‘Everywhere is becoming the same’? labour utilisation, regulation and the tensions inherent in transnational IT production

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Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Volume 2, Issue 2

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‘Everywhere is becoming the same’? labour utilisation, regulation and the tensions inherent in transnational IT production

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Author(s): Nicole Mayer-Ahuja , Patrick Feuerstein

Publication date (Print): Autumn 2008

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

Does the internationalisation of economic activities reduce the differences between locations in core and peripheral regions of capitalist production? This article contributes to this discussion by emphasising an inherent contradiction of transnational production: companies must draw upon divergent regulatory scenarios and strategies of labour utilisation and articulate them in their organisational structures in order to utilise ‘locational advantages’ and meet profit targets, but the integration of these divergent scenarios creates considerable organisational tensions. This scenario is illustrated through an analysis of the high attrition rates produced in the South Indian IT hub of Bangalore and how this is managed by one German software production company.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 1745641X

ISSN (Electronic): 17456428

Publication date (Print): Autumn 2008

Volume: 2

Issue: 2

Pages: 162-178

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.2.2.0162

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.2.2.0162

SO-VID: 47b5733b-3467-4019-bc21-a901b33cdd9c

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

References

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Boes, A. & M. Schwemmle (eds) (2005) Bangalore statt Böblingen? Offshoring und Internationalisierung im IT-Sektor , Hamburg: VSA
Brenner, N. (1998) ‘Global Cities, Glocal States: Global City Formation and State Territorial Restructuring in Contemporary Europe’, Review of International Political Economy , Vol 5, No 1:1–37
Dicken, P. (2007) Global Shift. Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy , London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds Of Welfare Capitalism , Princeton: Princeton University Press
Fallick, B., C.A. Fleischman & J.B. Rebitzer (2005) ‘Job-Hopping in Silicon Valley: Some Evidence Concerning the Micro-Foundations of a High-Technology Cluster’, Working Paper 432 of the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College.
Geppert, M., D. Matten & K. Williams (2002) ‘Global Change Management Approaches in MNCs and Distinct National Trajectories: Britain and Germany Compared’ in M. Geppert, D. Matten & K. Williams (eds) Challenges for European Management in a Global Context , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan:42–67
Ghosh, A. (2005) ‘Public Private or a Private Public? Promised Partnership of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force’, Economic and Political Weekly , Vol 19, No 11:4915–4922
Hall, P. & D. Soskice (eds) (2001) Varieties of Capitalism. The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage , Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press
Heeks, R. (1996) India's Software Industry: State Policy, Liberalisation and Industrial Development , Thousand Oaks, London: Sage
Heitzman, J. (2004) Network City. Planning the Information Society in Bangalore , Oxford, New York, New Delhi: Oxford University Press
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Lema, R. & B. Hesbjerg (2003) The Virtual Extension. A Search for Collective Efficiency in the Software Cluster in Bangalore , accessed on May 2, 2008 from http://www.akira.ruc.dk/∼rnl/pdf/The_Virtual_Extension.pdf
Marginson, P., P. Armstrong, P.K. Edwards & J. Purcell (1995) ‘Multinational Companies and the International Management of Labour’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management , Vol 6, No 3:702–719
Mayer-Ahuja, N. (2003) Wieder dienen lernen? Vom westdeutschen, Normalarbeitsverhältnis' zu prekärer Beschäftigung seit 1973 , Berlin: Edition Sigma
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Mayer-Ahuja, N. & P. Feuerstein (2007) ‘IT Labour Goes Offshore. Regulating and Managing Attrition in Bangalore’, SOFI Working Paper 2, accessed on May 22, 2008 from www.sofigoettingen.de/fileadmin/Textarchiv/SOFI_working_paper_2_2007.pdf
McKinlay, A. (2005) ‘Knowledge Management’ in S. Ackroyd, R. Batt, P. Thompson & P.S. Tolbert (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Work & Organization , Oxford: Oxford University Press:242–262
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Sukumar, R. (2003) ‘City in Sync. The Future of Indian Cities is Here. We Have Seen it. And it is Bangalore’, Business Today , Delhi, 17.8
Upadhya, C. (2007) ‘Employment, Exclusion and “Merit” in the Indian IT-Industry’, Economic and Political Weekly , Vol 19, No 5:1863–1868
Upadhya, C. & A.R. Vasavi (2006) Work, Culture, and Sociality in the Indian IT Industry: A Sociological Study. Final Report, submitted to Indo-Dutch Programme for Alternatives in Development, August 2006, accessed on May 2, 2008 from http://www.union-network.org/uniindep.nsf/863b5ce2fa055934c1256800002e5ab0/40601d743f5e3567c125723b0034587d/$FILE/NIAS-IDPAD%20IT%20Study%20Final%20Report.pdf
Vogel, M. (2005) ‘Einmal Indien und Zurück’, CIO , accessed on May 2, 2008 from http://www.cio.de/knowledgecenter/outsourcing/800222/index.html

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Béret, P., A. Mendez, C. Paraponaris & N. Richez-Battesti (2003) ‘R&D Personnel and Human Resource Management in Multinational Companies: Between Homogenization and Differentiation’, International Journal of Human Resource Management , Vol 14, No 3:449–468

[2] Boes, A. & M. Schwemmle (eds) (2005) Bangalore statt Böblingen? Offshoring und Internationalisierung im IT-Sektor , Hamburg: VSA

[3] Brenner, N. (1998) ‘Global Cities, Glocal States: Global City Formation and State Territorial Restructuring in Contemporary Europe’, Review of International Political Economy , Vol 5, No 1:1–37

[4] Dicken, P. (2007) Global Shift. Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy , London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage

[5] Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds Of Welfare Capitalism , Princeton: Princeton University Press

[6] Fallick, B., C.A. Fleischman & J.B. Rebitzer (2005) ‘Job-Hopping in Silicon Valley: Some Evidence Concerning the Micro-Foundations of a High-Technology Cluster’, Working Paper 432 of the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College.

[7] Geppert, M., D. Matten & K. Williams (2002) ‘Global Change Management Approaches in MNCs and Distinct National Trajectories: Britain and Germany Compared’ in M. Geppert, D. Matten & K. Williams (eds) Challenges for European Management in a Global Context , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan:42–67

[8] Ghosh, A. (2005) ‘Public Private or a Private Public? Promised Partnership of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force’, Economic and Political Weekly , Vol 19, No 11:4915–4922

[9] Hall, P. & D. Soskice (eds) (2001) Varieties of Capitalism. The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage , Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press

[10] Heeks, R. (1996) India's Software Industry: State Policy, Liberalisation and Industrial Development , Thousand Oaks, London: Sage

[11] Heitzman, J. (2004) Network City. Planning the Information Society in Bangalore , Oxford, New York, New Delhi: Oxford University Press

[12] Hirschfeld, K. (2004) ‘Moving East. Relocations of eWork from Europe to Asia’ in U. Huws & J. Flecker (eds) Asian Emergence: the World's Back Office? Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies:27–57

[13] Krishna, A. & V. Brihmadesam (2006) ‘What Does it Take to Become a Software Professional?’ Economic & Political Weekly , Vol 29, No 7:3307–3314

[14] Lateef, A. (1997) ‘Linking up with the Global Economy. A Case Study of the Bangalore Software Industry’, International Institute for Labour Studies, New Industrial Organization Programme, DP/96/1997 , accessed on May 2, 2008 from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/papers/1997/dp96/index.htm

[15] Lema, R. & B. Hesbjerg (2003) The Virtual Extension. A Search for Collective Efficiency in the Software Cluster in Bangalore , accessed on May 2, 2008 from http://www.akira.ruc.dk/∼rnl/pdf/The_Virtual_Extension.pdf

[16] Marginson, P., P. Armstrong, P.K. Edwards & J. Purcell (1995) ‘Multinational Companies and the International Management of Labour’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management , Vol 6, No 3:702–719

[17] Mayer-Ahuja, N. (2003) Wieder dienen lernen? Vom westdeutschen, Normalarbeitsverhältnis' zu prekärer Beschäftigung seit 1973 , Berlin: Edition Sigma

[18] Mayer-Ahuja, N. (2006) ‘Normalarbeitsverhältnis in Internetfirmen? Zur Schleichenden Entwertung eines Konzeptes’, WSI-Mitteilungen , Vol 6:335–340

[19] Mayer-Ahuja, N. & P. Feuerstein (2007) ‘IT Labour Goes Offshore. Regulating and Managing Attrition in Bangalore’, SOFI Working Paper 2, accessed on May 22, 2008 from www.sofigoettingen.de/fileadmin/Textarchiv/SOFI_working_paper_2_2007.pdf

[20] McKinlay, A. (2005) ‘Knowledge Management’ in S. Ackroyd, R. Batt, P. Thompson & P.S. Tolbert (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Work & Organization , Oxford: Oxford University Press:242–262

[21] Mückenberger, U. (1985) ‘Die Krise des Normalarbeitsverhältnisses. Hat das Arbeitsrecht noch Zukunft?’, Zeitschrift für Sozialreform , Vol 7:415–434, 457–475

[22] Nasscom (2007) Indian IT-Industry. Fact Sheet , accessed on May 2, 2008 from http://www.nasscom.in/upload/5216/Indian_IT_Industry_Factsheet_Feb2007.pdf

[23] Nasscom (2005) ‘Feature’, in Nasscom Newsline , Issue No 42, accessed on June 19, 2008 from http://www.nasscom.in/Nasscom/templates/NormalPage.aspx?id=15495

[24] Pries, L. (2005) ‘Kräftefelder der Strukturierung und Regulierung von Erwerbsarbeit. Überlegungen zu einer Entwicklungs- und Institutionenorientierten Sozialwissenschaft der Erwerbsarbeit’, SOAPS-Papers 1, accessed on May 2, 2008 from http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/soaps/download/publ-soapspapers1.pdf

[25] Sukumar, R. (2003) ‘City in Sync. The Future of Indian Cities is Here. We Have Seen it. And it is Bangalore’, Business Today , Delhi, 17.8

[26] Upadhya, C. (2007) ‘Employment, Exclusion and “Merit” in the Indian IT-Industry’, Economic and Political Weekly , Vol 19, No 5:1863–1868

[27] Upadhya, C. & A.R. Vasavi (2006) Work, Culture, and Sociality in the Indian IT Industry: A Sociological Study. Final Report, submitted to Indo-Dutch Programme for Alternatives in Development, August 2006, accessed on May 2, 2008 from http://www.union-network.org/uniindep.nsf/863b5ce2fa055934c1256800002e5ab0/40601d743f5e3567c125723b0034587d/$FILE/NIAS-IDPAD%20IT%20Study%20Final%20Report.pdf

[28] Vogel, M. (2005) ‘Einmal Indien und Zurück’, CIO , accessed on May 2, 2008 from http://www.cio.de/knowledgecenter/outsourcing/800222/index.html