. Factor conditions:  Pros - a population of 1.2 billion people (human capital), speaks English, lots of coal.  Cons – poor infrastructure, their dependency on imports (lack of oil and gas), corruption, and implementation incompetence.

2. Demand conditions:  This says, that the more demand that is put on the country for its products and services, the more it forces India to improve in the areas of being a competitive market, being innovative, and being able to meet the demanding need of the business they attract, to make that money.

3. Related and supporting industries:  Being a service provider is what makes up the majority of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  They are leaders in the industry for IT support (providing many jobs), and although it is low cost, it remains high quality services. 

4. Firm strategy, structure and rivalry:  Low cost in the IT industry and continue to lead the market in their production of generic drugs.  Find a way to deal with the corruption, and work on diminishing their incompetence when it comes to implementation.

5. Government:  Backings have come from India’s government, in the way of, “Right to education, RTI, employment guarantee act, food security bill, Identification cards, and Direct benefit transfer programs.” Preetam Gupta

6. Chances:  Lastly Gupta reported, “With a deeply rooted democracy, demographic dividend, self-sufficiency in many resources and an ambition to become a super power, India’s chances are better than any time in its history.”

 

Now that India understands that the usefulness to them of these four factors in Porter's diamond, and can explain the continual success of this industry, over related industries in the country they will continue to use the concept and develop other ideas along the way.  India has the 12th largest economy in the world, attracting more than 250 different companies to their business tables, their middle class is comprised of well-educated people, India is powerful! And they continue to rise to higher levels of power, making sure they continue to increase in value, become more educated and remain at the helm of the markets they have chosen to operate in.  

During the next five years I predict that, the software industry in India, based on all that I have learned so far in all my classes is this:  India is going to take all of its power through the use of their software industry, taking into consideration the factors they have discovered works best for them:

· human resources

· physical resources

· knowledge resources

· capital resources

· infrastructure

· Specialized resources

And they will no longer be an emerging market, but a global phenomenon.  They are not going to stop with the factors that they have discovered, but they will, for their country, and for their people, like China seek to bring their people out of poverty, while American leaders and government take on the roles that they used to have, by keeping the government, and a set group of people wealthy, and living well, while denying another class the ability to succeed.  Keeping them poor, and unable to enjoy life, but killing one another, and doing whatever, to survive.   I predict a role reversal.

 

 

References

Investopedia, Porter Diamond, Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/porter-diamond.asp#ixzz5NqE5sDVe

Wired magazine, Preetam Gupta, February 2004, Retrieved from https://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketing/8911-analysis-of-porters-diamond-framework-for-india.html