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“Thinking Local, Acting Global”: Issues of Identity and Related Tensions in Global Software Organizations in India
Author(s) -
D’Mello Marisa
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the electronic journal of information systems in developing countries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 1681-4835
DOI - 10.1002/j.1681-4835.2005.tb00140.x
Subject(s) - reflexivity , globalization , construct (python library) , identity (music) , individualism , sociology , standardization , public relations , epistemology , political science , social science , law , computer science , philosophy , physics , acoustics , programming language
This article highlights the view that in contemporary society issues related to self and identity are inseparable from the multiple interconnected levels that link the individual with institutions impacted by globalization. Global software organizations (GSOs) are one of the institutions impacted by volatile changes in the global market. IT professionals employed in these institutions and engaged in knowledge‐intensive work are exhorted to ‘think global – act local’. However, the lived local experience of employees is often the reverse. Drawing on an interpretative analysis of empirical data from a case study of a GSO in India, this article uses two tensions to illustrate the dynamics of the global‐local interplay. These are family orientation versus individualism and standardization versus customization. Using the analytic lens of reflexivity, macro‐level dynamics of globalizing influences emerge as linked to micro‐level dynamics of personal dispositions. Thus, in response to market fluctuations, IT workers and GSOs construct and mobilize identity‐related elements in a conscious, capable, and reflexive manner. It is suggested that local particularities and identity‐related constructions cannot be seen as excluded from organizational or global identities, as they both mutually influence each other.