ABSTRACT
Global outsourcing of production in the information technology (IT) industry … to countries like India and China has received more than its fair share of media attention. It is in fact a very real example of globally integrated production and service provision made possible by the rapid developments in communication technology. ‘IT’, as understood in this paper, is the production of software applications, embedded software, software customization, and IT enabled services (ITES) provision. The ‘IT firms’ referred to are of two types—software and ITES. Software firms include all firms that undertake production of programming applications for end users or carry out production of applications or parts of applications on contract to other firms. ITES firms are those firms that provide services enabled by communication technology for labor-intensive back office operations. These operations may involve direct contact, as in the case of call centers and customer services, or may relate to back office functions for airline bookings, medical transcription, and so forth.
