Strategic Decision Making: The Innovation and Implementation of a New Sourcing Solution

Setting The Stage

The Information Technology (IT) sector in India plays a crucial role in driving growth of the economy in terms of employment, export promotion, revenue generation and standards of living PWC (2011). Many studies assert the changing nature of work, career identities and work-life in the 21st century (Barley, Bechky & Milliken, 2017). The notions of employee engagement, motivation, recognition, nature of careers and the concept of national culture is gradually disappearing as new generations arrive on the scene (Schultz & Schwepker, 2012).

The scenario of absence of a talent bench (Chaturvedi, 2016), less planning around talent and consistent approach to workforce planning (Sablok et al, 2017)is a recurring theme in recent researches. Much of the 2016 Deloitte HR trends (Bersin et al, 2016) reflects these challenges. The report calls for structural changes with a focus on teams along with creation of flexible work arrangements where organizations look for talent from freelancers beyond the boundaries of the firm (Bersin et al. 2016). Hence one of the core objectives of human resources function in the upcoming years would be to establish organizations which are flexible. The means of work to suit flexible organizations would result in job reconfigurations with a mix of short-term and long-term employment contracts (Shelton, 2014). To facilitate the transitions towards flexible work, organizations would utilize the potential reservoirs of capabilities through collaborations. The collaborations with external environment including freelancer workers would ensure a continuous flow of talent through novel and flexible contracts (Willyerd, 2010). Among freelancer nations India is ranked second after the USA (Elance, 2013). With respect to the trend of freelancing growth, India is seventh among the top ten earning nations, with the USA placed first and the Philippines placed second (Upwork, 2014). In matters of the volume of work completed Indian freelancers top the list, though US freelancers achieve the most on terms of earnings as their charges are considerably higher (Menon, 2015).

The information Technology firm XYZ, in India operated in an environment marked by these changes in workforce and working arrangements. Many studies contend that the external environment would influence the structure of an Organization (Donaldson, 2001). Fiedler (1967) in his contingency theory argues that organizations and environments are constantly changing, and there exists a need to monitor environments and analyze information before making decisions. The contingency theory asserts that for an organization to be effective there should be a fit between the structure of the organization and the environment in which the organization operates.

As certain aspects of the Information Technology firm XYZ became tightly coupled, it became difficult to identify the optimal combination of design choices to achieve desired outcomes. As the firm continued its expansion it faced the challenge of grooming and retaining a diversified talent pool. With rising manpower requirement the XYZ firm started hiring non-technical science graduates, though it posed a challenge to groom and bring them on a common platform.