Abstract:
“Information Technology” and “Organization Development” are the two expressions
that rarely seem to appear before us collectively if we observe the Information
Technology (IT) Industry of Pakistan. At national level many reforms have been made by
Government of Pakistan for the uplift, sustainability, growth and development of IT
Sector of Pakistan. It is indeed great to study the fact that national IT sector has
seemingly shown massive improvements as far as fetching Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) is concerned. Ignoring the consequences faced by the IT industry of Pakistan due
to the political set backs, one can see clear and distinct growth in Information
Technology Sector in Pakistan. Despite the fact, that everything seems so positive about
IT sector of Pakistan compared to other industrial setups within Pakistan, the
comparative growth of the IT sector has not been as promising as in other parts of South
Asia despite similar cultural background.
Many studies reveal and focus on the so called core economical, political and
technological factors that are responsible for the low performance of IT sector of
Pakistan with respect to other South Asian economies, but none seem to bring into focus
and discuss the factors responsible for this declined performance at grass root level. Here
the term “grass root level” refers to the factors that are responsible for low productivity,
poor quality, low comparative performance and deprived business management practices
of IT organizations of Pakistan. These grass root level factors may be termed as soft
factors and factors related to Organization Development.
This study argues that Organization Development practices needs enhanced focus for
better organizational performance of IT organization in Pakistan and thereby highlights
the importance of Organization Development framework for the high performance of IT
sector of Pakistan. The study seeks to achieve several interconnected objectives. It
examines the role and requirements of “Organization Development” for IT industry of
Pakistan. It identifies deficiencies, issues and problems that arise due to inadequate focus
of IT organizations of Pakistan on Organization Development methods and techniques
and also presents analysis against all identified loopholes. In addition to this the study
also presents the preferred Organization Development practices (the best practices) and
methods (specially customized for Pakistani IT industry) for Organization Development.
Focus is also laid on deployment methodologies as change management tool which can
be used for practical implementation of the identified best practices and the customized
methods. In summary this study helps to understand the deficiencies in general
organizational setup of IT industry of Pakistan and at the same time assists the IT
entrepreneurs, executives, senior management and policy makers within IT organization
in Pakistan to revitalize their organizations for its long term stability, sustenance and high
performance using Organization Development as a framework. This study can also prove
to be beneficial for all investors within and outside Pakistan who intend to setup IT
based organization in Pakistan. Emphasis is made on policy formulation and its
management, employee behavior and psychology, human resource management, quality,
productivity, process management and change management. All aspects of the study are
presented, analyzed and explored with conscience concern of local culture.