Nishtha Langer

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | RPI · Lally School of Management

T his study examines the role of project managers' (PM) practical intelligence (PI) in the performance of software offshore outsourcing projects. Based on the extant literature, we conceptualize PI for PMs as their capability to resolve project related work problems, given their long-range and short-range goals; PI is targeted at resolving unexpect...

The rapid pace of technological innovation necessitates Information Technology (IT) services firms to continually invest in replenishing the skills of their key asset base, the human capital. We study the impact of human capital investments in the context of the Indian IT services industry, which has experienced double digit growth rates in the las...

Is there a gender bias in promotions at information technology (IT) companies? Do women get an equal lift in their promotion prospects from performance improvements, work experience, and training as men? These are pertinent and important questions affecting today’s IT human capital. We analyze data from a leading IT services firm using robust econo...

Racial bias continues to act as one of the most thought provoking and controversial topics in our society. Even as organizations implement steps and policies to minimize discriminatory practices, evidence of bias in organizational decision-making persists. While much research has been devoted to the study of racial bias in hiring and promotion deci...

The purpose of this panel is to discuss different views on the future of the IT workforce at the heart of our discipline. We will discuss how technological, organizational, and environmental trends will affect the IT workforce. Based on these changes, we explore how IT workforce research need to advance discuss fruitful directions.

This study examines whether women choose to compete with men directly for more complex and therefore riskier IT projects in an online labor market (OLM). A pressing issue for women in IT and for women on OLMs pertains to equal participation by women on these platforms, yet there is an imperfect understanding of whether women compete for OLM project...

The reach and impact of outsourcing has grown rapidly to include a variety of strategic objectives. Significant issues of cooperation and coordination in strategic outsourcing necessitate investments in formal controls that specify and monitor execution of the outsourced task to mitigate unforeseen contingencies and improve predictability in the at...

This paper examines how students' network size, distance, prestige, and connections to influential individuals impact academic performance. Larger and closer networks facilitate information exchange, but may also increase distractions that decrease productivity. We resolve this ambiguity using administrative data from a business school that feature...

The ongoing digitization of multiple industries has drastically reduced the half-life of skills and capabilities acquired by knowledge workers through formal education. Thus, firms are forced to make significant ongoing investments in training their employees to remain competitive. Existing research has not examined the role of training in improvin...

This paper examines the impact of students' network size and distance on academic performance. Larger and closer networks facilitate information exchange and knowledge appropriation, but may also reduce match-specific synergies that decrease productivity. Network data from a business school where students are randomly assigned to multiple overlappi...

The impact of outsourcing has expanded to include a variety of strategic objectives. Unlike transactional outsourcing, where the vendor leverages scale economies to provide standardized services at reduced costs of ownership, client satisfaction in strategic outsourcing is contingent on the extent to which the vendor’ service offering is customized...

The rapid pace of technological innovation necessitates that information technology (IT) services firms continually invest in replenishing the skills of their key asset base, the human capital. We examine whether human capital investments directed toward employee training are effective in improving employee performance. Our rich employee level pane...

Despite many success stories, B2B e-commerce penetration remains low. Many firms introduce electronic channels in addition to their traditional sales channels, but find that buyer usage of the e-channel over time does not keep up with initial expectations. Firms must understand the underlying factors that drive channel usage and how these factors c...

What skills do project managers (PMs) need, and how do these skills impact project success in IT outsourcing? In this study, we seek to identify wha t factors impact IT project outcomes, such as costs and client satisfaction, given the project characterist ics and PM's hard and soft skills. We examine data collected from a field study conducted at...

RFID technology is being widely embraced in the supply chain, by manufacturers, retailers, and logistics firms. Although its advocates include retail giants like Wal-Mart, not everyone is enthusiastic about its benefits. It is not clear whether RFID is a boon or a curse to the supply chain: the growing market size of this technology may just be an...