chapter-iii an overview of career development and life...
TRANSCRIPT
CHAPTER-III AN OVERVIEW OF
CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND LIFE CHANGES
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CHAPTER III
AN OVERVIEW OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND
LIFE CHANGES 3.1. INTRODUCTION
The Indian Information Technology industry accounts for 5.19% of the
country's GDP and export earnings, as of 2009, However, only 2.5 million people are
employed in this sector either directly or indirectly. In 2010-11, annual revenues from
IT-BPO sector is estimated to have grown over $54.33 billion compared to China with
$35.76 billion and Philippines with $8.85 billion. The revenues are expected to touch
US$225 billion by 2020.
The most prominent IT hubs in India are located at Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The other emerging destinations are Chennai, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Kochi, Pune,
Mumbai and Ahmadabad. Technically proficient immigrants from India have sought
jobs in the western world as India's education system produces more engineers than
its industries can absorb.
India's growing stature in the Information Age has enabled it to form close ties
with both the United States of America and the European Union. However, the recent
global financial crisis have deeply impacted the Indian IT companies.
As a result, hiring has dropped sharply, and employees are now looking at
different sectors like financial service, telecommunications, and manufacturing
industries, which have been growing phenomenally over the last few years.
3.1.1. ORIGIN OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The Indian Government acquired the EVS EM computers from the Soviet
Union, which were used in large companies and research laboratories. In 1967 Tata
Consultancy Services in partnership with Burroughs - established SEEPZ, Mumbai
which was the country's largest software producers during the 1960s. As an outcome
of the various policies of Jawaharlal Nehru (office: 15 August 1947 – 27 May 1964)
the economically beleaguered country was able to build a large scientific workforce,
third in numbers only to that of the United States of America and the Soviet Union.
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On 18 August 1951 The Minister of Education Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad,
inaugurated the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur in West Bengal.
Possibly modeled after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology these institutions
were conceived by a 22 member committee of scholars and entrepreneurs under the
chairmanship of N. R. Sarkar.
Relaxed immigration laws in the United States of America (1965) attracted a
number of skilled Indian professionals aiming for research. By 1960 as many as
10,000 Indians were estimated to have settled in the US. By the 1980s a number of
engineers from India were seeking employment in other countries. In response, the
Indian companies realigned wages to retain their experienced staff. In the
Encyclopedia of India, Kamdar (2006) reports on the role of Indian immigrants
(1980 - early 1990s) in promoting the technology-driven growth.
The inestimable contributions of thousands of highly trained Indian migrants
in every area of American Scientific and Technological achievement culminated with
the Information Technology Revolution, which is most associated with California’s
Silicon Valley in the 1980s and 1990s.
The National Informatics Centre was established in March 1975.The
inception of the Computer Maintenance Company (CMC) followed in October 1976.
By 1977-1980 the country's Information Technology companies Tata Infotech, Patni
Computer Systems and Wipro had become visible. The 'microchip revolution' of the
1980s had convinced both Indira Gandhi and her successor Rajiv Gandhi that
electronics and telecommunications were vital to India's growth and development.
MTNL underwent technological improvements.
Between1986-1987, the Indian government embarked upon the creation of
three wide-area computer networking schemes: INDONET (intended to serve the
IBM mainframes in India), NICNET (the network for India's National Informatics
Centre), and the academic research oriented Education and Research Network
(ERNET).
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3.1.2. POST LIBERALISATION
Regulated VSAT links became visible in 1985. In 1991 the Department of
Electronics broke their impasse, creating a corporation called Software Technology
Parks of India (STPI) which, being owned by the government, could provide VSAT
communications without breaching its monopoly. STPI set up software technology
parks in different cities, each of which provided satellite links to be used by firms; the
local link was a wireless radio link. In 1993 the government began to allow
individual companies their own dedicated links, which allowed work done in India to
be transmitted abroad directly.
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) introduced the Gateway Electronic
Mail Service in 1991, the 64 kbit/s leased line service in 1992, and commercial
Internet access on a visible scale in 1992. The Indian economy underwent economic
reforms in 1991, leading to a new era of globalization and international economic
integration. Economic growth of over 6% annually was seen between 1993-2002. The
economic reforms were driven in part by significant usage of internet in the country.
The new administration under the Prime Minister-ship of Atal Bihari Vajpayee
placed the development of Information Technology among its top five priorities and,
formed the Indian National Task Force on Information Technology and Software
Development.
3.1.3. DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY THROUGH
THE NEW TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY, 1999 (NTP 1999)
This policy helped further liberalize India's telecommunications sector. The
Information Technology Act 2000 created legal procedures for electronic
transactions and e-commerce. Throughout the 1990s, another wave of Indian
professionals entered the United States. The number of Indian Americans reached 1.7
million by 2000. This immigration consisted largely of highly educated
technologically proficient workers. Within the United States, Indians fared well in
science, engineering, and management. Graduates from the Indian Institutes of
Technology (IIT) became known for their technical skills.
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Hence, India planned to establish new Institutes especially for Information
Technology to enhance this field. The success of Information Technology in India not
only had economic repercussions but, also had far-reaching political consequences.
India's reputation both as a source and, a destination for skilled workforce helped it
improve its relations with a number of world economies.
3.1.4. INDIAN IT IN THE MILLENIUM
A joint EU-Indian group of scholars was formed on 23 November 2001, to
promote further research and development. On 25 June 2002, India and the European
Union agreed to bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology. The
economic effect of the technologically inclined sector in India accounted for 40% of
the country's GDP and 30% of its export earnings as of 2006, but employed only 25%
of its workforce. Today, Bangalore known as the Silicon Valley of India, alone
contributes 33% of Indian IT Exports. According, to the data from Indian IT
association Nasscom, India's technology and business services revenues accounted for
6.1% of GDP in fiscal 2010, up from 1.2% in 1998. The Indian addressable market
for IT products and services is projected to increase from US$19.7bn in 2010 to
US$41.2bn by 2015.
3.1.5 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY JOB OPPORTUNITIES
The World has entered the new millennium, which is predicted to be an
Information Technology Age. Today, Computers have not only assumed strategic
importance in the corporate world, they are being effectively used in almost every
field ranging from space exploration to food processing and banking to
communication etc. In this era of Information Technology, which has revolutionized
the world over, INDIA has met to the world standards and is being regarded all over
the World for its skilled IT Professionals. Even the government has recognized the
promising future of this industry and has formed a new IT Ministry which, will give
the much needed boost to this industry. Presence of Multinationals like IBM, HP has
made possible, the transfer of hardware technology into the country. Internet has
further bridged the time gap, ensuring the arrival of the latest in technology
simultaneously in INDIA as in the West without any delay.
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The domestic hardware industry has witnessed quantum growth in the
turnover and profits, which is largely attributable to our liberalized economy. On the
software front various software giants like IBM, Motorola, Oracle, Samsung, HP,
Digital, Unisys, AT&T, ICL, Fugitsu etc. have opened software development centers
in the country. The number of professionals in this industry is believed to have
crossed the 2 lakh mark and still there exists a huge gap between the demand and
supply of professionals which is an encouraging sign. The US alone requires around 3
lakh professionals. INDIA is also exporting software to around 100 countries many of
which are its exclusive buyers. It is a fact that around 65% of the world's software is
produced in INDIA. Many Indian IT companies like Infosys, Wipro, NIIT, Zenith
computers, Satyam Computers, STG, Pentafore Software, Mastek etc. are expanding
themselves in a big way, making their presence felt globally.
The phenomenal growth which this industry is witnessing has lead to it being,
recognized as one of the highly paying industry. As this sector is young, the average
age of its professionals is lower than that in any other industry. The availability of
skilled, qualified professionals is unable to meet the requirements, leaving a large gap
to be filled by those with ambition, aptitude and willingness to work hard.
3.1.6 NATURE OF WORK
There are two main sectors in this field:
3.1.6.1 Hardware:
This includes the physical elements of the computer system and deals with the
designing, manufacturing and maintenance of computers. This area also includes the
assembling of the manufactured components of the computers.
3.1.6.2 Software:
This includes the set of instructions by which a computer is programmed for
working and performing the specified tasks. This realm includes the work of
designing the programs for various purposes. Programs may be for controlling the
functioning of the computers or they may also be user-friendly for specific needs. The
programs may also come in the form of packages, which are designed for meeting the
different kinds of requirements of large number of people.
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3.1.6.3 Functional areas in Hardware:
• Manufacturing: This involves the work of production and assembly of
components of computer systems.
• Maintenance: People in maintenance look after the smooth functioning of the
machine and help in rectifying and detecting the breakdown in them. They
also help in taking preventive measures so that, least amount of damage could
be caused to the computer systems and its peripherals.
• Research and Development: It involves designing of chips and circuits,
computer architecture and integration of peripherals. It also includes
improvement and upgrading of the existing systems.
• Management: Managers ensure that the development and production work
goes on smoothly. They look after the allocation of resources and planning.
3.1.6.4 Functional areas in Software:
• Manufacture: This involves preparing the set of instructions or programs to
let the computer work. This further needs combining of application of
computer science and telecommunications principles and creativity.
• Software development: This involves updating and development of existing
operations as well as their refining and improvement. All this is carried is
carried out in various stages like analysis, designing, construction,
implementation etc.
• Data entry: The data for the programs, which are made, have to be fed into
the computers. So this work is done at data entry level.
• Programmers or Coders: They write and test programs and convert the
strategies of the system analyst into working programs.
• Application programmers: They prepare programs either for a general
purpose or user-friendly programs or some specific programs according to the
need of the individuals, along with testing and integrating them.
• Support services: They vary in nature and can range from helping a customer
in the purchase of the software, suggesting its right kind of application and
providing them with the required training at the initial stages of its use.
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3.1.6.5 Other technical areas, where one can look for employment in this field:
• Computer operations: It requires handling of computer peripherals along
with other accessories like CD-ROMs, disk drives, printers etc.
• Database administration: It involves management and maintenance of data.
• Sales and Marketing: The work here involves selling of the computer system
and its marketing to different companies or individuals.
• Data center management: It involves management of the dedicated facilities,
which houses the critical servers and other networking and backup
equipments. Data-centers typically houses those equipment which have to be
kept operational 24x7x365.
3.1.6.6 Specialization
One can specialize as:
• Software Engineers: They design programs and specialized packages for the
required purposes. Their work even involves research and development.
• Web developers: They are electronics and computer engineers who are
engaged in developing websites for the Internet.
• System analysts: They look after the work of final testing of the software and
advising the clients on the purchase and installation of the computer systems.
They also are responsible for researching the organizational procedures and
planning their computerization.
• Consultants: They provide expert guidance to the companies during the
purchase of the computer system. System analyst or designers with
considerable amount of experience can work as consultants.
• Technical writers: They are involved in writing manuals for computers.
• E-commerce: They are adept in the net-com business, e-commerce
fundamentals and its security issues and assist in developing websites for
commercial purposes.
• Knowledge engineers: They are expert in designing of the computer systems,
which are associated with a human expert, like medical diagnosis or safety
systems for industries.
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• Webmasters: They handle the task of configuration and setting up of the
websites and its development. They have to take care of the security of the
websites and create firewalls against the hackers and stalkers.
• Networking: This work involves designing of networks, implementation of
support, servicing and management.
• Computer education: This job involves giving training to the end users,
students or computer professionals in advanced technologies.
3.1.7 CAREER PROSPECTS
India is no longer considered as a country of Castes, Curry and Cows with an
ossified society. According, to India's National Knowledge Commission, India is well
positioned to take advantage of the knowledge revolution which can be seen as a
dramatic revolution in the field of Information and Technology. This has witnessed a
wide range of macroeconomics implications which can be seen in the development of
multi-million dollar IT sector and creating of a huge amount of job potential for a
large assembly of English speaking scientific professionals.
Information Technology encompasses a wide range of activities like Office
Automation, Telecommunication and Computing, therefore providing a larger area of
job avenues for those who have acquired the right qualifications for it. At the
beginning of this millennium NASSCOM, National Association of Software and
Services Companies made an estimate that India would require 10,00,000 trained
software professionals in a few years. The present availability, of such skilled people
is only 5% of the required amount. So, we can conclude that this sector is going to
provide employment to a large number of such professionals.
3.1.8 REMUNERATIONS
IT professionals earn a good amount of salary and incentives. The pay scales
vary from job to job and depend on the level of qualification and performance. The
data entry staff earn in the range of Rs 5000 to Rs 15,000 and so do the computer
operators and supervisors. The pay scale in the programming jobs range from Rs 5000
to Rs 20,000 per month. Software consultants can earn around Rs 50,000 per month.
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At the Management level the pay scales varies to Rs.1,00,000 per month. At
the Maintenance level one can earn around Rs 15,000 to Rs 1,00,000 per month so are
the salaries of those who are in Research and Development.
3.1.9 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
The external environment of an organization involves both a general culture
(technological, sociological, Economic, political and so on) and a particular set of
groups with which the organization must interact. These groups usually include
customers, suppliers, competitors, labor supply, labor unions and governments. The
external environment is a major contingency variable for many reasons in order to
survive and evolve, an organization must adapt effectively to changes that take place
in its environment. The inability to adjust to environmental changes can erode the
effectiveness of an organization and threaten its continued existence.
3.1.9.1 Political Environment
The political environment of a developing country is also important from an
implementation perspective. If the country’s government severely restricts an
organization's operations, this has negative implications for successful
implementation of IT. On the other hand, government policies can create a positive
environment for implementation. For example, India’s commitment to develop its
telecommunications sector provides an environment conducive to successful
implementation efforts. At the same time the regulatory environment impacts the
amount of competition in sectors such as telecommunications. Deregulation leads to
increased competition, increased services, and decreased costs for consumers in many
countries.
3.1.9.2 Culture
Culture is also an important element in implementation success. Enns (1999)
differentiated between national culture and organizational culture, and noted that both
are relevant to implementation studies. They suggested that national culture is an
important moderator of the relationship between organizational culture and
characteristics of the technology on one hand, and the effectiveness of technology
transfer on the other hand.
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The way in which people think and behave is strongly influenced by the social
environment or culture to which they are accustomed. Thus an information system
that worked successfully in New York or Toronto may not be as effective in Mexico
City or Tokyo. Cultural factors and values should not be overlooked in MIS design
and development.
Huff S (1999) found in his case study that Datacom’s organizational culture,
which centered on enthusiasm for technical work, and persistence in the face of
obstacles, was consistent with the Internet and VSAT initiatives. The cultural factors
helped them to become first to establish such services as the countrywide PC-
Mailnetwork. And due to cultural effect they showed a great deal of persistence in
training themselves in the necessary hardware and software technologies and make
the implementation of Internet successful.
3.1.9.3 Government
Government agencies might often require specific forms and content of
reporting; imposing specific IS structures that are required for compliance.
Trade and industry associations as well as major trading partners of an
organization might also impose certain information processing requirements, data
access, and set standards for inter-organizational communications and external
reporting of information.
Fish M (2000) after conducting the research study of information technology
implementation in settlement houses had following observation regarding the effect of
government on implementation practice. Influences from the environments of the
settlement houses have significantly impacted IT implementation efforts. For
example, the social service programs in the settlement houses are funded in large
measure by government contracts. Just prior to the initiation of implementation
efforts, a shift to Republican leadership occurred in the U.S. Congress, as well as in
New York State and New York City governments. As a result, the funding for social
service programs was curtailed by all three levels of government which seriously
affected the implementation of information system
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3.1.10 Training and Development
Training and Development is the framework for helping employees to develop
their personal and organizational skills, knowledge, and abilities. The focus of all
aspects of Human Resource Development is on developing the most superior
workforce so that the organization and individual employees can accomplish their
work goals in service to customers.
All employees want to be valuable and remain competitive in the labour
market at all times. This can only be achieved through employee training and
development. Employees will always want to develop career-enhancing skills, which
will always lead to employee motivation and retention. There is no doubt that a well
trained and developed staff will be a valuable asset to the company and thereby
increasing the chances of his efficiency in discharging his or her duties.
Training in an organization can be mainly of two types; Internal and External
training sessions. Internal training involves those organized in-house by the Human
resources department or training department using either a senior staff or any talented
staff in the particular department as a resource person. On the other hand External
training is normally arranged outside the firm and is mostly organized by training
institutes or consultants. Whichever be the training method, it is very essential for all
staff and helps in building career positioning and preparing staff for greater
challenges.
Employers of labour should enable employees to pursue training and
development in a direction that they choose and are interested in, not just in company-
assigned directions. Companies should support learning, in general, and not just in
support of knowledge needed for the employee's current or next anticipated job. It
should be noted that the key factor is keeping the employee interested, attentive,
engaged, motivated and retained. For every employee to perform well especially
Supervisors and Managers, there is need for constant training and development. The
right employee training, development and education provides big payoffs for the
employers in increased productivity, knowledge, loyalty, and contribution to general
growth of the firm.
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3.1.10.1 Reasons for employee training and development:
The reasons behind employee training and development cannot be
overemphasized. From our discussions so far, one can easily deduce some reasons
behind firms engaging in training and developing their staff. Summarizes below are
some of the reasons:
• Needs arise as a result of findings obtained from the outcome of performance
appraisal.
• As part of professional development plan.
• As part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a planned
change in role in the organization.
• To imbibe and inculcate a new technology in the system.
• Because of the dynamic nature of the business world and changing
technologies.
3.1.10.2 Some topics treated in employee trainings:
• Communications: The increasing diversity of today's workforce brings a
wide variety of languages and customs, thus staff should be able to be very
good in both written and verbal communication.
• Computer skills: Computer skills are becoming a necessity for conducting
administrative and office tasks. In this era of technological advancement,
computer skills are very necessary for almost every departments in an
organization.
• Customer service: Increased competition in today's global marketplace
makes it critical that employees understand and meet the needs of customers.
The firm that stands out from the crowd is that firm which puts its customers
first before every other goal. Hence, creating the need to always train staff on
customer service.
• Diversity: This includes explanation about people and their different
perspectives and views, and how this can be handled.
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• Ethics: There are divergent ethics in different firms. Some firms attach more
importance to certain issues like moral, work period, lateness etc than other
issues. Today's society has increasing expectations about corporate social
responsibility.
Also, todays diverse workforce brings a wide variety of values and morals to
the workplace. This calls for the need of the staff to be updated through
training and development.
• Human relations: The increased stresses of today's workplace can include
misunderstandings and conflict. Training can help people to get along in the
workplace with good understanding of each other and improve inter personal
relationship to reduce official conflict.
• Quality Management: Initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Quality
Circles, benchmarking, etc., require basic training about quality concepts,
guidelines and standards for quality, etc.
• Safety: Safety training is critical where working with heavy equipment,
hazardous chemicals, repetitive activities etc.
Staff should be made to understand that despite the fact that they have a safety
department, the safety of each staff is in his or her own hands.
3.1.10.3 BENEFITS OF EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT:
• Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees.
• Better inter personal relationship and customer satisfaction.
• Increased employee motivation.
• Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in improved financial gain.
• Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods.
• Increased innovation in strategies and products.
• Reduced employee turnover.
• Enhanced company image.
• Better Risk management and staff safety consciousness.
• Increase in productivity.
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3.1.11. MAJOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY HUBS
S.NO CITY DESCRIPTIONS
1 Bangalore
Popularly known as the Silicon Valley of India, it is currently leading the Information Technology Industry in India.
2 Chennai
It is the Second largest exporter of Software next only to Bangalore. It has the largest operations for India’s top software companies like TCS and Infosys.
3 Hyderabad
Hyderabad called as Cyberabad, which has good infrastructure and government support is the technological hot spot of India. The Government of AP has built a separate township for the IT Industry called the HITEC City.
4 Pune Pune, is a major industrial point in India.
5 Coimbatore
It is the Manchester of South India. This flourishing health care hub has now become the cynosure of the IT industry in India.
6 NCR
The National Capital Region of India comprising Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad are areas of interest to the IT industry, which are undertaking ambitious projects and are trying to do every possible thing to compete with the best in the industry.
7 Mumbai
Popularly known as the commercial, entertainment and financial capital of India. This is one city that has seen tremendous growth in IT and BPO industry, it recorded 63% growth in 2008.
8 Kolkata
Kolkata is a major IT hub of eastern India. All major IT companies are present here. The city has tremendous potential for growth in this sector with upcoming areas like Rajarhat.
9 Trivandrum
Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala is a green metropolis and tier I city. GOK provides a good platform for IT development in the city with India's largest IT park Techno park and dedicated Techno city SEZs, situated here.
10 Jaipur
This rapidly growing industrial city houses a lot of IT/ITES and BPO giants. Genpact, Connexions IT services, Deutsche Bank. EXL BPO, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro have their base here.
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3.1.12. QUALITY: THE MAGIC MANTRA
Outsourcing software requirements depend mostly on quality of services, and
this has continued to remain a prime edge for Indian software companies.
According to the NASSCOM survey, the Indian software industry continues to
win recognition for its quality in software development over the last year. Out of the
top 400 companies, more than 250 have already acquired ISO 9000 certifications.
However, it is in the SEI CMM (Software Engineering Institution Capability Maturity
Model) Level 5 segment that the real accolades have come India’s way. Out of the 54
companies in the world that acquired SEI CMM Level 5 certification, 27 companies
are located in India.
3.1.13. STATE INDUSTRIAL HUBS TO DRIVE JOB GROWTH TILL 2016:
REPORT
Industrial hubs, created by various states, are likely to be hot spots for hiring
in the next five years, according to Team Lease India Labor Market Report. Over the
past five years, Bangalore and Mumbai have emerged as the biggest clusters, followed
by Pune with IT manufacturing and engineering, and Ahmadabad with healthcare and
pharmaceuticals along with manufacturing and engineering.
Mumbai, the biggest and most diverse city-sector cluster, will see hiring
sentiments head north, driven mainly by IT. However, infrastructure hiring may go
downhill. Bangalore too is likely to fare well on hiring sentiment, while Pune is
another case of reform initiatives working well. The report, however, says
infrastructure in these cities is a cause for worry. According to Sangeeta Lala, senior
vice president, business's expanding operations need land and human resources, the
supply of both of which is acutely short in these cities.
3.1.14. GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
The crucial steps taken by the Indian government to propel the sector growth are
given below.
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§ Constitution of the Technical Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP)
under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani. The Group would develop IT
infrastructure in five key areas, which includes the New Pension System
(NPS) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
§ Setting up the National Taskforce on Information Technology and Software
Development with the objective of framing a long term National IT Policy for
the country.
§ Enactment of the Information Technology Act, which provides a legal
framework to facilitate electronic commerce and electronic transactions.
§ Setting up of Software Technology Parks of India (STPIs) in 1991 for the
promotion of software exports from the country. Apart from exemption from
customs duty available for capital goods, there are also exemptions from
service tax, excise duty, and rebate for payment of Central Sales Tax, for
promoting software exports.
§ Plans to formulate Information Technology Investment Regions (ITIRs).
These regions would be endowed with excellent infrastructure and would reap
the benefits of co-sitting, networking and greater efficiency through use of
common infrastructure and support services.
3.1.15. INDIAN INSTITUTES OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IIITS)
There are a group of four institutes of higher education in India, focused on
information technology. They are established by the central government, centrally
funded, and managed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Admissions
into undergraduate programs in IIITs are through the All India Engineering Entrance
Examination (AIEEE). 3.1.15.1 LIST OF IIITS § Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (IIIT Allahabad) was
established in 1999, and was recognized as a deemed university in 2000. It
focuses on the areas of informatics and library sciences.
§ Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior
(IIITM-G), is the first IIIT of country established in the year 1998. The name
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was added to IIITM Gwalior in honor of India's former
Prime Minister.
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§ Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing,
Jabalpur (IIITDM Jabalpur), Madhya Pradesh, was established as an
autonomous institute in the year 2005.
Focus was laid on the development of an interdisciplinary curriculum such
that students become proficient in all four fields of Design, Computer
Sciences, Electronics and Communication and Mechanical Engineering. It
became a deemed university in June 2009.
§ Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing
Kancheepuram (IIITDM Kancheepuram) was established in 2007 to pursue
design and manufacturing oriented engineering education and research
excellence. The Institute is offering novel and first of its kind UG, PG and
PhD programs in the broad areas of computer, electronics and mechanical
engineering.
3.1.16. PROPOSED NEW INSTITUTES AND POLICIES
The Institutes of Information Technology Bill 2010 proposes the addition of
new IIIT'S as Institutes of National Importance. With the government policy of e-
governance, vendors are expected to compete for a share of the significant spending
on major public sector IT projects such as ID cards, and railway modernization.
There is an increasing number of large projects, not only from the government,
but also from key verticals such as banks, telecoms, defense, manufacturing and retail,
creating new significant opportunities.
As per the Budget 2011, twenty more IIITs under the Public-Private
partnership (PPP) model are to be launched for every major state of India. Indian IT
companies like Wipro, Infosys, TCS, HCL and Mahindra Satyam are developing
cloud computing applications and solutions for verticals ranging from financial
services and banking to manufacturing.
3.2. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN KARNATAKA
The Information Technology in Karnataka state has become one of the pillars
of its economy. This thriving industry is mostly concentrated in and around
Bangalore.
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3.2.1 DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING THE INFORMATION TECHNOLGY
INDUSTRY IN KARNATAKA
In 1992 Bangalore was the first city in India where a satellite earth station was
set up for high speed communication services to facilitate software exports.
Subsequently, in 1999 STPI established earth stations in Mysore and Manipal. The
state made a giant leap forward in the Information Technology sector when Union
Minister for IT Mr. Pramod Mahajan inaugurated the country's first 'extended facility'
of the international gateway and network operations center at the Software
Technology Parks of India (STPI) in this Electronics City. In August 2000, a Cyber
Park - Technology Incubation Centre, another first of its kind, was set up in Bangalore
to promote the growth of the IT sector. On 19th September 2002, a software
technology park, IT Park Hubli. 3.2.2 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY POLICY IN KARNATAKA
Information Technology Policy of Karnataka State Government gives a thrust
to the Information Technology sector and encourages units to setup their operations in
the state of Karnataka. Under this policy, several infrastructural facilities are
proposed in Mysore, Hubli, Manipal and Mangalore apart from Bangalore. The
facilities include providing training to engineers and others as well as providing
employment opportunities. The setting up of IT industries under this policy will help
earn valuable foreign exchange through software exports. It also will help in
increasing the tax base of the state.
3.2.3 FIRST CHOICE FOR INVESTMENTS
The Karnataka government has largely supported development of the IT
sector. Software Technology Park was established in 1991 at Bangalore. It has 6 New
Private Technology Parks with a built up area of 6 Million Sq. ft. to start an Indian
Institute of Information Technology. There is a specialized Electronic City at
Bangalore and Mysore, with software Technology Parks at Mysore, with Hubli and
Mangalore with High Speed Data Communications Facilities. It has the best Telecom
Infrastructure in the Country. There is a proposal for establishing a Bangalore Mysore
I.T. corridor. This has resulted in an increase in the number of companies, thus an
increase in the revenue.
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The state attracts on an average 3 to 4 foreign equity companies every
fortnight. Many MNC's like HP, IBM, Intel, AMD, Cisco, Kyocera, Oracle etc ., has
made Karnataka a first choice for IT investments.
3.2.4 BANGALORE-THE SILICON VALLEY OF INDIA
Synonymous with the IT revolution in India, Bangalore or Bengaluru the
capital of the state of Karnataka in India. Bangalore has earned the sobriquet "Silicon
Valley of India". With a population of approximately 6.8 million (2006), Bangalore is
India's third-largest city. This steep rise in the population of Bangalore district has
seen it top the population growth rate in the country. The Bangalore urban district has
grown three times faster than the population of the state as a whole. Bangalore
district’s population ballooned 46.68 per cent over the past decade to around 9.59
million in 2011. The district today houses over 15.69 per cent of the state’s
population. Today, 4,378 persons cram every square kilometer space of this district.
Migration has contributed significantly to the population boom.
3.2.4.1 Geography
The capital of the state of Karnataka, Bangalore occupies the heart of the
Mysore Plateau with an average elevation of 920 m (3,018 feet). It is located at 12.97°
N, 77.56° E. Bangalore district shares borders with the Kolar, Tumkur, Mandya,
Charamrajanagar districts of Karnataka and the state of Tamil Nadu.
Though no major rivers run through Bangalore, the Arkavathi and South
Pennar cross paths at Nandi Hills, 60 km from Bangalore. The Vrishabhavathi, a
minor tributary of Arkavathi, arises within the city and furrows its way through it.
Bangalore has a large number of lakes -the prominent among which are Sankey lake,
Ulsoor lake and Yediyur lake. It receives adequate rainfall from the Northeast
Monsoon as well as the Southwest Monsoon. Bangalore enjoys a pleasant climate
right through the year. In summer the maximum and minimum temperatures hover
between 36°C and 20°C, while in winter the temperatures range between 27°C and
17°C. The salubrious locales of Bangalore are sure to put a song in your lips.
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3.2.4.2. Economy and Industry Watch
Bangalore is undoubtedly one of the engines, which is powering India's
growth as an emerging economic giant. It provides an excellent industrial climate.
The easy availability of trained technical manpower, research and development
facilities provided by a number of Central Government laboratories and research
institutions, salubrious climate, good transport and communication facilities have
combined to make Bangalore a favorite industrial hub.
3.2.4.2.1. Information Technology
Bangalore, is the undisputed IT Capital of India. Apart from the leading Indian
IT companies like Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, the world's leading IT
companies like GE, Texas Instruments, CISCO, Digital, IBM, HP, Compaq, Sun
Micro Systems, Microsoft, Lucent Technologies, Oracle, Novell etc. have set up shop
in Bangalore.
More than 40% of Bangalore's software exports are in the high technology
areas-IT access networks, optical networks, video broadcasting, Bluetooth, WAP, 3G
Wireless Applications etc. Today with a growing population of young professionals, it
has acquired a vibrant, cosmopolitan air.
3.2.4.2.2. Electronics and Telecommunications
Bangalore steals a march over many other Indian cities in the field of
electronics and telecommunications with many of the world's leading companies
having set up base here. The leading companies include bigwigs like Siemens,
Motorola, AT&T, Alcatel, Sony, Sanyo, GE and British Aerospace, BPL Limited etc.
The Government of Karnataka has also been extremely positive about the software
and services marketplace, has helped create the relevant telecom policies as well as
infrastructure conducive to the growth of this sector.
3.2.4.3. Reasons behind the software companies being centered at Bangalore
Every year Bangalore conducts conferences, workshops and exhibitions
related to software. There are a number of reasons behind the software companies
being centered at Bangalore.
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They are:
• Excellent infrastructure
• Availability of human resources
• International quality research and development centers
• Favorable government policies
• Cosmopolitan ambiance
• A very favorable climate
3.2.4.4. The work of various software companies in Bangalore are:
• Software development
• Maintaining and re-engineering services on high-end Internet
• Providing various IT solutions
• Meeting the multifarious needs of the customers
• Services in the field of application development, business intelligence
and data warehousing
• Product realization services, etc
3.2.4.5. IT companies in Bangalore
Bangalore houses a number of companies specializing in Information
Technology. Some of the most reputed IT companies located in Bangalore city, are
listed below:
Accent Technologies Linc Software Services Pvt Ltd
Accenture Logix Microsystems Ltd
Accord Software and Systems Nich - In Software Solutions Pvt Ltd
Caterpillar Motorola
Cisco systems Oracle
Cognizant Technology Solutions Phoenix Global Solutions India Pvt Ltd
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Compaq Radiant Infosystems Pvt Ltd
Dell Robert Bosch India Ltd
Google SAP Labs India Pvt Ltd
HP Satyam
HCL Technologies Simplex Solutions
Impact Solutions Pvt Ltd Sonata Software Ltd
IBM Sun Microsystems India Pvt Ltd
Intel Syntel India Ltd
Infopac Software Pvt Ltd Texas Instruments India Pvt Ltd
i-NetFrame Technologies Pvt Ltd Tricon Infotech Pvt Ltd
Infosys Technologies Ltd Wipro Infotech
Ionic Microsystems Pvt Ltd Zenith Software Ltd
Jupiter networks LEC India Software Center Pvt Ltd
The Software Technology parks of India, Bangalore includes The International
Technology Park Bangalore or ITPB, the International Technology Park Ltd or ITPL
and the Electronics city.
The growth of IT industries in Bangalore is mainly due to the initiatives of the
Karnataka Government, which has set up a suitable market place and infrastructure, A
number of leading computer centers in Bangalore provide trained IT professionals to
this industry.
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3.3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT TAMILNADU
POLICY NOTE – 2012-2013
It is the vision of our Hon'ble Chief Minister to make Tamil Nadu as “The
Knowledge capital” and “Innovation hub” of the Country. Under the able and
dynamic leadership of our Hon’ble Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu endowed with well
developed infrastructure facilities and skilled human resources has become the
destination of choice for IT/ITES investments in India.
The objectives of the Information Technology Department are as follows:-
• Provide Government services, both informational and transactional to Citizens
at their door steps through the Internet;
• Bridge the digital rural-urban divide;
• Make Tamil Nadu the Best State in IT enabled Governance;
• Substantially increase the software exports of Tamil Nadu;
• Taking Computing in Tamil to a higher level;
• Enhance the quality of life of Citizens through Information and
Communication Technology.
With the help of available resources, efforts are under way to take the various
services of the Government to the Citizens covering the length and breadth of the
State. There will be a vibrant shift upward in the quality of services delivered by the
Government to its Citizens in the years to come. The transformation will enable the
common man to avail the various services of the Government online. To fully reap the benefits of the use of Information and Communication
Technology in Government, an e-Governance Policy reflecting the above initiatives
will be launched shortly. This will remove intermediaries thereby taking governance
closer to people. The Government of Tamil Nadu will thus nurture a culture of
responsive and transparent Governance that ensures progress, security, and equal
opportunity to all stakeholders. Tamil Nadu has been in the forefront of the IT
revolution. As of now nearly 3,50,000 employees are employed in about 1,750 IT/ IT
Enabled Services (ITES) companies in the State.
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Software exports from the State, which stood at Rs.42,100 crores in 2010-
2011, are expected to be Rs.48,000 crores in 2011-2012. All efforts are being taken
to attract more IT/ITES investments in the State.
3.3.1. ELECTRONICS CORPORATION OF TAMILNADU LIMITED
(ELCOT)
Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) is a Government of
Tamil Nadu Undertaking, registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956. Since
the advent of the Information Technology revolution in India, ELCOT which was
formed for the promotion of electronics industry has transformed itself into the
Information Technology arm of the Government of Tamil Nadu. ELCOT has been
providing support to various Departments, Organizations, Boards, etc. of the
Government of Tamil Nadu in the area of Information Technology, e-Governance,
providing Internet Connectivity and Capacity Building.
ELCOT is the optional nodal agency for hardware procurement, software
development, major turnkey IT projects of the Government of Tamil Nadu and major
projects of the Department of Information Technology, Government of India. The
Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network (TNSWAN) and Tamil Nadu State Data
Centre (TNSDC) have been established by ELCOT in a pioneering way. The Hon'ble
Chief Minister has given the new brand name for ELCOT, and created an IT Special
Economic Zone, ELCOSEZs. ELCOSEZs would be marketed as the destinations of
choice for IT / ITES investments. 3.3.2. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES
(ELCOSEZ)
In the IT Policy 2002, a blue print for developing infrastructural initiatives for
Knowledge Industry Township was laid down by the Hon’ble Chief Minister. It was
stated that, Knowledge Industry Townships (KITS) will be created along the IT
highway in Chennai through Public Private Partnership.
It was also envisaged to position Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, Tirunelveli,
Hosur and Salem as Tier II cities for promoting IT investments. Based on that vision,
ELCOT has established ELCOSEZs (ITSEZs) in the following eight locations:-
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• Chennai -Sholinganallur ELCOSEZ
• Coimbatore -Vilankurichi ELCOSEZ
• Madurai- Ilandhaikulam ELCOSEZ
• Madurai -Vadapalanji-Kinnimangalam ELCOSEZ
• Trichy -Navalpattu ELCOSEZ
• Tirunelveli- Gangaikondan ELCOSEZ
• Salem - Jagirammapalayam ELCOSEZ
• Hosur - Viswanathapuram ELCOSEZ
3.3.2.1. Hardware Procurement
The Government has issued orders authorizing ELCOT as the Optional
Procurement Agency for all Government departments and their agencies to procure IT
and IT related products and services from the market. ELCOT is procuring the IT
products for the major Departments such as Treasuries and Accounts, School
Education, Higher Education, Commercial Taxes, Registration Department, Co-
operation Department, Labour and Employment Department and Agriculture
Department. ELCOT also facilitates the Government offices to procure the IT
products.
3.3.2.2. Software Development
ELCOT, Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) and National
Informatics Centre (NIC) have been providing active support to the Government
Departments for their software needs by studying their requirements, preparation of
Request for Proposals (RFP), floating of e-Tenders and selection of Software
Developers. ELCOT undertakes a Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
approach, so that a complete documentation of the entire development to roll-out is
captured.
3.3.2.3. Distribution of Laptop Computer Scheme
The Government of Tamil Nadu is implementing the scheme of distribution of
laptop computers to the plus two students studying in Government and Government
aided Schools and students studying in Government and Government aided Colleges
in the State to facilitate them in acquiring better computer skills.
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The Government have entrusted the task of procuring Laptop Computers
toELCOT for distribution to students. The procurement and distribution of the total
requirement of 9,07,790 laptop computers for the year 2011-2012 is under progress.
Advance action is being taken for the procurement for the year 2012-2013.
3.3.2.4. Enterprise Resource Planning
ELCOT has developed a Web Based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Solution in Linux Platform, enabling all operations of ELCOT on anytime anywhere
basis. This ERP has been customised in the following Departments:-
• Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation Limited
(TAHDCO)
• Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN)
• Registrar of Co-operative Societies (RCS)
3.3.2.5. Information Communication Technology Policy 2012
New Information Communication Technology (ICT) Policy 2012 will lay
emphasis on attracting foreign direct and domestic investments leading to creation of
large employment opportunities and the right atmosphere for the establishment and
growth of the ICT sector in Tier II and Tier III locations of Tamil Nadu. This policy
will be released soon.
3.3.3. IT INFRASTRUCTURE
IT Infrastructure provides the backbone for advanced collaboration and
integration of various technologies such as Cloud Computing, Data Centre,
Connectivity, Grid data storage, Grid based resource sharing etc. In order to provide
seamless service, the following infrastructure have been created :
a) Tamil Nadu State Data Centre (TNSDC)
b) ELCOT Data Centre
c) Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network (TNSWAN)
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3.3.3.1. CONNECTIVITY
3.3.3.1.1. Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network (TNSWAN) – Vertical
Connectivity
Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network having 708 Points of Presence (POPs)
has been established in the State by ELCOT. It is a shared scheme between the State
and Central Governments being implemented at an estimated cost of Rs.181.69 crores
(GOI share is 15 16 Rs.97.17 crores and State share is Rs.84.52 crores). The Network
provides services such as Voice, Data, Internet and Video to the Government
Departments. The Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) Operation of the
Network will be over by 30.11.2012 and the Operation and Maintenance of the
Network beyond the BOOT period is to be taken care by the State Government for
which necessary action plan is being devised. 3.3.3.1.2. Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network (TNSWAN) – Horizontal
Connectivity
Government Departments can get connected to the TNSWAN POPs for
getting intranet facility for rolling out applications and also to avail other services
such as Voice, Internet, Video Conferencing etc. So far, Horizontal connectivity has
been provided to about 1600 offices of departments such as Commercial Taxes,
Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD), Tamil Nadu Health Systems
Project (TNHSP), Treasuries & Accounts, Registration, Employment & Training,
Forest, Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA), State Health Society, Tamil
Nadu Housing Board (TNHB), Survey and Settlement, Tamil Nadu Cements
Corporation Limited (TANCEM) etc. 3.3.3.1.3. Broad Band Connectivity
Broadband refers to high-speed data transmission which can carry a large
amount of data at once. The increase in Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) enabled applications for facilitating Government to Government
communication has mandated the need for broadband connectivity for Government
Departments.
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ELCOT is providing Broadband connectivity to Government offices at
competitive rates. As of today, broadband connectivity has been provided to about
7,450 Government offices including schools.
3.3.3.1.4. National Knowledge Network
National Knowledge Network (NKN) is a national level high speed network
established by Government of India for connecting academic institutions across India
and also for linking the global scientific community. NKN provides a common
platform to the scientists, researchers, doctors, scholars and students to work together
for advancing human development. NKN also provides Network platform to National
e-Governance Projects (NeGP) for national level roll-out. NKN is a Government
owned network and the bandwidth providers are Central Government agencies such
as BSNL, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and Railtel. The NKN
consists of an ultra-high speed core, starting with multiples of 2.5/10 Gigabits per
second and progressively moving towards 40/100 Gigabits per second (Gbps)
connectivity.
3.3.3.2. Tamil Nadu State Data Centre
Tamil Nadu State Data Centre (TNSDC) has been established in the State by
ELCOT and is in operation from 1.8.2011. It is one of the core e-Governance
backbone infrastructure under National e-Governance Action Plan (NeGP). It is a
shared scheme between the State and the Central Governments as per the SDC
Guidelines of Department of Information Technology, Government of India, at an
estimated cost of Rs.60.80 crores (Government of India share is Rs.55.80 Crores and
State share is Rs.5 crores).
TNSDC will facilitate the Government departments in the consolidation of
services, applications and infrastructure to provide efficient electronic delivery of
Government to Government (G2G), Government to Citizen (G2C) and Government to
Business (G2B) services. State Data Centre would provide many functionalities via.
Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network (TNSWAN), Common Service Centre (CSC)
and Internet. TNSDC is a secure and centralised facility which is a Data repository for
all Departments.
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Applications such as Document Management System for Chennai Metro Rail
Ltd (CMRL), Tamil Nadu Health Management Information Systems (TNHMIS),
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for Laptop and Mixie-Fan-Grinder
schemes etc. are currently hosted in TNSDC.
3.3.3.3. Disaster Recovery Centre (DRC)
The applications and services of Government departments have been hosted in
the State Data Centre (SDC) in a secured environment. In order to avoid loss of data
or applications due to natural or manmade disasters, establishment of a Disaster
Recovery Centre (DRC) has become mandatory. Administrative approval has been
issued for the establishment of a Disaster Recovery Centre (DRC) in Tamil Nadu and
Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) has been nominated as the
implementing agency for the setting up of Disaster Recovery Centre (DRC) in two
phases.
3.3.4. TAMIL NADU e-GOVERNANCE AGENCY
Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) is an autonomous society
formed to cater to the e-Governance initiatives of the Government Departments in the
State. The Director of e-Governance is the Chief Executive Officer of this Society.
The following are the activities carried out by the TNeGA:
• State-wide Rollout of e-District Programme
• Common Service Centres
• Capacity Building (CB)
• Tamil Nadu Geographical Information System (TNGIS)
• State Portal
3.3.4.1. State Wide Rollout of e-District Programme
Districts are practically the front-end of Government where most Government-
to-Citizen (G2C) interactions take place. The e-District project was conceptualized to
improve this experience and enhance the efficiencies of the various Departments at
the district level to enable seamless service delivery to the citizens.
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On pilot basis, this Project was implemented in Krishnagiri District followed
by five districts, i.e., Ariyalur, Perambalur, Coimbatore, Tiruvarur and The Nilgiris.
Now the Government of India has approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) to roll
out the project throughout the State.
3.3.4.2. Urban Common Service Centres
Urban Common Service Centres (Urban CSCs) will be established in Chennai
City as a pilot project. The Commissioner of Chennai Corporation will be the Nodal
Officer for the implementation of Urban CSCs. Data, Voice and Video services in the
areas of e-Governance, Health, Education, Entertainment, Tele-Medicine and other
private services will be rendered to the citizens through these Urban CSCs.
3.3.4.3. Capacity Building
The Capacity Building scheme is intended to train and develop computer skills
of the Government employees. It is a continuous skill development programme in
basic Information Technology Training, Soft Skills Training, Hardware and
Networking training, Database Management training, IPv6 Courses, Application
Software Training for their respective departments etc. Such programmes are
undertaken by TNeGA on a regular basis. The State e-Governance Mission Team
(SeMT) has been established at TNeGA and the SeMT is handholding the
departments in the following areas.
• Setting up of Project e-Mission Teams (e-Team)
• Help departments to create a department level e-Governance road map
• Play advisory role to the departments in implementing e-Governance projects
3.3.4.4. Tamil Nadu Geographical Information System (TNGIS)
Geographical Information System (GIS) is a tool for managing, analyzing and
decision making, by seamlessly combining both spatial and non-spatial data. Tamil
Nadu Government is taking the initiative to set up Tamil Nadu Geographical
Information System (TNGIS) Centre for implementing standards based GIS
applications, which could be used by intending Government departments.
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3.3.4.5. State Portal, State Services Delivery Gateway (SSDG) and e-Forms State Government has granted administrative sanction for this project at a total
estimated outlay of Rs.16.13 crores to be funded by the Government of India. The
Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) has been nominated as the State Nodal
Agency for the project. The project components are
(i) State Portal
(ii) State Services Delivery Gateway (SSDG) and
(iii) e-Forms.
The e-Forms will be hosted on the State Portal and could be downloaded by
citizens for online submission. Once the e-Form is submitted to the State Portal, the
e-Form data will be routed by SSDG to the respective Department Server located at
the State Data Centre (SDC) where the information submitted by the citizens will be
stored. Service locations of the departments will pull out the information from the
Department Server (DS) and after processing, the response will be submitted to the
State Portal via SSDG. Citizens will get periodic status update on the State Portal. The
National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed the State Portal. The newly
designed and developed State Portal incorporating e-Forms and SSDG middleware
will be launched soon to enable the Citizens to access Government services through
Internet. The new Portal will be hosted in the URL www.tn.gov.in replacing the
existing website for the use of citizens for access through Internet.
3.3.5. e-GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES FACILITATED BY INFORMATION
TECHNOLGY DEPARTMENT Chief Minister’s Award for Excellence in e-Governance
§ Award for Government Departments-The Government of Tamil Nadu has
envisioned that all Government Services are to be delivered to citizens at their
doorsteps. As a mark of recognition and encouragement, the departments which
strive towards this task successfully will be awarded with the “Chief Minister’s
Award for Excellence in e-Governance” every year. Orders have been issued in
this regard.
§ Award for Students-In order to create an awareness on e-Governance among
the youth, students and e-Governance enthusiasts, a competition for development
of innovative e-Governance software applications shall be held every year.
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The winners shall be honored with the “Chief Minister’s Award for Excellence in e-
Governance”. The Award is instituted under three categories.Each awardee shall be
honoured with a prize money of Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees two lakhs only) and a trophy
worth Rs.15,000/- (Rupees fifteen thousand only) in the respective categories.
Orders have been issued in this regard.
3.3.5.1. e-Governance Awareness Campaign
To change the present scenario of “People approaching the Government”,
Hon’ble Chief Minister has envisaged a situation where “Government reaches the
People”. The role of e-Governance is indispensable to implement this vision. In order
to create awareness among the poorest of the poor in our society about e-Governance,
it has been decided to conduct e-Governance Awareness Campaigns at the Block
level, which will be a “People’s Movement”. These campaigns are proposed to be
conducted shortly.
3.3.5.2. Citizen Contact Centre
The Citizen Contact Centre (CCC) with the help of Government of India is to
be established with a vision to provide help on informational, transactional,
nonemergency Government to Citizen (G2C) services for various departments at the
State level.
While other channels of delivery such as departmental counters, websites, and
service kiosks serve important functions, Citizen Contact Centre shall provide the
advantage of greater accessibility due to high penetration of telecom and cellular
services in rural parts, ease of usage, reduced costs and improved service delivery
over these channels through a single unique phone number which will be common
across the country.
Some of the key benefits envisaged from Citizen Contact Centre are:
• Timely access to Information, Government to Citizen (G2C) services
• One number to call, with local language capability.
• Integration of services given by various departments on a single platform.
• Provide service tracking information and grievance handling.
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Administrative approval has been granted for the establishment of Citizen
Contact Centre. Further action is being pursued for implementing the above project.
3.3.5.3. Mission Mode Departments
"Mission Mode Projects” implies that the objective and the scope of the
project are clearly defined, the project has measurable outcomes and service-levels
and the project has well-defined milestones and timelines for implementation under
National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). The Government of Tamil Nadu has identified
14 Mission Mode Departments (MMDs) to implement the Mission Mode Projects.
The following are some of the Mission Mode Departments of the State:
• Commercial Taxes Department
The Commercial Taxes Department is developing and hosting comprehensive
software enabling the mercantile public to avail various e-services like online
registration, e-filing, e-payment etc. The Government has sanctioned a sum of
Rs.230 crores for the end-to-end computerization of Commercial Taxes
Department.
• Employment and Training Department
An online 24x7 web portal has been exclusively developed for the
Employment Directorate, so as to facilitate the registration of job seekers,
vocational guidance, periodical collection and compilation of data and
implementation of Unemployment Assistance Scheme. Apart from this, to avoid
the serpentine queues at the Employment Exchanges, an online registration
system has been introduced whereby the students can register through internet
from their school itself and get the same day seniority. About 12 lakh students
have benefited through this new initiative.
• Agriculture Department
AGRISNET - a software for Agriculture Department aims at delivering single
window information and services to the farmers. It also provides alerts on crop
information, climatic conditions etc. to the farmers.
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• Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department
ELCOT has created a State level Family Card Database for about 2 crore
families in Tamil Nadu. This Database is being used by various Government
departments. Health and Family Welfare Department The Health Management
Information System (HMIS) has been envisaged not only to help the
administrators to have better monitoring and control of the functioning of
hospitals across the State using decision support indicators, but also to assist the
doctors and medical staff to improve health services with ready reference patient
data, work flow enabled paper-less process and parameterized alarms and triggers
during patient treatment cycle.
• Police Department
Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) has been
approved as one of the Mission Mode Projects under NeGP. It aims at creating a
comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and
effectiveness of policing through a nation-wide networking infrastructure for
evolution of IT-enabled state-of-the-art tracking system around investigation of
crime and detection of criminals. This will cover all the Police Stations in the
country.
Apart from the above, Revenue, Registration, Social Welfare and Nutritious
Meal Programme, Transport, Treasuries and Accounts, Education, Industries and
Municipal Administration and Water Supply Departments are also covered under
the Mission Mode Projects.
3.3.6. ICT ACADEMY OF TAMIL NADU
ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu (ICTACT) is an initiative of Government of
India, Government of Tamil Nadu and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
ICTACT is an autonomous non-profit society established on Public Private
Partnership (PPP) mode. It has embarked on the novel path of improving the quality
of students in the State of Tamil Nadu. The objective of ICTACT is to train the
Higher Education teachers and students of the ICT domain, for benefiting the
students to become Industry ready and employable thereby, creating a new generation
of talent pool which would benefit the ICT Industry in the State of Tamil Nadu.
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To fulfill the vision of the Hon’ble Chief Minister to make Tamil Nadu as an
innovation hub and knowledge capital of India on the strength of world class
institutions in various fields and the best human talent, ICT Academy would
implement various skill development programmes for the students in the State. ICT
Academy would also be part of the programme on imparting IT training to the college
students. ICTACT is involved in facilitating and monitoring Rural Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) in the State. The existing strength of ICTACT on Industry –
Academia – Government collaboration is used to promote the Rural BPOs. This aims
at creating employment opportunities for the rural youth in the State.
3.3.7. TAMIL VIRTUAL ACADEMY
The Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA) aims at providing Internet-based resources
and opportunities for the Tamil communities living in different parts of the globe as
well as others interested in learning Tamil, Science, Technology, Tamil Computing
software and acquiring knowledge of the history, art, literature and culture of the
Tamils and to identify, establish, maintain and promote the solutions for the Tamil
computing requirements of Tamil diaspora, Government, Educational, Media and
Business institutions.
§ Academic Programmes
At present Tamil Virtual Academy is providing Academic Programmes such
as Primer Education, Certificate Course, Diploma, Higher Diploma courses and
Degree B.A.(Tamilology). 12,358 candidates from 70 Countries have registered
for different courses and 1889 certificates, 27 higher certificates, 237 Diplomas
and 128 Higher Diplomas and 109 Degrees were awarded so far. 56 Study
Centres in 17 countries all over the World are providing these Academic
programmes.
Under the plan for producing CD’s of the lessons, CD’s for Primary, Basic,
Intermediate and advanced level lessons, Learn Tamil, Tamil Karpom and other
CD’s like Thirukural and Technical Glossary have been prepared and released for
the benefit of students. In Virtual class room, 120 lessons are available for
learning Tamil. Video lectures for B.A.Tamilology class are also available. All
these are available in YouTube also.
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§ Digital Library
For the benefit of students registered for various courses of TVA and others,
books on Literature, Commentaries, Dictionaries, Tamil Technical Glossaries and
Cultural and Suvadi (Palm Leaf) galleries are made available in the Digital
Library of TVA website.
§ Tamil Software Development
Tamil Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Electronic Dictionary, Tamil
Corpus Analysis and Intelligent Information Retrieval of Thirukkural in
Handheld Devices are some of the Tamil softwares developed under Tamil
Software Development Fund(TSDF). Predictive Text Software Design for Tamil
is ongoing. Tamil Fonts and required Keyboard Drivers, for free use by all, are
also being developed.
§ Publication of Technical Glossary
About 2,50,000 technical terms compiled by various Universities have been
reviewed and grouped according to subjects and published in 14 volumes.
§ Building For Tamil Virtual Academy
Construction of the Ground Floor of Tamil Virtual Academy building is
completed. Construction of the first floor, a studio and an auditorium are under
progress.
3.3.8. EXCLUSIVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY POLICY
The Tamil Nadu Government focused its attention on the IT industry for its
economic growth, formulated and adopted an exclusive IT policy way back in 1997.
The fiscal and tax concessions available for mega projects (investment above Rs 50
crore) and super mega projects (investments exceeding Rs 1,500 crore) will be
applicable to IT industries. The Government will provide continuous power supply at
industry rates to all IT units and ensure quality of power as required by the industry
and the tariff for power will be not as for commercial consumers but as for industrial
consumers.
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The main objectives of the policy indicated are to encourage the growth of
hardware and software industries and associated services in the State, to remove the
bottlenecks in starting and running of such units, upgrade and develop manpower
skills required for the industry, to accelerate the use of IT in educational institutions
and upgrade the quality of life of the citizens by facilitating access to consumer
applications of IT. The State Government in association with private sector will
provide full fledged facilities to set up IT parks.
Private IT park developers will be given assistance in obtaining cable and
satellite links for the necessary connectivity. An IT park will be treated as an industry
and be eligible for backward area capital subsidy and ST benefits.
The Government will also encourage software development outside the parks
by giving such stand-alone units the same incentives as the units in IT parks. There
will be no location restrictions to set up units exclusively engaged in software
development or training all software industries including services and training
institutions will be entitled to industry status and shall be eligible for all concessions
and incentives applicable to industries.
The Government will also encourage setting up of venture capital fund for
development of IT industry through TIDCO in association with private sector
partners.
Industries need not wait for approval of the plans before beginning the
constructions provided they comply with some conditions as per a Government order.
As IT building has now the status of the industry, the builder of the IT building can
avail this facility.
3.3.9. NEW SCHEMES FOR THE YEAR 2012-2013
§ An Electronic Dictionary with pronunciation
Tamil Virtual Academy has a very rich Annotated Tamil Corpus. With the
present Annotated Tamil Corpus, TVA has proposed to compile “An Electronic
Dictionary with pronunciation.”
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For the first time, phonetic transcription will be given to the Tamil words. A sum
of Rs.30 lakhs has been allocated under Part II Scheme for the year 2012-2013 for
implementing this scheme.
§ Syntactic and Semantic Annotations for Tamil Literature
Tamil Virtual Academy has very rich Tamil corpus in its e-library (approximately
1 lakh pages) with early, medieval and modern literatures in digital form. At present,
Machine Translation (MT) is inevitable one, for which Syntactically and
Semantically Annotated Tamil Corpus is needed. If the Syntactic and Semantic tags
for the Massive Tamil corpus are available at TVA, an accurate spell checker,
grammar checker and many more software for Machine Translation can be developed.
A sum of Rs.25 lakhs has been allocated under Part II Scheme for the year 2012-
2013 for implementing this scheme.
§ Tamil Computing Lab
To establish a separate lab for Tamil Computing to carry out research and
development for Tamil software such as Machine Translation, Optical Character
Recognition (OCR) etc., a sum of Rs.20 lakhs has been allocated under Part II
Scheme for the year 2012-2013 for implementing this scheme.
§ Software Repository Tool
To overcome the above issue, it is proposed to establish a centralized software
Repository at a cost of Rs. 17 lakhs for the Government Departments so that the
software, source code and documentations could be made available at a single
location under the custody of single Government agency. As and when the
Departments require the support and documentation, the same could be made
available in the future. A sum of Rs.17 lakhs has been allocated under Part II Scheme
for the year 2012-2013 for implementing this scheme.
3.3.10. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BOOM IN CHENNAI
A fast-growing segment of Indian industry is information technology. In
addition to Tidel parks promoted by the Government, a large number of private
buildings has come up in various parts of the city and many are also under
construction.
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The availability of educated manpower, high standard of educational
institutions, sound infrastructure, low costs of operation, disciplined labor force,
presence of international airport and major sea port are some of the factors which
have made Chennai the destination for IT industry.
With IT penetrating all spheres such as Government departments, educational
institutions, banking, shopping, and consumer applications, the potential for further
growth of IT industry is enormous.
The decision of the Tamil Nadu Government to encourage private engineering
colleges in 1984 has helped many students to become engineers who are being
absorbed in IT industry.
3.3.10.1. REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE OF INFORMATION
TECHNOLGY SECTOR IN CHENNAI
The development in the IT sector in Chennai has lead to a drastic
improvement in the Real estate options in Chennai. People invest more on the real
estate because of the recent scope in the IT industry. Though there is an unpredictable
increase in the property rates in Chennai there is a vast development of IT industries
especially in IT corridors. The people working in the IT Park require residents to live
hence residential demand in Chennai is also increasing. Hence due to the
developments the real estate business has also boomed. For example Tata
Consultancy services (TCS) has planned to build Siruseri Industrial Park on Chennai's
IT Corridor over 80 acres of land. Thus IT industry has made Chennai, India's top
leading industrial state.
3.3.10.1.1 Chennai's Merits
• Good student community and popular universities
• Lesser hustle and bustle compared to other cities
• Cheaper rents and techies compared to other metros
• Success stories like ZOHO are making waves already
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3.3.10.1.2. Chennai's Demerits
• The biggest spoiler – Terrible Weather
• To a certain extent Language barrier in day to day living
3.3.10.5. SCOPE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY IN
CHENNAI The IT industry has great scope in Chennai as it provides employment to
many technically and non-technically graduated professionals. Thousands of college
students are recruited every year into the IT parks of Chennai. The leading IT park in
Chennai are INFOSYS, TCS, HCL, WIPRO, IBM, HP, DELL, POLARIS, etc. In
Chennai the RajIv Gandhi sallai also know as IT corridor of Chennai consists
hundreds of IT parks. The development in the IT sector in Chennai has lead to a
drastic improvement in the Real estate options in Chennai. There is a vast
development of IT industries specially in IT corridors. Tata Consultancy services
(TCS) has planned to build Siruseri Industrial Park on Chennai's IT Corridor. Thus IT
industry has made Chennai, India's top leading industrial state. 3.3.11. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN COIMBATORE
Coimbatore's vision to become one of the major IT destinations of the country,
has started turning into a reality with some of the big companies in the sector,
bringing the city under their expansion map. Apart from companies such as Robert
Bosch, Cognizant, Cbay and Ford that are already present here, IBM, Polaris, and
Mphasis are also said to be exploring Coimbatore as an option for their operations.
Indian IT industry is consistent growth in both exports and domestic segments
and its ongoing expansion into new potentially high growth opportunities reaffirms
the continued confidence and global competitiveness of the Indian IT sector. A large
part of this growth will be driven from small towns and Tier II cities, especially in
Tamil Nadu. A number of IT and ITeS companies are expanding to newer locations as they
grow to deliver high-end services in the value chain, says a study carried out by the
National Association of Software Services Companies (NASSCOM) and Hewitt
Associates.
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Coimbatore being the hub of manufacturing industry, little is known on the
silent change that the city is undergoing in the IT sector. Today, the IT software
export from Coimbatore is close to Rs.150 crore. A large, talented manpower, a
conducive business environment, professional work ethics and a stable political
climate have made Coimbatore a natural choice for these organizations. Perhaps not
as much celebrated is the contribution of entrepreneurs from Coimbatore – small and
medium – usually in supporting large players by way of providing outsourced
services. These entrepreneurs have really been the powerhouse of innovation and
productivity and continue to provide momentum for growth.
3.3.11.1. Industry analysis
As per Gartner estimates, the total Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) / IT
enabled services (ITES) market worldwide will be around 234 Bln USD growing at a
compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4 % by the close of 2008.
Approximately, 21 Bln USD is the potential for Indian BPO companies.
As per IDC / SSKI estimates, the total market for IT services worldwide will
be around 814 Bln USD by the year 2008. Mckinsey estimates that the Indian
opportunity for IT services would be around 28 Bln USD by the year 2008.
As per STPI estimates, the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka are more popularly addressed as the Knowledge Triad, currently contribute
to around 60% of India's annual IT export turnover. They will continue to play a
dominant role in the emerging BPO businesses and IT services.
To address these opportunities and to gear up for global competition, some of
the imperatives for Indian organizations involve:
• Expanding products or services portfolio
• Reinforcement of quality in products and services
• Identifying niche areas for growth to expand existing client base
• Competitively pricing products and services.
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Competitive pricing at the same time retaining the quality of service is a key
challenge for the growth of the IT/ITES organization. AS per analysis conducted by
PwC the profitability margins could dip by as much as 65% if billings dip to USD 5/
hour, assuming that the current rate is 10 USD /hour. From this perspective,
Coimbatore offers resources that fulfill organizational requirements. Analysis shows
that Coimbatore as a business destination is suitable for IT / ITES organizations from
two standpoints.
• Tapping alternate quality talent at cost effective prices.
• Addressing new business opportunities through utilizing existing knowledge
base.
3.3.11.2. IT related fields for instance engineering design.
PwC has conducted a detailed primary research to validate the above
assumptions. Close to around 71 organizations from a sample base of 200
organizations have expressed their interest in setting up a base in Coimbatore. The
total employment potential based on the primary research has been set out in table
below. The evaluations have been conducted under three scenarios.
3.3.11.3. Critical success factors - supply side factors
Certain factors determine the sustainability of business during the start-up and the
day-to-day operations. For instance an IT /ITES business would require:
• Availability of talent
• Adequacy of real estate
• Availability of power
• Connectivity
As per forecasts and current availability status, Coimbatore adequately fulfils
business factor requirements. Coimbatore's strength to attract business lies in its:
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• Captive talent pool of approx. 20000 engineering graduates and approx. 28000
non-engineering graduates
• Enterprising community
• Salubrious climate
The table below represents the strengths and opportunities in Coimbatore.
As per the research conducted by PwC, Coimbatore is a suitable IT destination
and setting up an IT Park is feasible. As per the expansion plans of organizations in
the migration model with respect to Coimbatore, there is an immediate requirement of
approximately 0.6 million Sq ft quality IT park space to be gradually scaled up to total
workspace of 1.4 million Sq ft for 14000 professionals by the year 2008. The total
estimated export revenues arising from this inflow could be in the region of USD 113
mln by the year 2008. The revenue potential emerging from the domain opportunity
would be in the region of USD 50 mln by the year 2008.
To facilitate business needs of the IT/ITES organizations, general
infrastructure needs to be enhanced. The areas include improving the flight
frequencies and timing, upgrading the hotel infrastructure, establishing adequate
redundancy, power supply and support services.
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3.3.11.4. The major players in this field in Coimbatore are:
• COGNIZANT:
Meanwhile, the existing companies are expanding. Cognizant's growth here is
among the fastest in a tier-two city. It started operations in Coimbatore with 400
people and has more than 5,000 now.
• ROBERT BOSCH:
For Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions, the phase two
expansion here is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The number of
people employed will go up by 1,500 with the phase two expansion. The
Coimbatore Hi-Tech Infrastructure has about 125 acres notified as Special
Economic Zone of which close to 80 acres has been used. It is one of the largest
private SEZs in the State for IT, ITES and Hardware sectors. At the multi-tenant
facility at SEZ, about three lakh sq.ft of the six lakh sq.ft has been occupied. In
another 12 to 18 months, about 20,000 people would be working in the IT
companies in Saravanampatty area.
• KCT TECH PARK:
The KCT Tech Park has nearly two lakh sq.ft of IT space. It is expected to be
fully occupied in a few months. The Software Technology Parks of India facility
at the Kumaraguru campus (administrative block) has one lakh sq.ft. The growth
has been tremendous during the last four months.
• TIDEL PARK
The Tidel Park, which was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister M.
Karunanidhi in August 2010, has nine lakh sq.ft of IT space. Some of the local IT
companies have been making enquires and are also seeking space at this park.
Their requirements are for smaller areas (10,000 sq.ft or less) and efforts are on
to accommodate them in the non-processing zone. Thus, companies involved in
business process outsourcing can also look to Tidel.
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3.3.11.5. SLOW TAKE-OFF:
One of the reasons for this sector's slow take-off has been inadequate IT space.
In 2006, just about three lakh sq.ft was made available. Today, it has expanded to
nearly 30 lakh sq.ft. The economic slump has pulled down market sentiments,
however, with the economy reviving, enquiries have risen sharply. With big
companies coming to this city, occupying larger space, and providing more job
opportunities, has given confidence for other players to follow suit.
3.4. INDIAN WOMEN - CORPORATE WORLD AND INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY SECTOR WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE: HISTORY
Women have worked as long as men, as evidenced by cave drawings that
show women toiling in fields and over fires. As well, the Old Testament describes
stories of women collecting water at wells and tending flocks. In the modern era, the
phenomenon of women in the workplace is closely tied to economic and social trends.
When, for example, women were needed to support men in times of war, institutional
childcare to support working mothers was created. Evidence of this type of institution
exists from the Civil War, 1860, through World War II, 1945. These institutions
survived, intermittently during that time for the sole purpose of caring for the children
of widows who were forced to work.
The first of these federally-funded institutions was established in 1863, during
the Civil War, in Philadelphia by Hanna Biddle. She modeled the program after the
French institutionalized childcare programs which began in 1844 called “creches”,
which looked after the children of the poor to keep them off the streets of Paris. The
crèche was funded through charities, the run by wealthy Social Catholics. The crèche
looked after pre-school children and infants, freeing up older siblings for school. The
crèche offered better care for the children than they received at home because there
was formal training for employees and physicians who took care of the children, and
education to the mothers was available.
In the early 1900’s there was a resurgence of interest in institutionalized
childcare, this time, as a result of the influx of a working-poor, immigrant population
to the United States.
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The social benefit of institutionalized childcare was assimilation of 8
immigrants’ children into society. These childcare institutions continued during the
first and second world wars and operated post-war to support working widows. The
institutions often provided jobs for these women in the homes of wealthy patrons. The
patrons would subsidize the care of the women with handouts of food and clothing.
The social stigma for these women was difficult. Working women of this era, whose
children required this type of federally subsidized care, were seen as victims and
pitied by their communities.
The modern era also provides examples of professional working women, such
as, Florence Nightingale, considered the founder of the nursing profession, who did
not suffer the same indignities as most other young women. Since her father wanted
all his children to receive an education, young Florence was provided a tutor at home
who educated her in the classics and mathematics. This was not uncommon.
Many of the women professionals prior to the 1950’s were guided through
male dominated educational and work systems by esteemed, well-positioned fathers
who believed their daughters warranted opportunities for careers. If not for their
fathers’ clout, these women may have become well-educated socialites.
The knowledge industry created greater access for women, resulting primarily
from higher education and the ability to be evaluated based on knowledge
performance rather than physical capabilities, as was previously required in factory or
farm work. A more level playing field, coupled with factors such as changes in
marital patterns and smaller families, has contributed greatly to an increase in the
number of working women and, hence, working mothers.
3.4.1 THE PHENOMENAL INDIAN WOMEN
Colorful festivals, acute poverty, exotic people, dirt, heat, spicy food,
elephants, snake charmers, and a spiritually haven are some of the stereotypical
images that are associated with India. Other than the word 'exotic' there is not much
that comes to mind. Much of the mystery and fascination that surrounds India has
shrouded Indian women making awareness about them limited.
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There is still much poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and discrimination
when it comes to women, but there is a certain segment of them who are making a
mark in the corporate world, in media, in literature and for still many who are
unaware of their huge impact in the IT sector. Globalization has provided
opportunities for the educated, middle class women to build their own dreams and
excel in fields, which were earlier perceived as complete male domains. Indian
women are becoming increasingly visible and successful in the professional and
public sphere.
Whether it is Barkha Dutt, who has become an idol for several journalists,
Arundhati Roy, a Booker Prize Winner and a social activist, or Kiran Mazumdar
Shaw, who became the wealthiest Indian woman after the initial public offering of her
company, Biocon, they have all heralded the arrival of Indian women professionals.
3.4.2. MORDERN WOMEN VALUE TRADITIONAL IDEALS : Women today are independent, confident and have carved a niche for
themselves in various spheres of their personal and professional lives. While, we all
have been under the assumption that these 'up on their feet' women prefer nuclear
families and plan to go the concise way, a survey conducted by Shaadi.com, a
matchmaking website, reveals a trend completely at the other spectrum of the family
continuum.
According to their annual survey of its members' matrimonial attitudes, the
number of women preferring to live in a joint family post marriage is way more than
those who prefer a nuclear family arrangement. The survey, conducted on a sample of
150,000 across India, Australia, UK, US and Canada, revealed that almost 54% of
women favored an extended family, alongside parents and siblings, while only 21% of
women showed their preference for nuclear family.
One can detect a growth of 14% in women opting for marriage in joint
families since the last survey conducted in 2004, wherein only 40% women wanted to
live in a joint family milieu. The survey points out that a support system is needed in
today's industrialized and globalized world. Dr. Rohan Kusumgar, consultant
psychiatrist, is of the opinion that, there are 3 main reasons as to why women are
increasingly opting for joint families post marriage.
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Firstly, is the need for internal security which comes only when you have
people to support you in any situation. Second, is the need for emotional bonding
when you are faced with a problem and third is the division of responsibility and
work. Highlighting the positive role of mother-in-law unlike the stereotypical
character she is believed to play, Binal Shah, currently working in a CA firm,
opinioned that she wanted to have time to herself on returning home from work. So
having a mother-in-law, who would help with the household chores as well as taking
care of kids. Also, as often is the case, if fighting between spouses occurs, a mother-
in-law would be a great guide and support system. According to Tula Santoki, an employee in the IT sector, the raison d'être for
her preference towards joint family system is the desire for, support to manage house,
handle kids and solve problems. Also, being engrossed in our work, we hardly get
time to get in touch with their kin, but when one thrives in an extended family they
learn to maintain close familial ties.
Bringing an altogether different perspective, Dr. Nehal Kumar, consultant
psychiatrist, felt that a few years back the trend was completely opposite, modern
women opted for nuclear families. However, the changing preference now is because
people have lived the ill effects of a small family set-up with nobody to take care of
children, cost factor and increased stress in nuclear family. This survey which throws light on the way matchmaking trends are evolving
has a positive takeaway; the immense globalization and escalating estrangement is
giving way to reestablishment of traditional values. 3.4.3. THE VISIONARY OF TODAY’S COMPETITIVE MARKET Success often comes to those who have the aptitude to see way down the road.
Success is a matter of attitude. It is a matter of futuristic thinking and planning and is
about doing things carefully. Relying on the same, Indian women are becoming
increasingly visible and successful in the professional and public sphere. The Indian
women have proved their footage in the male dominated business arena. For a nation
where the only identity of a woman some time back used to be that of a homemaker,
hogging the corporate limelight has been a journey to empowerment and strength.
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Today innumerable women are filling colors of success in their life and
moving a step closer to their dreams of being self dependent. Many of them are
entering the corporate field as financial advisors, investment bankers, chartered
accountants etc. and doing their job with unmatched excellence and poise. From the
confines of four walls to outer space, the Women of today are busy writing the golden
tale of emancipation. Call it her urge to prove herself equal to man or even better or
the plain conviction that she has left marks on the tallest of peaks and the deepest of
oceans.
Any discussion on the status of women in India tends to conjure up pictures of
Illiteracy, exploitation, discrimination and low life expectancy. Although this is still
true for many Indian women, another reality is driving the new India and relates to a
booming nation, powered by female business leaders. Though they are not the
majority Indian women professionals are definitely on the rise and are paving the way
for future generations.
Despite, these numerous barriers and tangible obstacles women are, today,
entering the field of business in increasing numbers. Although, Women are
increasingly making their mark in the typically male dominated workplace, they
comprise a very meager portion of the entrepreneurs in India. The woman in India
still need to be courageous, risk taking, challenge seeking and above all they are
required to be independent. They need to break themselves free of the confines of the
four walls of a home, which is the traditionally recognized role of women in our
country, and to come out of the cocoon of a subservient living provided by male
family members.
This requires a change in cultural ethos and training the male mindset to
recognize women as equals and not inferior to them through a multi pronged action at
legislative, administrative, legal, social, educational and cultural levels. Three crucial
things for aspiring Indian women executives: • BE COURAGEOUS
Do not worry about the fact that you are a woman and chances are that others will
not worry about it either. Very often the problem is not external if it’s not internal.
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• FIND AND USE EXTERNAL SUPPORT
Today Woman Entrepreneurs have a lot of external support – special funds,
working capital loans, network groups – find them and use them well. Banks like
SIDBI, Women Co-operative Banks are Women friendly.
• MANAGE YOUR GUILT WELL
If women also have a family to look after. Guilt is not good for her, as well as her
family and business. She will realize that fulfilling her dreams is what she loves to do,
and her family might as well realize this too. The family may look at her to keep the
home fires running – but the flip side is that she may not have to be the bread earner!
Enjoy this freedom and do something that women truly want to do.
3.4.4. FACTORS AFFECTING DECISION TO WORK Despite the inequalities in terms of the division of household and childcare
duties and the impact on workplace and career opportunities, women and men are
often driven by the same ambitions when looking for work. A certain survey showed
the below results for the factors affecting the decision to work between the male and
female community with and without children.
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The most important factors when looking for a job are the same among both
men and women: a decent salary and reward opportunities are at the top of the list,
however job quality, career prospects and challenge are also important. This shows
that women have similar ambitions to men, and would like to have the same
opportunities and pay as men. For these most important factors, there is little
difference depending on whether or not the parents have children.
However, there are some other areas where there are more distinct differences
between men and women, and also a difference depending on whether or not they
have children. These variables are related to work-life balance, and finding a job that
is suitable to also meeting childcare and housekeeping commitments. For example,
74% of women without children said that suitable working hours are important when
they look for a job, compared with 64% of men without children. Among parents with
children, this rises to 82% of women and 66% of men.
Similarly, flexible hours, work/family combination and either a company
kindergarten or employer contribution to childcare are more important to women than
to men when they look for a job. This is particularly the case among parents with
children.
3.4.5. WOMEN AND THE CORPORATE WORLD
During the past decade, the environment for multinational corporations has
been quite volatile, with numerous challenges for the firms operating in this arena.
However, throughout this period there have emerged a number of women executive
leaders who have been recognized for their contributions to organizational excellence
and leadership. Invariably, a few years back women power was frowned upon and
they were not so welcome to hold and glorify the top positions of different corporate
houses. Despite this impressive increase of women in the workforce, they continue to
be underrepresented in managerial positions in the information technology (IT) field.
As more women enter the labor market, the focus has shifted from “women oriented
toward homemaking versus careers” to “traditional versus non-traditional careers and
identifying career patterns of women”.
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This shift reflects the changing career expectations of women in information
technology. They are more likely to remain in the workforce for significant parts of
their lives. This trend results in more women pursuing lifelong careers in their chosen
occupations, which should result in more women reaching top-level positions.
3.4.6. THE STATE OF REPRESENTATION OF TECHNICAL WOMEN IN
THE INDUSTRY THE NUMBERS AT DIFFERENT CAREER STAGES
Studies of technical careers in various industries have identified 4 archetypical
career stages. Those 4 steps have been broadly defined as:
• Apprenticeship (Step 1, entry level): Works under supervision and
demonstrates competence as a part of a larger project
• Individual Contributor (Step 2, mid-level): Responsible for defined projects,
works independently, increased technical competence and reputation, develops
a network
• Mentoring, Contributing through others (Step 3, Senior level): Increased
technical impact. Acts as a mentor, manager, or leader for stages 1 and 2.
Represents the group/project within organization. Broader business
perspective
• Setting strategic direction of organization (Step 4, Executive level):
Represents organization and vision to external and internal constituents. Power
and influence in the name of the organization. Prepares future leaders.
The proportion of women in technical careers drops significantly at stages 3 and
4, from 20% at the first stages to less than 3% at the highest stage.
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3.4.7. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PREFERED DESTINATION FOR
WOMEN
Girls in India go for softer skills such as Electronics and Communication and
Computer Science. This has led them to the IT destination. Hence, approximately one
third of the employees at Indian software companies are women. In fact, NASSCOM
puts the figure at 38%, which is higher than their western counterparts.
3.4.7.1 CAREER ORIENTED WOMEN IN MODERN INDIAN SOCIETY –
PRIVILEGES AND PROBLEMS
Indian women live in a noninterventionist society. The phenomena of
democracy and open education has bridged the abyss of inequality between the sexes
to a great extent. Modern education has allowed women to come out of the confines
of their home and, take active part in society and to work shoulder-to-shoulder with
men in every field. It is not to say that she has forgotten the valued customs but, she
has simply realigned herself. Nature has placed more compulsions on woman by
virtue of her being a mother. Financial independence is the key to self-reliance and
this is what drives women towards it.
Modern living has become costly and has become one of the reasons for her
accepting a job. It is especially true for the lower and middle class where, women
seek employment to sustain their family incomes. The women of the higher class too,
ardently seek jobs not because it easily gets them higher position, but they do it
chiefly to improve their social prestige and to uphold lavish lifestyles. Women also
look for employment to become more acceptable from a marriage viewpoint. It has
been seen that the groom’s family favour employed girls in comparison to sitting
girls. Earning women would be helpful in running the family seems the obvious
conclusion. But it is however not the end case.
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The pressure to adjust personal and professional lives sometimes becomes
agonizing with the result that one of them suffers. The working women may be
subjugated at their work places, face problems due to overtime or work at night hours
where security becomes an issue. In such case, profession doesn’t become a cathartic
gate but a bondage; this could then, never be the purpose of her employment because,
it doesn’t make her contingent. Nothing can take away the privilege of women to take
up jobs of their choice. Parents are now giving equal attention to the education of girls
and boys.
Daughters have been found to be dashing and achieving in their academic
fields. The Indian women today stand second to none. The society should learn to
respect her. At home the husband should learn to share the burden of running the
household. The wife should be treated like a co-partner.
The men have to give up their authoritarian role, as whatever he has, is also
contributed by his wife’s earnings. This feeling, if it gains ground would make life a
more pleasurable experience. After all, modernism in its essence is to exercise one’s
own choices freely in the good of all. Employment in the context of women can bring
good results only when they exercise it prudently. The liberty of modern social setup
should not lead to unopposed behavior. The power of social choices given to her, call
for virtuous use. The balance between personal fulfillment and social responsibility
must be achieved pleasantly.
3.4.7.2 MARRIAGE - A BOON OR BANE FOR WORKING WOMEN
Some of the women give up working, when their kids are really young
because, it is the mother who can play a significant role in shaping the lives of her
children. The foundation to a good life can be built when they are young and this can
only be attained when the mother whole heartedly, takes care of her children to this
pursuit by living at home and not going to work.
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Today, in most Indian households, the wife is a working woman. Rising cost
of living, children’s educational expenditure and the need for greater savings are some
of the primary reasons why a woman no longer wants to be tagged as a housewife, but
become a working member in the family.
Besides, women have become far more ambitious and are excelling in the
various professional roles, which they do not hesitate to pursue after their marriage. In
a middle-class family, with in-laws, there arises a need to have a double-income
structure.
Even though some women are not very keen on working as she is not very
well-qualified, she has to grab a job to provide financial support, as it is difficult to
run the house with just the husband’s salary. Besides, the job gives women a sense of
self-independence.
Though this may be the popular trend, not all married women opt for the
working role. Whether to work or not, after marriage, is a woman’s personal choice. It
is always a good idea for the woman to follow her career pursuits, even after her
marriage, as it allows her to live her dreams and aspirations, paving way for her
financial independence, as well as, enabling her to contribute substantially to the
income of the family, in this process.
3.4.7.3. SPOUSES AT HOME AND COLLEAGUES AT WORK
There has been a steady rise in the number of working women in recent years.
Many a time it is also noticed that the husband and wife are working in the same
office. Some organizations encourage the idea of spouses working with each other as
colleagues while, for others it is a nonnegotiable no. Of course, there are both pros
and cons associated with this practice. It would be convenient for the couple working
in the same company; as they spend more time with each other.
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They could cut down on travelling costs as they commute together. If the
female has any problems the male is easily accessible and being in the same
organization they can guide each other on work issues better. However, it is better for
all concerned that they do not generally interfere in each other’s work and give each
other the much needed space, which in fact would strengthen their relationship.
This trend is catching up well with working couples. Couples working
together need to know where to draw the line between their personal and professional
lives. It is after all not advisable to take work related problems home. Similarly, if
they fight on some personal issues they should not carry those arguments to the office
for the purpose of taking revenge. They should leave their personal relationships
behind and treat each other like colleagues while at work. Actually, it all depends on
the maturity level of the particular couple. In recent times, most progressive
organizations are allowing husbands and wives to work together. Couples working
together for the same company has become a healthy trend. It is noticed that a sense
of belongingness among such employees has increased compared to others.
They are more satisfied by maintaining work - life balance. However, if they
are working in the same team and apply for leave at the same time then it becomes a
problem. Often, ego clashes between them hurt the organization’s productivity.
Before taking such decisions they should clearly think if they are prepared to see each
other all day and night. Conflicts in the organization can heighten to such an extent
that it may ruin their personal relationship. In order to reduce stress and strike a
balance between their personal and professional lives working together in the same
office is good. However, it is important that they behave in an unbiased and
professional manner so that there is no scope for controversy. If this arrangement
works out well it is good for both of them as well as for the organization.
3.4.7.4. JUGGLING WORK AND FESTIVITY
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Deadlines at work to meet, a marriage at home as well as the upcoming festive
season keep women on their toes. Critical needs at work as well as social gatherings at
home and outside with their relatives and friends during the festive season can take a
toll on their time.
But, managing time between work and social bonding should be the key to a
happy and successful work and festive season. If women are planning to take some
days off from work, they should do so only after consulting their colleagues at work
and seniors. They must see whether there are any important assignments or meetings
coming up during the festive season that might want their personal attention.
Many working women, mostly who stay in joint families, often have the
trouble of juggling their work when dealing with the festive season. They need to
fulfill the needs at home. There is also a pressure from the family as it is the woman
who is supposed to be the hostess during the festivities at home and at social
gatherings. So, they may find it difficult to juggle work pressure during that time.
It is very important for the ladies to gain support, cooperation and confidence
from their family members, as it is essential to give enough time to both the activities
and not neglect one for the other. Many organizations also allow women to have the
liberty of working from home for a few days. And, with today’s technology anyone
can work from anywhere at any point of time. The key here is to be open to one's
seniors as well as to one's family.
It is essential to take timeout for oneself with a need to sit down and think for
themselves so as to prioritize their festive days as to which are more important and
cannot be held without them and on those days when women can share their
responsibilities with their relatives, spouse, parents and friends, doing justice to their
official work too.
There has to be a balance of both. One neither can keep working and ignore
one’s social and home life, nor can one expect to have a job and not allot time for it.
The time has come to think and decide upon their priorities to maximum enjoy a
wonderful festive season.
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3.4.7.5. EFFECTS OF LONG WORKING HOURS ON INFORMATION
TECHNOLGY PROGRAMMERS
It is a well known fact that the job of IT programmers almost always involves
working long hours. Many a time the project requires collaborating with people in
different time zones. In such cases employees have to stay back beyond normal
timings and finish their work. But all work and no play surely has a negative effect on
the physical and mental well-being of such employees. Long hours spent in office
compel some of them to think only about their careers thereby neglecting their
personal lives. For women employees, working long hours are all the more stressful.
In our society, it is the woman who has to bear the major brunt of household work. At the end of a long working day when she cannot fulfill family expectation
she feels incompetent. This gives rise to a conflict with her partner and children.
Working long hours has a negative impact on the organization as well. Employees
who are physically and mentally tired would be unable to put in their best. They
cannot come up with innovative ideas.
As a result, the productivity and profitability of the company gets affected
adversely. In order to minimize the ill-effects of long working hours, organizations
can impart proper training so that the work can be completed within the stipulated
time. Moreover, companies can recruit sufficient number of employees and organize
regular health check up campaigns for their well-being. It is sad but, true that the
culture of working long hours is harmful for the employee as well as the organization.
Therefore, the need of the hour is to take some realistic measures from both sides to
overcome this growing problem. After all, it cannot be denied that the output would
be much better when one has been in a relaxed frame of mind rather than by working
overtime.
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3.4.7.6 HEALTHY LIVING FOR WORKING MOTHERS
Women apart from juggling their domestic chores and office work should find
time for their Power Yoga classes at least thrice a week. It is a part of the ever-
growing brigade of health-conscious working mothers who are considering health as
the biggest asset in their life and are leaving no stone unturned to always be in the
pink of health. Rising cases of osteoporosis and different kinds of cancer in women,
has led women to take care of themselves, especially the working women. As a
working woman and a mother, they need to be on their toes all the time and it is very
important that they eat well. They even consult a dietician to keep a track of their food
habits and ensure that their food intake contains enough nutrients. Also there are
many women who visit dieticians, nutritionists and health experts to lead a healthy
and active lifestyle. Apart from a daily intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially
green leafy ones, women should also have plenty of fluids in the form of juices.
Women should avoid smoking and drinking. Working late-nights and endless meetings, take a toll on their body. Besides,
which they have to take care of their children. In a few families children are well-
taken care of by their in-laws and husband. To stay healthy, they make it a point to
never miss their morning jog/walk and their yoga sessions, apart from getting 7-hours
of sleep. Working mothers have complaints of not being able to balance domestic and
work life. They have to eat well and exercise. When the body is fit, the mind is
relaxed. Working mothers need to spend 15-20 minutes every day on themselves to
just relax and do nothing. Also, they need to unwind with their spouse and children
more often than not and avoid getting bogged down by office work. Women right
from packing off their children to school in the morning, to preparing themselves to
go to office, are constantly on their feet, putting themselves under tremendous stress.
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Prayer sessions have made them a lot more mentally agile and has given them
the strength to cope up with stress to a large extent. Thanks to many New-Age
techniques such as yoga and meditation, besides, learning from nutritionists,
dieticians and health care experts, working mothers are now exploring every
opportunity to keep themselves physically active and mentally healthy to lead a more
purposeful life, amidst the hectic lifestyle that they lead.
3.4.7.7 WORK-FAMILY ENRICHMENT: BENEFITS OF COMBINING
WORK AND FAMILY
Work-life balance is an issue of paramount importance to individuals,
organizations, families, government and society. Techno-economic changes have
increased the pressures on organizations and employees alike. It highlights the
inherent incompatibility between the role requirements of work and non-work life
(e.g. family). The underlying reasons are that work and family constitute two different
domains and have different set of demands and investments in terms of time, energy
and behavior.
Moreover, the increasing number of women in the workforce, nuclear families
and dual earning couples has made work-life balance a crucial concern for employees
as well as organizations across industries and occupations. The need for a balance
between work and personal life has become an integral element of expectation by
employers from employees.
Career success today is defined not only in terms of promotions and lucrative
assignments but also by the ability to balance work and non-work life. In this regard
helping employees to have a healthy work-life balance has become a challenge for
employers and human resource professionals. The level of work-life balance
significantly influences various individuals, families and organizations with relevance
to various outcomes such as employee health, employee commitment, job satisfaction
and family satisfaction.
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Time and energy being limited when invested in one domain is likely to
reduce the time and energy available for other domains. Hence, participation in
multiple roles leads to negative consequences such as stress and poor health.
Stress, a negative emotion and behavior arising from one domain (e.g. work)
often transfers to the other domains (e.g. family) affecting the performance in the
target domain resulting in work-life imbalance or work-family conflict. The conflict
and stress inherent in managing work and family responsibilities found to be
counterbalanced by the socio-psychological benefits that stem from participating in
work and family roles.
More recently, theoretical and empirical research on the other possibilities of
interconnectedness between work and family particularly, the extent to which work
and family can positively influence each other or benefit each other is gaining
popularity among researchers. Participation in multiple roles (e.g. work and family) is
found to be beneficial for employees, and these benefits are found to outweigh the
difficulties.
Positive affective states, attitudes, values, skills generated in one role are
found to positively influence the other role. The increasing emphasis on the positive
interaction between work and family is consistent with the emerging trends in positive
psychology and positive organizational behavior that focuses on the strengths and
optimal functioning rather than on weaknesses and malfunctioning of individuals as
well as social systems.
Working men and women in India do experience more work-family
enrichment than work-family conflict although there was no significant gender
difference in employee perceptions of work-family enrichment. Support from family
members and supervisors, nature of the job, work-life balance policies and family-
friendly culture of the organizations emerged as the significant predictors of work-
family enrichment. Work-family enrichment was found to positively influence
employee job satisfaction, psychological well-being, organizational commitment and
organizational citizenship behavior.
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Organizations do vary in their policies and practices with regard to work-life
balance. Some of the common work-life balance policies and practices across
organizations were found to be flexi-time and maternity leave with benefits.
Understanding the level of work-family enrichment of employees will
definitely help organizations develops strategies or take initiatives to help employees
effectively manage their work and non-work obligations. This, in turn, will ensure
employee commitment and extra role performance. Assessment of the perceived
organizational family supportiveness will help employers evaluate the effectiveness of
the existing culture and practices of their organization. They have taken risks and
have come out successfully as well. They have reached the space, swam across the
English Channel and have even become the Prime Minister and President of the
country. But, sometimes they still get to hear that women are not given what they
deserve at their workplace. This is due to the existence of a phenomenon called “glass
ceiling” in the corporate world.
The glass ceiling may be defined as an artificial barrier in a women’s career
which deters them from reaching senior positions or attaining high salary levels. This
particular term was first coined by Hymowitz and Schellhardt in a 1986 Wall Street
Journal Report on corporate women. While the word ceiling is used to indicate that
the advancement of women in their careers is limited the term glass is used because
the ceiling is not always visible. The barriers commonly include salary inequality for
the same work, discrimination in promotions, and lack of policies to maintain work-
life balance.
Generally consultancies won’t get any requirements from their clients who
specify, a salary range which is different for men and women applicants for a
particular position. This is of course a good sign. But some female employees in the
IT sector who were interviewed did complain of gender wage gap in-spite of the fact
that they possessed equivalent education and experience as compared to their male
counterparts. The gap in salary can be attributed to the fact that women are new
entrants in many occupations and are therefore denied the increased pay that comes
with experience. Organizations today are encouraging women to apply for open
positions. They are also implementing very liberal policies to help them maintain
work-life balance.
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Flexible working hours or telecommuting are some options to support women
employees. Women are well represented in almost all companies and they do not see
the existence of any glass ceiling that should hinder the progress of a women
executive. Whether a glass ceiling truly exists at work has now become a debatable
topic.
However, women executives should ignore such phenomenon, take risks,
voice their opinion assertively and climb up the corporate ladder. After, all it is all
about survival of the fittest in the corporate world.
3.4.7.8 CONTROLLING EMOTIONS AT WORK
It is the basic characteristic of humans to be emotional more so the
womenfolk. No matter how much balanced they may consider themselves, they still
react emotionally in a number of situations. Such impulsive behavior often results
from stress and are definitely not appropriate in the organizational context. Female
executives go through a lot of pressures in the professional and personal front.
They may not be comfortable working in a particular office but due to
financial needs they become compelled to do so. In such cases, they may not be able
to control themselves and give vent to their feelings in negative ways. No matter how
much they tend to be rational their emotions will prompt them to act. They might feel
irritable, frustrated or even angry. But they need to be careful enough so, that their
emotions do not get the better off them.
Ups and downs are a fact of life and they have to accept them as they come.
However, concentration on work becomes nearly impossible when women are passing
through an emotional turmoil. In order to cope with such a situation, the best way to
get out of it is to talk to someone they rely on. It can be their husbands, their
colleagues or even their children if they are grown up.
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Do not overdo to please everybody. Women have to learn to say ‘no’ when
they cannot stretch any further. Also they have to maintain a disciplined lifestyle.
When they cannot control their temper walking out of their cubicle and spending
some time in the company’s games room or library could be helpful. They can go for
a long drive with their family on weekends. In fact the less tiring they feel, the less are
their chances of reacting harshly with their co-workers.
When they have some problems in their personal life they tend to vent it out at
work and vice - versa. Women go through difficult situations at home and work. But,
they should be careful enough and particularly manage well their negative emotions at
work. This will help them maintain good relationships with their co-workers and
enable them to climb up the corporate ladder as well. Moreover, it will to some extent
take away the label that womenfolk are more emotional than men.
3.4.7.9. MANAGING MULTIPLE ROLES
In this highly competitive world, working women juggle many
responsibilities, demanded by their various roles. Striking a balance between their
work and family roles are essential for the physical and mental well being of female
employees. It has become high time that organizations address their needs so that they
can easily overcome this role conflict. Women wear multiple caps of being a mother,
wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, supervisor, among others. In each of these
roles, they are expected to perform to their level best. Everyone has high expectations
from them. If the kid is not getting good grades they are to be blamed.
If the food is not ready in time for dinner, again it becomes a women's
responsibility. If guests are arriving women are expected to stay back at home to
attend to them.
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Again, at work no excuses will be accepted for not completing the
assignments as per the set deadlines. They have to be perfect as a homemaker as well
as a career woman. Indeed majority of women particularly married ones who are
entering the workforce have been facing this role conflict. In today’s fast paced
environment there is no point sitting and cribbing on such issues. A good way to do justice to their various roles is by effectively managing their
time and gaining a little support from their family. Nowadays, shops in major towns
offer home delivery services. They can order their grocery items and other stuffs
using this service thereby, using that time in doing something else. If their family
permits, they can also go for home delivered food once in a while. Delegating
cleaning and washing responsibilities to a maid would also relieve them to some
extent.
Nevertheless managing multiple roles is highly stressful and often it so
happens that women executives develop various health problems like headache,
backache or eye strain. Some of them even fall prey to depression because of their
inability to manage everything at the same time.
However, a psychologist points out that the mindset of working women is
changing and often each additional role brings increased self - esteem leading to a
feeling of physical and mental well-being. Organizations, too are lending a helping
hand to encourage them. Some companies offer flexi - time policies to all their female
employees, help them out in paying bills and have crèche facilities for their kids
within their company premises. Times are surely changing. Managing multiple roles
is of course difficult but, not impossible. It is all about doing the right things at the
right time and meeting everyone’s expectations.
3.4.7.10. MOTIVATING WOMEN EMPLOYEES
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Motivation is a state of the mind when they have a strong desire to do certain
things. Motivated employees put in their best and produce excellent results. It is
important that employers identify and use the right motivational technique based on
the employees’ personality traits. Moreover, some recent researches indicate that
female employees do not always get motivated by using the same tactics as their male
counterparts.
It is the responsibility of the HR professionals to understand the psychology of
the workforce before implementing any motivational strategy in the organization. A
female executive working in the IT sector with long working hours and pressure from
the home front, get completely drained at the end of the day. They are on the verge of
quitting their job. The company should realize their difficulties and offer them the
option of working from home for three days a week. They would be much more
motivated by this gesture. It is a fact that a motivated employee sticks to the
organization, thereby reducing the rate of attrition. Males and females vary in their
needs. Hence, the techniques used to motivate male employees may or may not work
in case of female employees.
While promotions, salary, insurance benefits, career development,
opportunities for further education are primary considerations for men, women get
motivated by family friendly policies like flexi time or work from home option (in
addition to the above mentioned techniques). Women are traditionally family oriented
and are more emotional than men. They sometimes have a feeling of being ignored at
home and work. Taking this into consideration if you simply present a flower bouquet
or gift vouchers on special occasions or send an e-mail wishing them on birthday, it
will have a great impact on her.
Ensuring workplace security and safe mode of commuting also helps motivate
the female workforce. This holds true particularly for media professionals or those
working in BPOs or the hospitality sector because they have to work in night shifts.
Motivation is the key to creating a high performance workplace. It is all about making
their organization a fun place to work so that the highest quality results are delivered.
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3.4.7.11. ADAM OR EVE - AT THE WORK PLACE
There has been a steady rise in the number of working women in India.
Whether it is literature, business, politics, IT, or media female employees are no
longer a rare species in any of these spheres.
But the fact remains that these women, no matter what position they hold, they
still have to confront with their male counterparts at the workplace. In order to sail
smoothly in a man friendly corporate world, it is important that women deal with the
situation tactfully without blaming their biological status.
Although times are changing even today, some men have ego problems with
women sharing the same workplace as them. There has also been a perception that for
a female employee, a job is just a time pass, after all they do not need to support a
family! It is the responsibility of the women executives to resolve such issues either
with the help of their female colleagues or those male colleagues who are supportive
enough. They must develop a positive mindset and never suffer from an inferiority
complex because they belong to the fairer sex. Being themselves and not just a
woman, leaving all their inhibitions behind would put them on equal footing with
men.
In fact, every women whether working or otherwise has a lot of strengths
which can be used to their advantage. It is good to put forward their viewpoints in an
assertive and confident manner. If they are justified in what they are saying it will be
appreciated for sure irrespective of whether they are male or female. It is a universal
truth that women are more emotional than men. In spite of this, they should, never
let others take advantage of them by exploiting them emotionally. They should not
ask for any favors or expect special treatment from anybody just because they are
women.
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Any personal differences fostered by men against women or vice- versa
should be kept aside in the interest of the organization. In the workplace, people
should judge each other by their performance and professionalism only. Cooperation
and not confrontation should be the buzzword in the corporate world. After all gender
conflict will ultimately hurt the progress of the organization in the long run.
3.4.7.12 WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Times have changed. From the time the husband earned, and the wife stayed at
home, to the time now when the husband earns and the wife earns too. But, the wife
still cooks, washes and runs the house. So, it becomes difficult for her to balance work
life and home. Often, working women drop out of the work force when they are
doing well, simply because they wanted to stay at home with their children, or care
for an ageing parent, or for both reasons.
And then there are women who have children later in life because they want to
work for reasons of personal satisfaction or for the money. Experts believe that the
key to personal work-life balance lies in time management and realistic expectations.
The working women should refuse to take on too much. They should adopt a sense of
priorities.
If they have children, they should teach them to share responsibilities. But the
same is not applicable for their spouse. Surprisingly, a survey in the UK revealed that
a majority of men want a 50/50 partnership with their wives both at work and home.
They no longer see themselves as macho men. They want to spend more time with
their children. Has the Indian man kept a pace with the times? Can you achieve a
work-life balance? It’s a high level question, difficult to answer in this male
dominated country.
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3.4.7.13 WOMEN AS BOSSES
Women today have moved out of their homes and are occupying prestigious
positions in the corporate world. Names like Indra Nooyi, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw,
Anu Aga have become role models for one and all. Such achievements present a
promising picture for female employees across sectors. Women are more sincere and
detail oriented. They are also more accessible, understanding and compassionate. This
perhaps comes naturally to them. They can make people feel at home easily. When
employees are relaxed and comfortable they can carry out their duties efficiently. Men
on the other hand have a laid back attitude and are more assertive.
However, in Indian society we cannot really afford to write off male bosses
because it is they who have been ruling the corporate world from time immemorial. It
has been only in recent years that more and more women are coming to power. There
has been a lot of debate on whether men are better leaders than women or vice versa.
In fact this whole business of managing or leading is perhaps not gender dependent.
How effective one is as a boss depends entirely on one’s competence and not
on the gender. Moreover, it becomes important that one should not suffer from an
inferiority complex, working under a female boss. If women are occupying a superior
position today it is the result of their hard work and they deserve it. Everyone should
respect them and not dump them as good for nothing. There should never be any
issues accepting a female boss. This attitude is indeed a positive sign for women in
the corporate world.
The argument regarding which gender scores better as a boss still continue. A
woman does have certain limitations, but the fact is that they are no less as a leader
than their male counterpart. How well one performs as a boss perhaps depends on
one’s personality and not on the biological status that one belongs to.
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3.4.8. INDIAN WOMEN IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
1.Akila Krishnakumar
Head of India for SunGard Technology Services
Akila Krishnakumar is the chief operating officer and the country head of
India for SunGard Technology Services. She plays a central role in managing
SunGard’s global product delivery model, working with more than 60 SunGard
business units across the globe. Ms. Krishnakumar began her career with Wipro in
customer support and application development before moving on to manage the
regional professional services for ICL-Fujitsu with focus on ERP and banking
solutions.
She joined SunGard in 2004 following the acquisition of an Indian product
development center, a business she helped to start in 1993. During this period, Ms.
Krishnakumar has built and led product development teams in banking, higher
education and the public sector.
Ms. Krishnakumar has extensive experience managing global product
development, where a key success factor is balancing the physical constraints of
globally dispersed teams with the need to bring development teams as close to the
customer and the market as possible to continually improve customer satisfaction. Ms.
Krishnakumar frequently speaks at industry forums about the IT services industry and
emerging market needs. She is widely recognized as one of the top women technology
leaders in India. Akila is much known and appreciated for her inclusive and uniform
gender based policies and strongly believes in the capability of women in the sphere
of technology.
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2.Kalpana Margabandhu
Leads the Web Sphere mission in IBM
Kalpana Margabandhu represents IBM in the CII Women’s Empowerment
Committee. With over 25 years of industry experience, she leads the Web Sphere
mission in IBM India's Software Lab. She strongly believes that for the progress of
women in the technical field should be a global priority. Kalpana is the Chairperson of the award-winning program, Indian Women’s
Leadership Council (IWLC). This program’s concern is not restricted for women to
just take on higher managerial posts but also technical jobs thereby enhancing their
technical, professional and personal development. Margabandhu believes diversity
can only enhance an organisation. With more women and minorities in its
management ranks, she says, the company has sharply increased the amount of
business it has done with a number of small and mid-sized minority and women-
owned companies in the US. She leads Adapters, WPG (WebSphere Partner
Gateway), WDI (WebSphere Data Interchange) and AIM (Application Integration
Management) development in India. Along with being a member of AP Women’s Council, ASEAN Women’s
Council, India Leadership Forum, and WIT (Women in Technology) Executive
Steering Committee. She has done Masters in Engineering from the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore. Hard work, focus on excellence and a positive attitude are
Kalpana's motto for success. She identifies, being accepted as the single largest
challenge to leadership in a predominantly male work environment. Kalpana’s
passion reflects in her words as she says “Though it may take some time, if a woman
has the required competence, and the will to stand up for it, she will be accepted as
the leader…”
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3. Revathy Kasturi
CEO at the Laqsh Job Skills Academy
A dynamic entrepreneur, and successful IT professional. Revathy Kasturi is
the founder and the CEO at the Laqsh Job Skills Academy. She was awarded the
Woman of the Year by Business Today for the year 2001. She has been on the board
of NASSCOM as an Executive Council Member for 6 years. She is also a charter
member of TIE Bangalore and is actively working on Fostering Entrepreneurship
Amongst Women through TIE for Women.
Kasturi started her career at Wipro in 1983 where she rose to become the
Chief Executive - Finance Solutions Division; heading a global software business of
$50 Million with 850 people operating out of 3 Development Centers. She then
founded Tarang Software along with some of her colleagues from Wipro, nurtured
and created a stable venture. She was the president of Tarang Software Technologies,
a global IT services company focused on e-learning and payment systems with 300
employees.
Prior to this Revathi Kasturi was Managing Director Novell - Asia West. Her
responsibilities included developing Novell’s business in India, Singapore, Malaysia
and the rest of South East Asia.
Revathi has over 27 years of experience in the IT Industry and has led
businesses engaged in Enterprise Software Development, Systems Integration,
Customer Support as well as IT hardware. She has intimate knowledge of the Finance
Industry having built and implemented solutions for Securities, Banking and
Insurance segments for well over 14 years. She received her Bachelor's degree in
Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay in 1980.
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Revathi has been a speaker on various subjects related to Technology,
Leadership, and Entrepreneurship at both International as well as local events. While
Kasturi has moved on and is currently the CEO at the Laqsh Job Skills Academy,
Tarang remains a success story that would motivate a lot more women to try their
hands at entrepreneurship.
4. Dr. Nita Goyal
Co-Founder and Vice President of Tavant Technologies
Her strong sense of perseverance is reflected in her achievements, nurturing,
her carefully set goals and ambitions with utmost dedication and honesty. Doctor Nita
Goyal, is the co-founder and vice president of Tavant Technologies. She is also the
first woman to graduate in computer engineering from one of the Indian Institute of
Technology (IITs). She graduated in the year 1987 from IIT Kanpur.
She has an extensive experience in database applications, language design and
application development environments. She has presented papers at numerous
international conferences, published papers in international journals, and contributed
to a popular textbook - "Exploring Artificial Intelligence." Nita has a Ph.D. from
Stanford University in the field of artificial USA.
Tavant, a company offering global IT services and solutions, was born in
2000. Tavant Technologies is a collaborative commerce software solutions company
that enables manufacturers and brand owners to manage, streamline and enhance
multi-level distribution channels. Few years ago, she also developed Social Way, a
website addressing environmental issues by encouraging people to share items, and
suggest the ways to reduce the carbon footprint.
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5. Padmasree Warrior
Motorola - Chief Technology Officer
Padmasree Warrior joined Motorola in 1984, as one of the only few women in
its Arizona facility and she served in a broad range of roles over the course of her
twenty-three years at the company, eventually achieving the position of Chief
Technology Officer in its Semiconductor Products Sector, which became Freescale
Semiconductor. When named Motorola's CTO in January 2003, Warrior became
Motorola’s first female executive and in 2005 she was promoted to executive vice
president.
On December 4, 2007 she left Motorola to become CTO at Cisco Systems.
Padmasree Warrior was born and raised in the city of Vijayawada in the southern state
of Andhra Pradesh, India. She went to school at the Children’s Montessori School and
Maris Stella College in Vijayawada. Warrior received a bachelor’s degree in chemical
engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, from which she was recently
recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award. She holds masters in chemical
engineering from Cornell University and serves as an advisory board member at both
schools. In 2007 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by New York's Polytechnic
University.
6. Srinija Srinivasan
Srinija Srinivasan is vice-president and editor-in-chief of Yahoo Inc. “Ninj” or
“Ninja” as she is known, was recruited by Jerry Yang and David Filo to organize the
content when they started the Internet company. Srinija Srinivasan holds a B.S degree
from Stanford University in Symbolic Systems and passed out with distinction.
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Vice-President and Editor-In-Chief of Yahoo Inc
She conducted course work in Japan and is proficient both in written and
spoken Japanese. Apart from this her professional and academic accomplishments
include summer intensive in Japan as researcher and programmer for Fujitsu
Laboratories. She published research papers in highly-acclaimed journals including
Government Information Quarterly and the Journal of Technology Transfer. Srinija
has appeared in top publications both locally and nationally, including The New York
Times and Fortune, was named one of "The Net 50" by Newsweek, and was selected
as one of the "40 Under 40" by San Francisco Focus for their second-annual brain
trust.
Prior to joining Yahoo! as the company's fifth employee, Srinija Srinivasan
was involved with the Cyc Project, a ten-year artificial intelligence effort to build an
immense database of human commonsense knowledge, via two companies:
Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) and Cycorp. At
Cycorp, Srinivasan independently managed the company's California-based office,
and helped develop the Cyc technology into innovative areas such as database
browsing and integration. Srinija manages Yahoo! Inc's team of Surfers and is
responsible for the design and maintenance of Yahoo!'s overall classification and
organization scheme, the foundation stones of Yahoo's system.
7. Hema Ravichandar
Hema has 27 years of experience as an executive, a consultant and a Strategic
HR Advisor behind her. She was Senior Vice President and Group Head HRD -
Infosys Technologies Ltd. and the Infosys Group, globally until July ’05.She designed
and drove the HR Agenda for Infosys as it scaled up from 250 to 39,000 employees in
the Group. This included leading efforts for screening more than a million resume
annually.
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Senior Vice President and Group Head HRD - Infosys Technologies Ltd.
She has vast experience in Human Resources Development, Change
Management, Leadership & Management Development, Off-shoring HR Processes,
Diversity and Anti- Sexual Harassment Initiatives and Immigration Scenarios. She
Designed and drove large scale HR interventions aimed at Future Proofing the
organization - Broad Banding, Role-based organizational paradigm, Compensation
Restructures, defined and institutionalized HR Business Processes for P-CMM, Six
Sigma and ISO certification and Incubated and led the HR Consulting Group in
Infosys with extensive client interactions specifically in the area of off-shoring HR
Processes – value-added Client Advisory, defining HR processes and mentoring client
HR teams.
Achievements/Milestones:
§ HR Professional of the Year Award – 2005 (2)
§ Outstanding HR Professional of the Year Award – National HRD Network -
2004
§ Lister, 25 Most Powerful Women in India List of Business Today – 2004
§ Lister, Successful Women Professionals of the Year List of Dataquest – 2004
& 2005
§ Lister, 25 Hottest Young Executives of the Year List of Business Today –
2002
§ Led Infosys HR to win : In India & In USA
§ Business Today- Hewitt’s Best Employer of the Year–Ranking#1in
2001&2002
§ Dataquest Best Employer Rankings in 2001 & 2002 and in top 5 2003& 2004
§ Business Today – Mercer Best Companies to Work - Ranking # 2 for 2004
§ Computer World’s Top 100 Companies to Work For – 2003 and 2004
§ ASTD’s Excellence in Practice Citation for Training Interventions
§ Optimas Award for Training Innovation for Progeon
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She is involved in individual social responsibility activities in the area of
nurturing merit among under privileged children and fostering use of senior experts
(www.senior experts.org) and she aspires to stay engaged on emerging HR issues on a
pan industry basis.
8. Shalini Kapoor
Executive-Architect IBM, India.
Shalini is the leader of Mobile Industry solutions at India Research Labs. She
is leading innovations in the area of emerging market solutions, social commerce and
smart planet solutions. Some of her technical innovations have addressed the
grassroots of the Indian population hence she has been the change agent in IBM.As an
Executive architect she has designed solutions for complex integration projects,
catered to several client engagements, provided architectural guidance to repeatable
solutions and led creation of Center of Excellences within several System Integrators
through focused technical programs for them. In her journey at IBM she has
technically led multi-million dollar deals and influenced client decisions in favor of
IBM technologies.
Shalini is the first woman in IBM India to be Senior Certified Architect and
one amongst the only 5 Senior Certified architects in India..She is a Distinguished
Lead Architect, as certified from The Open Group. She is a member of IBM Academy
of Technology and Co chair of IBM Technical Experts Council leading the
Hyderabad chapter. She has received several performance awards and is identified as
Techgen which is the IBM pipeline for Senior technical executives. She is a computer
Science engineer and Masters in Information Systems.
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Shalini indulges herself in creative pursuits including writing and reading
while she is not doing school projects for her 2 sons aged 9 years and 5 years. Her
husband is Executive Director Finance, Dell International. She attributes her success
to the balanced upbringing provided by her parents. She is a self made woman with a
sense of high achievement and positive attitude.
9. Rajani Seshadri
Vice President and Global Head-Telecom Pre-Sales Tata Consultancy Services
Rajani has over 25 years experience in the industry. Her experience in
building the business, delivering large scale transformations, coupled with thought
leadership has enabled her to be a strategic business consultant to CXOs of large
telecommunication companies and enabled them to achieve key business results -
Cost efficiency, Operational excellence and Innovation. Prior to the current
assignment, she led the TCS Telecom Europe Business for three years and in a career
of over 20 years with TCS has played a number of roles in Business Development,
Delivery and Process and Quality.
As a business leader, she builds strong professional connections with key
CXOs and brings a deep understanding of customer needs, strong domain skills and a
sharp focus on solving problems at both, the tactical and strategic levels. An advocate
of quality, she has been instrumental in institutionalizing policies and frameworks,
positively influencing TCS’s process excellence journey and enabling simplification
of its governance models. She has spearheaded the SEI-CMM, TL 9000 and Business
Excellence initiatives contributing substantially to transforming the telecoms business
for TCS. She is also an architect of TCS’s People Practices formalized when the
company was assessed at Level 5 of the SEI-People CMM model.
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As an active coach over the past ten years, she has groomed many young
leaders, who now lead businesses within TCS. As the MMA Outstanding Woman
Manager of the Year in 2004, she is often invited to speak at events that seek to
encourage women leaders both within the company and in external forums, on topics
ranging from telecom, leadership, women empowerment and diversity. She is a
member of the CII National and Regional Committees on Women Empowerment.
10. Revathy Ashok
Revathy Ashok has had successful leadership experience of over three decades
spanning variety of industries - Private Equity, software and IT enabled services,
manufacturing, infrastructure and real estate, international trading organizations in
senior management positions handling wide variety of portfolios, namely, raising
capital, business development, finance, commercial and other strategic general
management functions. She has experience in managing publicly listed and venture
funded entities, subsidiaries of Global MNCs and joint ventures of which last four
years were spent in real estate private equity. She has extensive experience joint
venture negotiations, structuring, equity financing, syndicated debt and investor
relations.
With her experience in helping set up companies from scratch and growing
them to scale, Revathy has a strong passion for working with emerging companies
and the start up eco systems. She frequently mentors entrepreneurs on their start up
ventures and has her own consulting practice. She is an active member of the Indian
Angel Network and has so far made four investments and is also currently involved in
helping IAN set up an incubator. As Managing Director, Head – Finance of Tishman
Speyer India, a large US based Real Estate Private Equity Fund with USD 53 Bn
assets under management she helped set up their operations in India and oversaw the
investments in excess of USD 150 Mn over four years.
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During her tenure with Syntel and the Microland Group as Group CFO
responsible for all their financial activities across the globe, she has dealt with leading
international and domestic financial investors and has successfully raised capital from
marquee investors. As Director Finance and Business Development, she was
responsible for setting up Tyco Electronics (erstwhile AMP) in India and played a key
role in the growth and financial success of the Group over the years being part of the
Top Management team responsible for providing strategic direction for the Group’s
rapid growth and expansion in India and was responsible for setting up two Joint
Ventures for the group, a wholly owned subsidiary in the Middle East and integrating
Tyco’s worldwide acquisitions in India.
Revathy has held several senior Board and Advisory positions. She is
currently an independent member on the Board of Welspun India, on the advisory
Boards of start ups and an honorary member on the board of Academy of Theater
Arts. She is a Charter Member, Secretary and Member of the TiE Governing Council,
Bangalore and a Member of the CII SPECIAL INITIATIVE ON CHAMPIONS
NETWORK working to establish linkages between large corporate and the high
potential entrepreneurial eco system.
In 2005, she was named as one of the 10 most powerful women in the Indian
IT industry by Dataquest. Revathy is a speaker at several industrial forums including
lectures at the Indian Institute of Management and other institutes. She earned a
bachelor’s degree in science from Mount Carmel College and is a gold medalist from
the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. She wants to use the tremendous
wealth and breadth of leadership and management experience behind her to
strengthen the start up , early stage eco system that would help create the next
generation leaders. Revathi wants to give back to society in the areas of education,
skills development and women’s empowerment.
3.5. CAREER AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
In addition to helping people acquire job-related knowledge, skills, and
abilities, employers have a stake in helping employees develop from both career and
personal perspectives.
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Career: While most people think the term career means “advancement” in an
organization, a broader view of career defines it as an “individually perceived
sequence of attitudes and behaviors associated with work-related activities and
experiences over the span of a person’s life.
Career development: A career development system is a formal, organized, planned
effort to achieve a balance between individual career needs and organizational
workforce requirements. For example, the organization has certain needs for staffing
and employees have needs to effectively utilize their personal skills.
Career development practices are designed to enhance the career satisfaction
of employees and to improve organizational effectiveness. It may be difficult,
however, to completely integrate individual and organizational career efforts because
the rate at which an individual grows and develops may not be parallel to an
organization’s needs. For example, many of the baby boomers in the workforce are
interested in advancing their present positions, yet are finding those positions to be
scarcer given the thinning out of management jobs in organizations due to
downsizings. With all of the recent changes in organizations (e.g., downsizings,
mergers, divestitures), it has become even more important to try to integrate the needs
of the employers with those of the employees.
Career development in an organization requires an examination of two
processes: career planning - how individuals plan and implement their own career
goals and career management - how organizations design and implement their career
development programs.
Career planning: Career planning is a deliberate attempt by an individual to become
more aware of his or her own skills, interests, values, opportunities, constraints,
choices, and consequences. It involves identifying career-related goals and
establishing plans for achieving those goals.
Career management: Career management is considered to be an organizational
process that involves preparing, implementing, and monitoring career plans
undertaken by an individual alone or within the organization’s career systems.
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3.5.1. CAREER STAGES AND CAREER MOVEMENT
• Pre-entry and entry. The interview process, becoming acquainted with the
organization and being pre-socialized into it.
• Basic training and initiation. Going through whatever probationary period
and rites of inclusion that mark new membership in the group.
• First regular assignment. A critical time for the new member. Success here
will be crucial for later success. The individual is made to learn the “ropes”.
• Second assignment. This point miffs the fully accepted member. Granting of
tenure. The individualist is made a “permanent” member.
• Termination and exit. Any rites of passage from inside to outside the
organization occur at this stage.
• Post-exit The individual is no longer a part of the organization.
Besides passage through these stages, Stein considered three types of career
movement. A person could move in the vertical direction, up and down the hierarchy.
The second type of career movement is lateral, that is, movement across the functions
performed within the organization-for example sales, marketing, and production.
Many job rotation plans provide this lateral movement in preparation for future
movement either vertically or radically. Radial movement, the third type of career
movement, occurs when the person becomes more or less on the “inside” of the
organization. While vertical career movement is “up and down” the organization’s
hierarchy, and lateral movement is “ side to side” across one level of the hierarchy,
radial movement is “from out to in” or “from in to out.”
The person moving radically inward is becoming more of an organizational
“insider,” moving closer to those that have organizational power. Radial movement
may be combined with vertical career movement as an organizational member
becomes one of the dominant coalition or ruling elite. The recently developed First
Nations Career/Life Planning Model offers practitioners a culturally appropriate
model for career counseling with First Nations youth. Originated by McCormick and
Amundson (1997), preliminary research has shown that the experience of the model is
congruent with First Nations worldview and values as well as provides an insightful
and motivating experience for youth participants (Neumann,McCormick, Amundson,
& McLean, in press).
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3.5.2. IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING CAREER DEVELOPMENT:
Today’s competitive business environment has forced organizations to
restructure and downsize, resulting in fewer hierarchical levels and traditional
promotional opportunities for employees. At the same time, there is increased
pressure to improve productivity at the risk of falling prey to larger corporations. The
creation of new technologies requires individuals to update their skills or else they
become outdated. A number of organizational change initiatives could have
unintended and undesired consequences for individuals. These include the following:
• Downsizing - jobs are cut from the organization.
• Delayering - jobs are reclassified more broadly, yet old reporting lines exist
to maintain managerial control.
• Decentralizing - responsibilities are reassigned from the corporate centralized
function to functions in each location or at lower levels.
• Reorganizations - company may be refocusing around core competencies.
• Cost-reduction strategies - the same work is dine with fewer resources.
• IT innovations - how the work is done is altered due to advances in
information technology.
• Competency measurement - skill sets required of employees are redefined or
measured in different ways.
• Performance –related pay - pay is linked to performance and used as a
motivator.
The Coca-Cola and Ford career systems require training for all managers in
how to conduct career development discussions with employees in the context of a
performance appraisal. The intent is to make managers more accountable for the
development of their employees.
3.5.3 CAREER ANCHORS
In addition to these stages, another concept that can help people understand
their jobs is that of career anchors (Schein, 1975). Career anchors are distinct patterns
of self-perceived talents and abilities, motives and needs, and aptitudes and values
that guide and stabilize a person’s career after several years of real-world experience
and feedback.
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Just as boats put down anchors to keep them from drifting too far, people put
down anchors to stabilize their career decisions and keep them within constraints. As
people reach their late-twenties and thirties, they have to begin making decisions
about which jobs to pursue and how to balance personal and work life. To avoid
erratic or random decisions, they develop these career anchors. If they sense that a job
or job situation is not consistent with their talents, needs, and values, their anchor will
pull them back into situations that are more congruent with their self-image. Research
has identified five specific patterns of anchors (Robbins, 1993) as follows:
• Technical/Functional competence: This anchor focuses on the actual content
of a person’s work. An integrating set of forces that describes an individual
who enjoys being an expert or specialist in a specific area of knowledge.
Someone with an accounting degree might find jobs outside of accounting as a
challenging one, yet inconsistent with his/her basic occupational self-concept.
• Managerial Competence: An integrating set of forces that describes an
individual who chooses to influence, guide and develop others. This anchor
emphasizes holding and exercising managerial responsibility. These people
seek situations where they can be analytical, and can utilize their interpersonal
skills, and exercise power.
• Warrior/Adventurer: An integrating set of forces that describes an
individual, who craves for variety in tasks and activities, prefers adventure,
and enjoys serving as a corporate “trouble-shooter”. These people are driven
by an overarching desire to create something that is entirely of their own
making. For creativity-anchored people, starting a new business, working in a
research laboratory, being a major player on a new project’s team, and
indulging in similar activities are important to their self-worth.
• Entrepreneur/Creative: An integrating set of forces that describes an
individual who prefers to be creative, innovative and challenged.
• Autonomy: An integrating set of forces that describes an individual who
prefers remaining free from corporate constraints, and also flexible and
autonomous.
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The overriding factor for some people in career decisions is to
maintain their liberty. They seek to minimize organizational constraints. These
people, not surprisingly, prefer small, organic types of organizations to work.
• Security: An integrating set of forces that describes an individual who is
concerned about the future and wants to create a lifestyle or a set of
circumstances to assure his/her finance or geographic concerns. For some
people, a key factor in career decision-making is work stability. A new
position with great opportunities and challenges but little job security would
be incongruent with these people’s needs. They prefer job and organizational
stability, employment contracts, good employment benefits, attractive pension
plans, and the like.
Thus, career anchor-perspective has both selection and motivational
implications. It can explain why dramatic changes in career focus are so
difficult for people to make. They require a great effort and are not likely to
occur very frequently. The perspective also explains why individuals may
have very different reactions to similar jobs. Any understanding of how job
characteristic will affect an individual who has to consider the dynamic
relationships between the job’s task attributes and the career anchors of the
person in that job.
3.5.4. STEPS IN CAREER PLANNING
• Building career paths (or ladders) for each category of employees. For
example: Software Engineer - Senior software engineer - Technical Leader –
Manager – Director - Senior Director - Corporate VP – CEO. These charts
should clearly mention: The job description – based competencies needed for
each post. The basis of advancement – whether time – bound or ‘as and when
vacancies arise’ or ‘seniority – cum-merit’. Fast track, if any, meant for
excellent performers.
• Preparing a manpower plan showing the nature of positions at different
levels, the type of people manning those positions and future replacement
needs.
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• Identifying employees (through performance and potential appraisals) who
have the necessary ability and willingness to climb up the ladder. For this
purpose, employees may be classified into four categories. Learners are those
employees who have high promotability but low performance at present.
Participants of training programs and recently promoted managers who have
not yet fully learned their new jobs are common members of this category.
Stars are those employees who are high both in performance and promotability.
Solid citizens are persons who though high in their current performance are low
in promotability.
i. Their low promotability may be either due to personal reasons or due to
organizational reasons. Among personal reasons one may include the
employee’s lack of ability or desire to move to a higher position or the lack
of skill in organizational politics.
ii. Organizational reasons may include: availability of fewer jobs at higher
levels, preference for outsiders, necessity to retain an individual on his
present post, and so on. Deadwoods are those employees who are low on
both the scales.
iii. It should be noted that out of the four categories, employees in the first two
categories (i.e., learners and stars) are on an upward track, while employees
in the last two categories (i.e. solid citizens and deadwoods) have reached
career plateaus, i.e. points where the likelihood of additional hierarchical
promotions is very low.
• Exposing employees to different functions and roles to enable them to
choose a career of their interest befitting their skill and competence. Exposure
should be coupled with counseling to help those employees who are unable to
make choice independently.
• Formulating and implementing training and development plans to impart
training to motivated employees interested in their advancement (i.e., learners
and stars).
• Periodically reviewing the career plan by finding answers to the following
questions: Are the job descriptions proper? Are the future manpower
projections valid? Are the training programs enabling employees to climb up
their career ladders? Has any square peg been put in a round hole?
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3.5.5. ADVANTAGES OF CAREER PLANNING
It creates awareness in the employee about the different paths of advancement
available to them. It convinces the employee that in order to advance one must
develop himself or herself in the required manner and that they cannot advance
merely by luck or through connections. It assures the employee about the
organization's concern for them and increases their loyalty. It reduces labour turnover.
The employees are encouraged to remain in the organization. It improves
organization’s image in the labour market. It reduces dependence on external sources
of recruitment.
3.5.6 FOUR COMPETENCIES IN CAREER MANAGEMENT
Career management assumed new dimension in the current scenario of
downsizing and flat organizational structure. The successful self-career management
supported by the organization requires four competencies.
• Optimizing career prospects. This competence involves the ability to envision
future opportunities, and having determined broadly defined goals, to create and
make one's own chances. It represents a form of well-considered opportunism. To
undertake optimizing process successfully, a particular set of skills and behaviour
needs to be brought into play. These skills include :
i. The ability to take a goal directed approach to career planning,
ii. To anticipate future business and life changes,
iii. To promote one’s own career interests,
iv. Making use of formally assigned or informal mentors,
v. Projecting a positive self-image by gaining attention for one’s achievements
and
vi. Working alongside the staff who are seen as high performers.
• Career planning - plying to your strengths. In career planning of employees, four
steps are involved viz.,
i. Review how far their work is using their skills and satisfying their needs and
interests.
ii. Identify their own development needs and what is required for effective
performance,
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iii. Obtain data from the experience of mentors, partners and other work
colleagues and
iv. Anticipate future changes and prepare for job opportunities that might arise.
• Engaging in personal development. Employers are no longer able to guarantee
lifelong continuity of employment or upward career progression. Therefore, more
attention is to be paid to personal development rather than career development alone.
• Balancing work and non-work. The concern to balance work and non-work is
clearly a function of career stage. Being able to define one’s own work priorities and
maintain one’s motivation in the absence of externally defined checks on
performance become increasingly important. The issue of balancing work and non-
work is problematic because of the competing demands of work and personal life.
The competence to balance work and non-work is required by all those in the
workplace because the relationship between the two is never static, but ever
changing.
3.5.7 THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Career development program involves three main ingredients: (1) assessing
employees in assessing their own internal career needs, (2) developing and
publicizing available career opportunities in the organization, and (3) aligning
employee needs and abilities with career opportunities.
• Career need assessment: A person’s career is a highly personal and
extremely important element of life. The basic stance of the organization
should be to permit each person to make her or his own decision in this regard.
The role of the personnel manager is to assist in this decision-making process
by providing as much information as possible about the employee to the
employer.
• Career opportunities: Realizing that employees have definite career needs,
there naturally follows the obligation of charting specific career paths through
the organization. Low-ceiling jobs, where there are limited opportunities for
significant progression, should be identified and made known to possible
applicants. Employees heavily affected by the “security career anchor” may
find these jobs to be highly acceptable.
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• Need-opportunity alignment: when employees have accurately assessed
their career needs and have become aware of organizational career
opportunities, the remaining problem is one of alignment. Greater emphasis
should be given to the more individualized development techniques such as
special assignments, planned position rotation, and supervisory coaching.
Special attention should be allocated to career progress and counseling. It will
be recalled that modern MBO programs incorporate personal development
objectives in addition to the more basic work objective.
3.5.8. DEVELOPMENT AS A SUCCESSION – MANAGEMENT TOOL
Many companies in the United States are experiencing or are about to
experience a shortage of top-level talent. One of the contributors to this growing
problem is the demographic makeup of the country. The second factor stems from
today’s highly competitive business environment:
The greater leadership demands being placed on senior executives now than in
the past is leaving a declining number of managers who have the capability to assume
true executive roles. To meet this challenge, it is likely that more emphasis will need
to be placed on growing internal talent. This means more of an emphasis on
succession planning, the creation of high-potential talent pools, and the accelerated
development of these high-potential employees.
3.5.9 EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND CAREER SYSTEM
Since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, considerable time, effort,
litigation and financial resources have been devoted to creating equal opportunity to
members of what is now a very diverse labor market. Many equal employment
opportunity (EEO) laws have been enacted during this period. But beyond removing
artificial barriers to employment opportunities, firms can use high-quality career
management and assessment systems to enhance equal opportunity for all employees.
In firms with a variety of career management and assessment systems, all
employees, including women and minority group members, have access to
opportunities to enhance their careers and attain outcomes such as senior management
status and the accompanying compensation. They are more likely to have
opportunities that are equivalent to the opportunities provided to males.
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3.5.10. ESSENTIAL SKILLS REQUIRED FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT
3.5.10.1. Effective Leadership--An IT Perspective
"You can't teach what you don't know, and you can't lead where you won't go"
Today's education world is information and communication intensive, and
Information Technology (IT) professionals need to be empowered with the
knowledge, skills, and abilities that technology offers. Even with the enormous
potential and academic advantages that innovation and improvement of
communications afford, without the direct participation and support of an institution's
leadership, this power cannot be pushed to its full potential. IT leadership requires not
only many of the characteristics common to all leaders, but also requires special
abilities and insights into technology's impact.
According to Retired General Colin Powell (1996), leadership in the new
millennium will be essentially the same as that of Thomas Jefferson, George
Washington, or other great leaders of yesterday-it will require that people have a
vision of where they want to lead, how to choose the right people, and how to
accomplish objectives that flow from visions. Powell goes on to state the one major
difference affecting leaders of the 21st Century - the transformation occurring in our
nation's industrial, political, societal, and economic realms.
Accordingly, this transformation is occurring due to the fast-paced and
globally centered information and technology revolution. All leaders positioned
within this new era must be able to use the powerful tools offered by this global
revolution.
3.5.10.1.1 An Emerging IT Leadership Paradigm
Some people see the leader as a motivator, while others define a leader as one
having extraordinary vision and decision-making power. Several noted authors in the
field offer sound definitions of leadership. Senge (1990) defines leadership in this
manner: Leaders are designers, stewards and teachers. They are responsible for
building organizations where people continually expand their capabilities to
understand complexities, clarify vision and improve shared mental models--that is,
they are responsible for learning.
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Dede (1993) states that the true nature of leadership is exemplified by four
attributes: envisioning opportunities; displacing cherished misconceptions; inspiring
others to act on faith; and encouraging followers. Cronin (1989) presents a list of
important leadership qualities: intelligence, wisdom, judgment, self-confidence, etc.,
The National School Boards' Association (NBSA) (1998), stresses that the IT leader
must foresee leadership ability in others, as technology mentorship has become
increasingly important.
Dubrin (1997) defines leadership as the "key dynamic force that motivates and
coordinates the organization in the accomplishment of its objectives". Dubrin further
states that leading is an art that is influenced by example or persuasion to effect
action. Bennis and Nanus (1985) argue that leadership is "the pivotal force behind
successful organizations" in developing a new vision. White (1997) states that the
most effective future leaders will build upon the skills of the past and present. White
adds that to successfully lead others in the midst of constantly changing
environments, leaders need to capitalize on the best strengths of past leaders, while
staying flexible to explore unexpected byways, and taking calculated risks. IT leaders
will be learners who constantly test themselves, because learning is a pivotal force
and the gateway to survival for the future.
The changing nature of the workforce, one that is increasingly diverse and
facing new issues such as downsizing and declining corporate loyalty, requires a new
type of leader--one who can unite a nation lacking confidence and one who can
become flexible and mindful of the constraints of living in an increasingly borderless
environment brought about by advanced telecommunications.
According to Capowski (1994), leadership for the IT era must focus on
encouraging and sustaining corporate nurturing and provide an atmosphere where
innovation is encouraged and creativity is rewarded.
A view of leadership offered by Burns (1978) argues that leadership is better
understood as a political relationship emerging from the "chaotic, reciprocal
interaction among people with potentially conflicting goals, values and ideals" --all of
which impact the new technological era in which we are immersed. Thus, IT leaders
should focus on ways that organizational structures and systems, human nature, moral
order, value development, effects of personal choice, and personal similarities and
differences have upon ability to effect change.
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A new definition of leadership, stressed by White (1997), is that effective
leaders will identify productive areas of confusion and uncertainty that exist in
society, will demonstrate that they do not have all the answers but are willing to learn,
and will be able to "act differently, think differently, and seek inspiration from
different sources" than leaders of the past. A combination of inherited leadership traits
combined with effective leadership training, deep insight into new technological tools
and advancements and their impact on the future, strong corporate nurturing, and
repeated practice could yield the best result--a well-rounded, skilled, and instinctive
IT leader.
3.5.10.1.2. Essential Qualities of the Effective IT Leader
In describing the qualities of an effective leader, Winters (1997) admonishes
that organizations are in need of "bold, visionary and spiritually-grounded leaders
who are prepared for the challenges of the 21st century" (p. 1). Among a list of
desirable traits, she characterizes a leader as being one who has the audacity to take a
stand on the unpopular or unheard of, takes a creative position for the well-being of
his/her team, empowers others to become a part of a vision, and exhibits the faith and
stamina to effect a change simply because it is right. An effective leader is a model
for the rest of the organization: i.e. a "self-achiever" whom everybody admires, an
innovator and an early-adopter of IT.
Leaders must be able to cope with complex technological change in their
organizations (Kotter, 1993). Kearsley and Lynch (1994) admonish that general
leadership skills are not sufficient in IT enriched environments. They state that
"specific technology-related knowledge is required" , and it must directly relate to the
tools, medium, strategies, and competencies found within this culture. Not only must
the IT leader possess the competencies to use and evaluate these tools, but he/she
must also have the insight into the impact these tools will have on the future of
organizations. Horgan (1998) stresses the ability to develop a shared vision for
technology within an organization. Kinnaman (1996) further admonishes that IT
professionals must be "empowered and expected to investigate the enormous potential
of technology" to bring about innovation and improvement with direct participation
and support of an institution's administration.
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Alter (1999) and Avant (1996) stress that today's IT leader must possess
analytical and listening skills as true listening involves insight into what will work
today, tomorrow, and in the future. The IT leader must take the initiative to try new
methods without fear of failure--an enormous task facing the IT leader when deciding
on solutions to technology-related issues within their scope of influence.
According to McAdams (1997), agility to succeed in a rapidly changing world
requires cooperation, organization, enrichment of ideals, and strong commitment to
change-all important skills that the systems-level thinking IT leader would do well to
adopt.
According to the current literature, IT leaders for the new millennium--a world
of vast technological advancements and high tech tools--should possess the following
characteristics:
• VISION--a knowledge of the future and how to get there (Powell, 1996)
• INTEGRITY--absolute dedication to doing what is right (McAdams, 1997)
• TRUST--ability to nurture the "leader" in others (Dede, 1993)
• SELFLESSNESS--an idea that their existence is to serve their followers
(NSBA, 1999)
• COMMITMENT--passion as seen through caring, concern, and building
perpetuation (Horgan, 1998)
• CREATIVITY--seeing the world as a series of opportunities with fewer
barriers than possibilities (White, 1997)
• OPEN-MINDEDNESS--always ready to try new ways of doing things (Kotter,
1993)
• TOUGHNESS--knowing in their heart-of-hearts what is needed and
demanding that it be done (Cronin, 1989)
• ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE--keeping abreast of what's going on--
connected (Elgin & LeDrew, 1999)
• ABILITY TO LISTEN--knowing how to keep quiet yet informed (Alter,
1999)
• CALCULATED RISK-TAKING--open to possibilities, questioning
assumptions and taking a stand (Capowski, 1994)
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• INNOVATIVE--without fear of failure (Avant, 1996)
• VISIBILITY--a sense of community (Fitzgerald, 1996)
• INQUISITIVENESS-constant questioning and probing for answers
(Rosenbach and Taylor, 1993)
• INTUITION-possesses new insights and different perspectives (Bennis and
Nanus, 1985)
• ACTION-ORIENTATION--willing to do something for the good of the
organization (Kinnaman, 1996)
• CANDIDNESS--ability to be forthright yet still have compassion and empathy
(Winters, 1997)
• TENACIOUSNESS--inability to give up or let others do so (Lambert, 1998)
• ABILITY TO NETWORK-a team builder (Wunsch, 1992)
The IT leader must be a self-achiever and should be motivated to become a
proactive leader and role model. Changes in technology often produce a "chaos
situation" where change management in the use of instructional technology in
teaching and learning becomes increasingly important (Fitzgerald, 1998). The IT
leader must be ready to embrace that change.
The field of IT leadership will be of extreme importance in the new
millennium as technology (equipment, software, hardware, and infrastructure)
continues to advance rapidly and change becomes imperative. The importance of 21st
Century IT leadership can best be summed up by Fitzgerald (1998) in the following
passage from Living on the Edge: Complex events, and chaotic developments and
trends in our modern world are confronting business leaders with a compelling
mandate for change of unprecedented proportions. And not just any old change will
do...In this world of turbulence and flux, no change short of profound transformation
will suffice. It seems certain that the "new realities" of chaos, complexity, and
discontinuous change are here to stay.
Globalization, fierce competition, the remarkably diverse workforce, the
continuing explosion of information and technology, economic and social upheaval
are only a few of a plethora of signals from the marketplace we must begin to heed.
The message is clear: If survival is the aim, change is the game-change not only in
how our work gets done, but in how we think about our work, our enterprises,
ourselves and our lives.
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3.5.10.2. STRESS
In our observation, stress is a self developed pain by thoughts. When a person
expects more than what he actually deserves for his work, or when a person thinks it
is beyond his capability, and still continues to do it, he gets a mental illness. This
illness could be stated as stress. There are chances for this stress to break a person,
both, internally and externally, and so, it is wise to adapt ways to handle it, at the right
time. The two main classifications of stress are Eustress and Distress. This
classification is shown clearly in fig 1, below.
• Eustress is a positive stress. It is caused by continuous success and when
expectations become higher. This develops the sense of urgency and alertness
needed for survival when confronting threatening situations. Hence, stress to
hold their position becomes more.
• Distress is a negative stress. It is caused due to disappointments, failures,
threats, embarrassment and other negative experiences. This can result in
distrust, rejection, anger and depression which eventually may turn out to
manifest as headaches, stomach upsets, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood
pressures, etc. And this can have harmful effects over one’s physical, mental
and spiritual health.
3.5.10.2.1. DO’S AND DON’TS TO COME OUT OF STRESS
Do’s:
• Yoga
• Relaxing Exercises
• Cultivate hobbies
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• Alternative solutions
• Adopting problem solving techniques
• Listening to good music of favorite genre
• Spending more time with kids and pets
• Going for a long walk
• Light scented candles
• Curling up with a good book
• Having a conversation with old friends
Don’ts:
• Taking more sugar, chocolates and sweets
• Intake of excess caffeine (coffee), sodas, tea
• Consuming alcohol
• Zoning out for hours in front of the TV or computer
• Taking out your stress on others like lashing out, angry outbursts, physical
violence
• Filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems
• Chewing tobacco, cocaine, heroin and other drugs
• Shopping and gambling sprees
3.5.10.3 MENTORS-THEIR ROLE IN CAREER PLANNING
A mentor is someone older and more experienced, who is willing to provide
career guidance and social support to a younger protege.
The mentor contributes to the development of young managerial talent in the
organization, experiences satisfaction through helping another and through the
protégés career successes, and receives confirmation of his importance and status
from the protégé. The protégé obtains career benefits that may include sponsorship
within the organization, increased exposure and visibility to senior management, help
in receiving challenging assignments, being coached in “learning the ropes” of how to
achieve in the organization, and protection from others in the organization who might
want to harm the protege’s career.
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There are also social support benefits for the protégé. These include the
friendship and counseling of the senior person, a role model to emulate, and the
security of being accepted as an important organizational member. The benefits for a
junior member in an organization are so strong and varied that it would be wise to be
open to developing such a mentor-protégé relationship. But there are potential costs as
well.
First, a typical mentor-protégé relationship goes through the four phases of
initiation, cultivation, separation, and redefinition. The separation phase is one with
potential for conflict as the protégé seeks independence and more equal relationship
with the former mentor.
Second, mentors may have enemies in the organization who dare not confront
the senior person. They may instead attack that person’s protégés who are less able to
defend themselves. Third, potential female protégés confront distinctive mentoring
problems.
These systems rest on the premise that although everyone gets developed, only
a select group qualifies for accelerated development. Because this type of
development is expensive and intense (e.g., it includes “stretch assignments,” expert
feedback and coaching, and special assignments), companies need valid tools for
identifying people who will receive this talent-pool designation. This talent-pool
designation should not offer any presumption of upward mobility – staying in the pool
and subsequent promotions need to be based on performance and achieved
development. Thus, high-quality performance management and appraisal practices
will be needed.
3.5.11. GLASS CEILING
The term glass ceiling refers to situations where the advancement of a person
within the hierarchy of an organization is limited. This limitation is normally based
upon some form of discrimination, most commonly being gender and race. This
situation is referred to as a "ceiling" as there is a limitation blocking upward
advancement, and "glass" (transparent) because the limitation is not immediately
apparent and is normally an unwritten and unofficial policy. The "glass ceiling" is
distinguished from formal barriers to advancement, such as education or experience
requirements.
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3.5.11.1 Breaking the glass ceiling
Ann Morrison and others (1987) determined six lessons for success by
interviewing 76 women and analyzing their experiences. The executive women must
channel her efforts to meet each of these issues.
• Learn the Ropes - It is imperative to listen to others, to network, and to determine the
rules and expectations necessary to your organizational survival.
• Take control of your career - Instead of relying on the system, human resource
professionals, or a mentor, it is necessary that you take control of your own career.
Seek out and ask for the jobs that will lead to the top while avoiding critical career
mistakes.
• Build Confidence - Develop the self-confidence that will allow you to acquire the
confidence of others. It may be necessary to take on risky assignments (and make sure
they succeed) and to become successful at outside activities.
• Rely on others - No one can do the entire job alone. It is important to develop and
use a network of supporters in your career. These include mentors, bosses, and role
models as well as subordinates.
• Go for the Bottom Line - A focus on results will not be wasted. The right actions
must be taken and with good results. While a sole emphasis on performance is not all
that is required to achieve success, it is a strong prerequisite.
• Integrate Life and Work - It can be difficult to compete with others who devote a
majority of their time to work without doing the same.
Sacrifices may be necessary in order to achieve success, with career coming
first and other life responsibilities fitting in to the remaining time.
3.5. GOALS FOR SUCCESS
Success is a measure of how well your achievements match your life and
career goals. There are several important points to consider about success. First, in a
career, how much progress has been made up the hierarchy.
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The person wishing to reach the top must be willing to work extremely hard
and put in long hours, to travel, often be willing to relocate, and sometimes to work
on weekends and in the evenings at home.
They need to be able to supervise others and to relate effectively with client
users. They have to be ready for promotion and effective performance at the new
level means that the new skills needed must be learned before promotion is attained.
3.6. CONCLUSION
Major road block for women who aspire to achieve and succeed in
organizations are the constraints imposed upon them by society, family and women
themselves. These constraints are referred as myths fostered and sustained with
preconceived ideas and unsupported evidence, which generate guilt in women. This
study may also lead to the development of a hierarchy of factors that assist and
barriers that hinder women’s career development. This study also develops an in-
depth understanding of the impact of career development on life changes of women
executives in information technology sector.
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