Reaching New Heights and Seeing New Realities: A Study of Software Services in an Emerging Economy

The internationalization of the software industry and India’s emergence as one of its major centers is well known. Nevertheless, previous research studies on the organization of software industry in India have not examined several important aspects of this global production network (GPN). Indian software industry that mostly exports information technology (IT) services is integrated into the multinational corporation’s (MNC) global networks. The quasi-disintegration and internationalization of MNC production activities, the commodification of services, the availability of highly skilled low cost personnel, and Indian software services firms ’ link with MNCs have aided in the emergence of software services industry in India. The empirical study investigates historical, institutional, structural, relational, and territorial aspects of the Indian software services production network (SSPN). The research elucidates that MNCs are key drivers in this complex and inter-dependent network that involve important Indian firms. This is the first study to investigate the Indian software services industry in th