Title: China and India leading a global insurgency within the software industry

Authors: Paul C. Irwin Crookes; John McManus

Addresses: The China Centre, University of Oxford, 74 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HP, UK ' Faculty of Business and Law, Department Business and Finance, University of Lincoln, Room 3214 Bridge House, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK

Abstract: US companies more openly admit the growth of offshore outsourcing to countries like India and China now that presidential elections are over. The rise of India and China as potentially high technology software competitors and important participant in the world's software industry has seemingly come as a surprise to foreign observers. The surprise is often accompanied either by overestimations or underestimations of these countries actual capabilities, rather like foreign reactions to Japan in the 1980s. While there are many important distinctions to be made between the Indian and Chinese cases, they are similar in that the development of software and technological capabilities in both countries has long been a goal of political, administrative, and industrial elites, and both countries have records of policy intent, planning, and resource commitments for meeting that goal. This paper examines some of their competitive strengths and weaknesses and the future market challenges faced by India and China in the next decade.

Keywords: China; USA; United States; India; competition; foreign direct investment; FDI; software industry; offshore outsourcing; software capabilities; technological capabilities.

DOI: 10.1504/GBER.2013.056650

Global Business and Economics Review, 2013 Vol.15 No.4, pp.417 - 431

Published online: 30 Oct 2013 *

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