Strategic issues in training and development in the IT service industry at Kolkata Region : a study

Present study deals with training and development strategies in IT service industry in Kolkata region. This study highlighted present trends and common practices in training and development activities in specific and in human resources management in general. InfoTech sector is a thrust area of economic development in developing economies, like in India. Government and private joint initiatives make this sector a sunshine industry sector. Potentials of human resources explore in the professionally managed IT service companies. The training and development activities strengthen capabilities of IT service companies and help them to achieve excellence. Present study evaluated the heart of this knowledge industry, which centered on knowledge workers. Present study briefly elaborated the training and development practices of two top-ranked companies in Kolkata and found some unique modes of delivery of training. This study also pointed out that companies placed in higher value-chain have long-term vision as compared to ones in lower in value-chain. This report is a modest attempt to study a sunshine industry in India and particularly in Kolkata region, within a limited timeframe and resources. The findings and observations are based on my understanding on the industry profile in respect to the training and development practices. The companies operating from Kolkata are placed in different levels in value-chain, where the top revenue earning companies are placed in highest value-chain and others are moving up the value-chain. Similarly, different companies are targeted to different market segments, like, domestic market and international market segments. Thus, their training and development practices and policies are significantly different. The companies surveyed here sometimes could not share information, which are confidential in nature. Also there is limited statistics with the respondents, as most training programmes are organised for the requirements of particular projects. The information technology (IT) service industry sometimes refers as IT industry or software industry or InfoTech sector. The term is used here interchangeably. The study report is presented here in chapters. The chapter one introduces basic concepts and industry profile in India and in Kolkata region. Chapter two states the objectives and methodology of this study. Chapter three represents analytical general discussions on results and findings, and depth study of two cases. These two cases represent some unique features of their training and development practices. These companies are placed in higher value-chain and thus their training objectives are much focused for the growth of the companies. Chapter four concludes the study and suggests a future direction for further growth of the industry in Kolkata. At the end a list of references and two annexures are appended