The Economist this week has an article on the outsourcing boom benefiting Indian companies.
The leading Indian outsourcers reckon that the key to their long-term prosperity is bagging ever larger deals and moving ever higher up the value chain.
To this end, they reckon the cultivation of strong personal connections with client firms at board level will be crucial.
That, as much as chewing over the latest geopolitical hot potatoes, may be what has inspired Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor of Infosys, and Nandan Nilekani, the firm’s chief executive, to head off to the snowy slopes of Davos in the fourth week of January to mingle with the global corporate elite at the World Economic Forum.
Alas, they may find that not many bosses of potential client firms, especially IT companies from America and Europe, will feel able to attend such a high-profile boondoggle, with their business as bad as it is. India’s IT stars are exceptional indeed.
Davos is one route to building those relationships — but, as the article notes, not likely to lead to great success.