project-driven software business in transilvania - a case study

The fairly low salaries of the IT workers compared to the Western countries, the skills and the location have supported outsourcing become one of the most competitive Romanian sectors. IT sector in Romania maintains a steady growth favoured by outsourcing companies. Moreover Romania is highly competitive when you take into account the level of technical proficiency and soft skills in the country. Romanian labour force can drive relevant projects even in small teams. This case study explores the realty of Romanian IT companies profiles. It presents in comparison two companies bases on organizational and strategic dimensions: project approach orientation, leadership, project value driven, and social responsibility. The corporate goal of the first company presented in the case study - Fortech - is to achieve the best adaptive organizational structure which can sustain its competitive advantage. This advantage results from combination of three main ingredients: scaled up human resource capital, versatile knowledge management and adaptability to customer needs. Fortech manages and administrates and execute their business activities using project management methodologies and practices in order to achieve the strategic goals. On the other hand Dolphin Kiss Company is a “Python boutique agency” created around a single contract and organized on a single project. The project was contracted with a top company from telecommunication industry. The company is a small team of creative software engineers focused on developing a very innovative software business solution. This case study is an empirical qualitative research intended to depict the main differences between two relevant company profiles present in the actual economic context: small team – results oriented – highly skilled VS large structure of outsourcing teams – matrix organized – customer oriented. The case study constructs a space for debates regarding the potential evolution of the IT labour market on the mid and long run: How IT companies can adapt their strategies to global demand? Is outsourcing viable on the long run? can be just few questions for debates and interactive learning.