Title: Growth of Employment and the Adoption of E-Business
Abstract: The findings of the firm-level studies reviewed in Chapter 1 largely relate to developed economies. As there was no prior study carried out in a labour surplus economy such as India, the study examines direct and indirect impact on employment due to production, and the adoption of ICTs in India. The case of India is relevant because the country has made its presence felt in global software production on the one hand, and is facing serious unemployment problems on the other. A long series of data is needed to examine the impact of ICT adoption on employment; however, it is extremely difficult to collect data on workforce16 for a long period of time. Hence, we have used the case study method to address the issue of employment and new technologies adoption, which we have subsequently referred to as e-business technologies in business organizations. Since the effect on employment is expected to be more visible in large firms, we have selected top few firms of skill- and labour-intensive sectors. While investigating the effect on employment, we have also taken into consideration the employment generated by the development of e-business technologies. In this study, we present case studies of the top eight firms in three industrial sectors: e-business technologies-producing (that is, ICT sector), consumer electronics and the garments manufacturing industry. The selection of firms is based on sales turnover in the last five years.