TechIn Solutions is an Indian-headquartered consulting and IT (information technology) services multinational company (MNC) with its headquarters in India. It has operations in over 44 countries, an annual turnover of about US$1.13 billion, and more than 32,000 employees.

The organisation has development centres in India, North America, the UAE, the UK, Hungary, Egypt, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. Due to the escalating issues of overdependence on a single market and visa-processing restrictions for IT workers in the USA, the organisation has tried to diversify into new markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.

TechIn started its operations in the late 1980s by capitalising on the fast-growing demand for human resources in the IT sector. By the late 1990s, the company had moved up the quality ladder, offering software consultancy as well as other services. The deep domain-specific needs of its global customers required it to set up subsidiary operations in different countries.

To meet the requirements of the new markets, it also had to send many software professionals to client sites to engage in technical work, onboard support, liaising and securing more business from the clients. Thus, the software professionals sent on international assignments became crucial to the company’s success. However, the turnover rate of IT professionals was very high and costly for TechIn, due to competition with Western and other large Indian IT MNCs. It also delayed client projects, reduced quality and increased costs. Thus, retention of its IT professionals is a critical concern for the organisation and international staffing policies and practices of the company are important.

Senior managers claimed that TechIn adopted a geocentric approach, but more than 85 per cent of the employees at the Australian subsidiary were of Indian origin.

The managers revealed that one of the major staffing challenges they faced in the Australian market was attracting people to work for them in Australia, as they did not have an established brand image here, and this was combined with the liability of the company’s country of origin (the developing country of India). This had meant that they had to bring employees from India to work in Australia and these employees were vital for TechIn success. Thus, one of the main concerns for TechIn was retaining these IT professionals given their expertise and client knowledge.

TechIn also wanted to create an image as a global company and not be identified as an Indian company.

Keeping up with the growing demands of the markets and competition, the Indian senior managers asserted that TechIn was trying to move away from being a hierarchical organisation to adopting a more decentralised structure in which the employees were empowered to act independently and the subsidiary offices were given the autonomy to adopt local HRM practices. However, given that the majority of the staff were of Indian origin, an Australian manager observed that Indian culture influenced the decision-making process and that there were issues with many Indian IT expatriates in relation to communication and misunderstandings caused by lack of cultural and communication knowledge.

So what were the experiences of TechIn’s Indian IT expatriates on international assignments in Australia?

The IT expatriates saw TechIn’s expatriation process as client-driven and their selection for the assignment was usually rushed. The need to respond to clients meant their organisation had no control over when they had to leave for the assignment, with quite a number of them having had less than one week to prepare for the assignment. Expatriation and relocation were difficult, as this did not allow them to attend training sessions or provide them with the opportunity to mentally prepare themselves for the assignment. This they believed, in turn, impacted on their initial days in the host country.

The IT expatriates felt that little was done to prepare them for the host country; technical competence seemed to be the key, so that if there was a request from the client, an available person with the required technical skill set was sent on the assignment regardless of their potential ability to cope with the new context.

One expatriate explained: I felt that the initial phase could have been made better if organisations could have provided proper training and support and the expectations of the assignment were set out properly. It was bad enough with all the other stresses and then, lack of training actually lowered my self-esteem and I felt at a loss in every way.

Ranbir This IT worker, along with many others asserted that it was extremely difficult during the initial stages to adjust due to lack of cultural or country knowledge or understanding of their expectations in the host country.

This had a significant impact on the self-esteem and overall adjustment of most during the assignment. The issues in terms of language, accents, cultural differences and communication made them feel threatened, and sometimes they believed they had reacted in a way that was not acceptable, causing misunderstandings with the host-country managers. The organisation provided very little support in the initial settling-in period. While TechIn provided two weeks’ accommodation, the IT expatriates were expected to find and move into their own accommodation thereafter. The organisation also expected them to start work within a day or two of landing in Australia. This only exacerbated the already difficult transition of moving to a host country.

For the workers going on their first assignment or travelling to Australia for the first time, establishing themselves at the client location and adjusting to a new country, the added pressure of looking for accommodation, opening bank accounts and organising contracts for phones, electricity and the like made it a stressful time for them. One reported:

It was very hard to concentrate on work and do everything. I used to search on the internet for the accommodation … so I just had one day, Saturday, to go and look for accommodation and I did not have the car and so had to walk to the different places from one lane to another, so the maximum you can manage is two houses in one day. And in Sydney, if you do not have rental history, it is quite tough to get accommodation; that was one of the major problems we all faced.

Raj This is an interesting example of how lack of support can impede on the expatriates during the initial months, which can impact on their attitudes towards work. Organisational support was also highlighted as a significant factor contributing to the adjustment of the IT workers in the new environment and lack of support augmented the difficulties in the host country. Most of the respondents talked about how they felt neglected by their organisation. All of these factors caused dissatisfaction among the participants, many of whom considered leaving the organisation should the opportunity arise. The nature of IT work, added to the demands of living and working in a culturally new environment with a lack of preparation and support networks from employers, was found to influence their experiences and commitment to the organization and their intentions to leave the organization.

Question

1 What are the implications for IHRM from the above case?
2 In regards to the literature, what lessons can the IT organisation in this case learn?
3 What issues can you identify in regards to the preparation and support provided to the IT expatriate/s going on an international assignment?
4 Would having enough time to prepare for the assignment resolve the issues that the IT expatriate will experience in the Australia? Or are there bigger issues that need to be considered?