The Readiness of the Indian IT Manager to Lead Change as the Industry Transforms

Gupta, V (2025) The Readiness of the Indian IT Manager to Lead Change as the Industry Transforms. Dissertation thesis, Indian School of Business.

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Abstract

The global economy has been in a state of disruption brought about mainly by advances in technology. The Indian IT industry is poised to lead this change, given its previous achievement in this area and the country’s young, educated population. However, the cost advantage it has thrived on so far is soon waning due to rising talent costs and automation replacing most routine IT work. This calls for a new set of skills that include both tangible technical skills as well as intangible ones such as critical thinking and decision-making, which are currently in short supply in the Indian IT talent market. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and accelerated this change and raised new talent challenges for Indian IT companies in the form of the necessity to enable remote work quickly, ensure employees wellbeing–both physical and mental–and deal with employees reassessing their what they seek from their employer.
The position of the Indian middle manager in these conditions might seem fragile as organizations try to restructure themselves to meet these challenges but research shows that this layer can play a crucial role in keeping workers motivated and engaged, connecting various layers of management and employees, and offering innovative solutions due to their involvement with day-to-day work. But how can it be enabled to drive and nurture this change and play a key role in it? What changes will these professionals need to make to not only survive this transformation but to lead it?
To study this, I interviewed Indian IT professionals across three levels of management (junior, middle, and senior) and analyzed their interview responses from three different perspectives:
1. Is the Indian IT middle manager’s thinking aligned with the factors that are vital for successful change management?
2. What is the readiness of Indian IT middle management professionals to perform managerial activities in the new normal?
3. How prepared is an individual in Indian IT middle management to work with the organization to lead growth in the new normal?
Based on this qualitative study I show how a mindset shift in middle management can help them lead change in the Indian IT industry that is in a state of constant flux and disruption.

Item Type: Thesis (Dissertation)
Subjects: Leadership
Date Deposited: 06 Oct 2025 16:11
Last Modified: 06 Oct 2025 16:11
URI: https://eprints.exchange.isb.edu/id/eprint/2413

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