Cultural differences between societies have major implications for international businesses. People from different cultures have innate instincts and perceptions of others that were formed from their upbringing. While insensitive stereotyping is now politically incorrect, underlying cultural differences do exist. For Indian companies expanding globally, it is important to understand these differences to avoid miscommunications and build genuine diversity. Cultural instincts can vary in areas like relationships, honesty, task-focus, and memorization. Awareness of varying cultural instincts from countries like India, China, Japan, Europe, and America can help international businesses experience better cross-cultural interactions and partnerships.

1. Us & Them
Cutural instincts differ widely across
societies -and this has major
implications for Indian MNCs

2. Contd..
• In Victorian England, when it was quite fashionable for people to
write knowledgably about cultures they'd briefly encoun tered on
their travels, one Favell Mortimer, a descendent of the family that
founded Barclays Bank, wrote two popular books called The
Countries of Europe Described and Far Off: Asia and Australia
Described. The Spaniards, she informed her English readers, “are
not only idle, they are very cruel,“ and the French “like things smart
but are not very clean.“ Further afield, in Afghanistan, she wrote,
“the men are terrible looking creatures tall dark and grim,“ while
the Burmese are “very deceitful and tell lies on every occasion.
• “Such insensitive stereotyping has since become politically incorrect
and few would flaunt such views -but that doesn't mean they don't
hold them. Differences exist and though it's no longer considered
polite to compartmentalise people on the basis of race and
nationality, there is quite often a kernel of truth to many of these
perceptions.

3. Contd..
• Social psychologist Gurnek Bains, who has recently written a book on the
subject, titled Cultural DNA: the psychology of globalization, says that
most people who cherished the idea that people are essentially the same
everywhere have come to abandon it. “Those who have moved to a
different culture and lived there for some time realise the surface
similarity is something of an illusion, only held by the tourist or business
traveller. Things can appear familiar on the surface but over time a gradual
realisation sinks in that the cultural instincts of different societies really
are different in profound ways,“ he says.
• This has big implications for Indian companies that are setting up
operations across the world.Bains, who is the founder chairman of the $45
million (2014 revenues) YSC, a London based consulting firm, says there is
no such thing as a global company, just as there is no such thing as a global
citizen.“Every company is rooted in the place of its origin and those who
make it up the hierarchy tend to be socialised into the host
culture.Genuine diversity and inclusiveness has eluded most
multinationals,“ he says.

4. Contd..
• Indian executives working in multinationals tend to agree.Anuranjita
Kumar, managing director and chief human resource officer (CHRO) of
Citibank South Asia, has worked in London, New York and Singapore and
she recalls the process of adjustment in these places as being quite a
struggle. “I had to get myself a transition coach to help me through the
process,“ she says. “Britons are very polite and won't disagree with you
publicly. So, my presentations would often be greeted with a stony
silence.Then, there were the nuances of language. They'd call my ideas
“interesting,“ which actually means “dubious.“ I was told it's impolite to
start talking about work right away on a Monday. You have to start by
asking how the other person's weekend was. Indians are passionate about
work but in the West, it is just a part of life.“
• Kumar recalls attending a workshop in Europe where an international set
of participants was posed this question: suppose you are travelling in a car
late at night with a close friend and you accidentally hit and kill a
pedestrian crossing the road. You're the only eye witnesses and everything
hinges on your testimony.

5. Contd..
• Would you attempt to shift the blame for the accident on the pedestrian
or would you tell the truth, knowing it will send your friend to jail? “The
Dutch and German participants are unambiguous in their choice to them,
honesty is more important than relationships.Asians, on the other hand
value relationships, and inevitably see the situation as a dilemma,“ she
says.
• While the Asian nations may have certain cultural characteristics in
common, there are also differences. Prabir Jha, President & Group CHRO,
Reliance Industries, believes Japanese, Koreans and Chinese are the most
difficult cultures for Indians to handle.“Much gets lost in translation when
we interact with these cultures.Indian managers are a lot more
westernised than their Korean counterparts. For example, they are not
multi-taskers. If you try and give a Korean an assignment while he is doing
something else, he will interrupt and say, can I please finish this first? As
Indians, we might think the other guy is shirking,“ he says.Reliance doesn't
have large operations abroad, but it does employ a fair number of
expatriates in India.

6. Contd..
• Larsen & Toubro (L&T), on the other hand, is rapidly expanding its
operations abroad, both in information technology (IT) and
construction. Like other Indian companies going global, L&T is
grappling with the question of whether it should have an Indian or a
local heading the office abroad. “For an individual, knowing more
than two cultures is impossible,“ says Yogi Sriram, Head, Corporate
HR, Larsen & Toubro. “In the Middle East, we've decided to have a
son-of-the-soil heading operations rather than sending an Indian.
They go by relationships and are more comfortable in dealing with
someone they know.In information technology (IT), you need to
induct global managers as a business imperative. That means you
have to adjust to differing leadership styles. Americans are good at
taking on roles within a team, they don't need to be told. In Korea
and Japan it doesn't happen easily, so role definition is important.“

7. Contd..
• In his book, Bains uses his knowledge of anthropology and
behaviour al genetics (he's a PhD in psychology from Oxford, with a
doctoral thesis on attribution theory) to explain why such cultural
differences exist. A case in point: there is a gene called DRD4 which
influences dopamine levels and those with long version of this gene
tend to be adventurous, novelty seeking, rebellious and
hyperactive.Around 75% of South American Indians possess the
long allele version of DRD4, with the number reducing to 30% for
Americans and 20% for Europeans. In China, the presence of the
long allele is close to zero.
• Attributing cultural characteristics to genetics is controversial but
Bains says, “If some of the differences attributed to cultures reflect
such biological factors it may be wiser to recognise this fact rather
than pretend otherwise. At the very least this can absolve
individuals from personal blame and lead to greater empathy when
their behaviours are not in accordance with what others expect.“

8. Contd..
• Since Bains is a person of Indian origin his parents mi grated from
Punjab to Britain when he was seven years old he has often been
the consult ant of choice for foreigners who want to understand
Indian business culture. In London, his firm services Land Rover,
where British executives sought his help in understand ing their
new bosses after the Tata Motor takeover. In the US, Bains is asked
a more gen eral question: why are Indian children always winners of
the National Spelling Bee competi tion (11 of the past 15 contests
have been won by Indians)?
Bains explains it in terms of the oral tradition of religious trans
mission in Indian culture. The Vedas have been transmitted orally
over thousands of years, incorporating all kinds of mnemonic
methods that made the otherwise gargantuan task easier. “Indian
cultural DNA is strong on disciplined memorisation,“ says Bains.
• “Even today, one is struck by the emphasis on rote learning in the
Indian education system.

9. Contd..
• Indeed, Cultural DNA chal lenges many Western shibbo leths,
including the Intelligence Quotient, which has long been the basis
of measuring intel ligence across the world. “The analytic, logical,
structured approach beloved by Western researchers is only one
way of looking at intellect. It ignores wisdom, judgement, creativ ity
and intellectual flexibility, which are the strengths of other
cultures,“ says Bains.
• The cultural DNA of European and American socie ties has given
them an edge in the past, but in the new Asian era, their superiority
is under challenge. “My aim is to help create a level playing field,“
says Bains. “Other societies can learn something from those aspects
of western society that have led them to be successful, but they do
not have to be intimidated by their success.But if other societies are
to catch up, they need to appreciate both the underlying strength
and also the limitations that their own cultural DNA creates for
them in the emerging new world. “ CD

10. Parveen Kumar Chadha… THINK TANK
(Founder and C.E.O of Saxbee Consultants & Other-Mother
marketingandcommunicationconsultants.com)
Email :-saxbeeconsultants@gmail.com
Mobile No. +91-9818308353
Address:-First Floor G-20(A), Kirti Nagar, New Delhi India Postal Code-110015