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India's Business Culture
- 1. India’s Culture and Its Impact on Communication Melissa Cenneno Denise Collins Tyler McNee Patricia Voight
- 2. Social Customs, Collectivism & Tolerance for Conflict • • • • • • Meeting etiquette Exchanging business cards and gifts Set aside personal goals Focus on the group Dislike confrontation Relationship building and harmony
- 3. High-Context, Time & Formality • Communication is high-context • Social cues are through people or surroundings • Monochronic (tangible) vs. polychronic (fluid) • Time for meetings, deadlines, and business • Relationships, business etiquette, and dress • Hosting more formalized business practices
- 4. Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity & Future Orientation • Types of Uncertainty Avoidance: • High – more careful, etc. • Low – less careful, etc. • Types of Masculinity: • More • Unmanly • Types of Future orientation: • High – save now, spend later • Low – spend now, save later
- 5. Dress, Gender Roles & Power Distance • • • • • • • Men: Suit & Tie Women: Conservative dresses or pantsuits Use of leather products is offensive Women have low social status Women are less educated than men Modern women with jobs is frowned upon Power distance indicator: 77
Editor's Notes
- We will be discussing India’s culture and its impact on communication. Melissa Cenneno will be discussing social customs, collectivism, and tolerance for conflict. Denise Collins will be discussing high-context, time, and formality. Tyler McNee will be discussing dress, gender roles, and power distance. Patricia Voight will be discussing uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and future orientation.
- When doing business in India, meeting etiquette requires a handshake. However, Indians themselves use the Namaste, where you bring your palms together at your chest and slightly bow your head. Using the Namaste is a sign that you understand Indian etiquette. When entering a meeting room, you should greet the oldest or most senior person first. Meetings should always commence with some conversation. This is part of the 'getting to know you' process. When leaving a group, you should individually bid farewell to each person. Shaking hands is common, especially in large cities where the more educated are accustomed to dealing with westerners. Men may shake hands with other men and women may shake hands with other women, but men and women will rarely shake hands. If you are uncertain, wait for them to extend their hand. When doing business in India, business cards should be exchanged at the first meeting. It’s a good idea to have it translated to Hindi on one side as a sign of respect. Be sure to receive and give with your right hand and make sure the card is put away respectfully and not just pushed into your pocket. Indians believe that giving gifts eases the transition into the next life. It’s not the value of the gift, but the sincerity with which it is given, that is important. Try not to give white flowers as they are used at funerals. Yellow, red, and green are lucky colors, so try to use them to wrap gifts. Gifts are not opened when received. Indians live in a collectivist society where individuals set aside personal goals for the good of the group. India’s people try to not strive for independence or seek individual rights and desires over the group. Indian collectivist preferences are the opposite of the typical American worker. Employees tend to be satisfied with their current position within their team. They may avoid working at a faster pace or at a higher level than others to avoid individual attention. Americans doing business in India should avoid expecting teams to have overachievers, or those looking to take on additional responsibility. Focusing on the group as a whole will be more effective. Indians are non-confrontational. Avoid high-pressure tactics when negotiating and do not be confrontational or forceful. Indian society has an aversion to saying "no" as it is considered rude due to the possibility of causing disappointment or offense. Listen carefully to Indians' responses to your questions. If terms such as "We'll see", "I will try" or "possibly" are used, then the chances are that they are saying 'no'. Decisions are reached by the person with the most authority. Decision making is a slow process. If you lose your temper, you lose face and prove you are unworthy of respect and trust. Indians value relationship building and harmony, so avoid hard selling, pressure tactics, and any sort of conflict or confrontation. Do not disagree publicly with members of your negotiating team. You should remain calm and maintain harmony at all costs.
- Have you ever had the opportunity to travel to another country where much of the communication is considered high-context (based on tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures or situations)? An example of this might be that you arrived in an airport in Dubai; you had to make it quickly to the baggage claim to pick up your bags, and then find a bus or cab that would take you to the correct hotel using no directions or schedules. A person from a high-context culture would find their way through their understanding of the situations and people around them. In the United States and in many other northern European Countries information is understood through directions. We know where to go and what to do by the information provided to us – signs, schedules, and people directing the way. In India it is incumbent upon the traveler or native to look for social cues for finding this information. The United States has a monochronic view of time, meaning we look at time as being tangible. In India their view of time is polychronic, meaning they have a more fluid view of time. It is important to have an understanding of the polychronic view if you plan to communicate well in the Indian business environment. The perception of time is different, a meeting may be scheduled at 2:00; and the group does not arrive until 2:10 or 2:20. This is considered normal in India. Meetings that are considered successful tend to exceed the scheduled time. Deadlines are not viewed as vital as they are in the United States. Family responsibilities take priority over work, and rescheduling meetings can be a common interference. In addition, most polychronic countries, like India, are countries where the people bargain. Again, if the merchant opens his business late, it’s okay, as the customers are likely not to be there first thing in the morning anyway. The formality of a culture can be easily discerned through the observations of relationships, business etiquette, and the dress of the people. When working to establish a relationship with someone from the Indian culture it is important to be cognizant of the more formalized Indian organizational practices: It is proper to meet officials by saying Namaste with your hands placed together (as you are praying). When you are ready to leave the meeting each person should be bid farewell individually. Religious beliefs will determine how formal you are to be at the table. Indians revere titles they worked for such as Professor, Doctor, and Engineer. As we grow more diverse in the United States, recognition of these practices will become more apparent.
- Uncertainty Avoidance is a way to express the degree in which a person living in society feels uncomfortable with a sense of uncertainty and ambiguity. Uncertainty avoidance is a way for people in society to reflect and attempt to cope with anxiety by minimizing uncertainty in their life. The issue comes from within the world and how we do not have a sense of what can happen in the future. The world we live in is worried about controlling the future when, in reality, there is nothing that we can do about it. People in cultures that experience high uncertainty avoidance tend to be more emotional. A big example is Germany; the country experiences high uncertainty avoidance. Germany scored a 65 out of the 120-point index while the United States of America scored a 46. Individuals with high uncertainty avoidance tend to be more careful and considerate people while people with a low amount of uncertainty avoidance tend to take more risk. There are two different types of uncertainty avoidance. One type is high uncertainty avoidance. This relates to people who have rules, expertise, and a structure. The rules are a mix of formal and informal rules. Low uncertainty avoidance is the opposite. Little structure, few rules, for people who take risks. Some examples of low uncertainty avoidance countries are The United States of America, United Kingdom, India, China, Indonesia, and Singapore. Some high uncertainty avoidance examples are Greece, Germany, Belgium, Russia, Italy, and Mexico. Uncertainty Avoidance refers to man to search for truth. This process is what makes up the context of different culture programs. This allows members of a culture to feel either comfortable or uncomfortable in unstructured situations. India scores 40 on this dimension and thus has a medium low preference for avoiding uncertainty. In India there is acceptance of imperfection; nothing has to be perfect nor has to go exactly as planned. India is traditionally a patient country where tolerance for the unexpected is high; even welcomed as a break from monotony. People generally do not feel driven and compelled to take action-initiatives and comfortably settle into established rolls and routines without questioning. Rules are often in place just to be circumvented and one relies on innovative methods to “bypass the system”. A word used often is “adjust” and means a wide range of things, from turning a blind eye to rules being flouted to finding a unique and inventive solution to a seemingly insurmountable problem. It is this attitude that is both the cause of misery as well as the most empowering aspect of the country. There is a saying that “nothing is impossible” in India. Masculinity is a quality that relates to men in the world we live in. It is a set of qualities and characteristics that are typically associated with males. Masculinity can have two types of degrees; one degree is more masculine or most masculine. The other degree is the opposite and is normally said as unmanly. India’s MASCULINITY score is 56, slightly higher than the world average of 51 and the Asian average of 53. But at the same time in India we are not as “masculine” as Japan, but the materialism and aggression in our society seems to be increasing. Our scores are bound to change soon, as India tries hard to reach the ‘developed’ state level. Just one example – at one time in India businessmen were not respected, but today they are revered. A poor teacher would get as much respect as a rich person, but not anymore. However India has always been ‘male oriented’ so I am not sure why high “masculinity” scores (materialism and aggression) in a society are associated with male dominance and a greater difference in between the sexes (in terms of these qualities). I am sure that this was always in our society. For years, there has been an ongoing argument to find whether or not masculinity is a result of nature or nurture. Some of society believes that it is something that a person is born with while others believe that it is the way people communicate and socialize with others. They believe that masculinity can be forced and that it is culturally driven. Future orientation is the ability to identify and interpret changes in the environment and trigger adequate response to ensure long term survival and success. High Future orientation societies are associated with characteristics such as: saving for the future, long-term success, flexible and adaptive. Low Future orientation societies have characteristics such as: spend now rather than save, gratification as soon as possible, inflexible and maladaptive.
- In business, men will wear a suit and tie, while women wear conservative dresses or pantsuits. A business casual look for a man is short-sleeve shirts and long pants – shorts are only acceptable for exercising. Women are required to keep their upper arms, chest, back and legs covered at all times for a business casual look. Shorts are unacceptable for women to wear when exercising; they must wear long pants only. The use of leather products such as belts or handbags may be considered offensive, especially in temples. Cows are revered in India; therefore, they do not use leather products. Although many laws recognize gender equality, societal views relate back to tradition and religion. Women suffer from low social status compared to men and are often treated negatively. A women’s sole purpose in life is to devote her life to her husband and children. This starts before the woman is married with a dowry. The groom is given a sum of valuables by the bride’s father, usually in the form of jewels to ensure the bride’s security. Women are expected to cook, clean and run the household. Her joy is to see her husband satisfied. She is to be submissive and attentive to her husband’s needs. She is not to question authority and her goal is to keep him happy. Men and women are both placed in the same educational system, however, when women turn 14, they are pulled out of school to help out with chores at home. The role of the woman is to reproduce and take care of the house; therefore, education is not need to perform these duties. Divorce in the Indian culture is rarely witnessed and it is seen as a shameful failure of a woman’s inability to maintain her marriage and family. Women do not receive any property or inheritance resulting from divorce. Widows are also treated unfairly in society. Wives are often blamed in their inability to keep their husband healthy. They were ostracized from society and often made to wear unflattering clothing and shave their heads. Women’s health is also practically non-existent. Women generally do not receive treatment for health issues. This includes women who have a mental health illness. Modern women hold jobs and many either have partners or they are single mothers. While this is becoming more regular, it is still frowned upon in the Indian culture. India’s power distance is a 77 compared to the world average of 56.5. This score indicates that there is a high level of inequality of power and wealth within the society. It is accepted by the population as the cultural norm.
- Here are our resources: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/etiquette/doing-business-india.html http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/india-country-profile.html http://indiathink.com/collectivism/ http://www.culturecrossing.net/basics_business_student_details.php?Id=22&CID=96 http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/india.htmhttp://www.lifepaths360.com/index.php/indias-views-on-gender-roles-15166/ http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/uncertainty-avoidance-index/ http://futureorientation.net/2010/07/29/what-is-organizational-future-orientation/ http://geert-hofstede.com/india.html http://www.marin.edu/buscom/index_files/Page605.htm