Tata Consultancy Services

Rohit  Deshpande; Seth  Schulman

Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2005 (Revised November 2009)

Tata Consultancy Services

Abstract

As CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), S. "Ram" Ramadorai had grown the company into an emerging IT services powerhouse, with marquee clients such as General Electric, offices in 32 countries, and revenues of nearly $2 billion dollars. Now, he was about to steer TCS through an initial public offering--the largest ever by a private Indian company. Despite his excitement, Ramadorai knew that in some ways the timing of the IPO was not ideal. TCS had profited tremendously from corporate America's willingness to outsource IT and business process functions to overseas providers. But outsourcing had recently come under attack, with some politicians and labor leaders denouncing it as a threat to American jobs and America's economic dominance. In addition, TCS was facing rising labor costs in India and competition from emerging IT industries in East Asia, South America, and elsewhere. How would Ramadorai address these issues to ease investors' concerns on the eve of the IPO?

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Labor; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Consulting Industry; India; United States;

Format: Print

12 pages

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Citation:

Deshpande, Rohit, and Seth Schulman. "Tata Consultancy Services." Harvard Business School Case 505-058, January 2005. (Revised November 2009.)

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