Jona-Julia-Iris
Pre-departure paper Part 1

India is a culture that has intrigued all parts of the world since its very early stages of development. In modern times, India is now emerging as a major player in world economy. It is the second-fastest growing economy in the world, with an expected GDP growth of 8 percent during 2005-2006. “The rapid growth of the information technology sector along with globalization, and deregulation, created new opportunities as well as challenges for firms in an environment that is ever-changing at an accelerating rate.” (Rise) With that said, many more people than ever before are starting to pay attention to India and its limitless possibilities in today’s new globalized business market. In this paper, our group will dissect Indian culture through macro dimensions, women and leadership and cross-cultural communication
In Understanding Leadership in Diverse Culture, Professor Gupta and Professor R. House explore cultural diversity through nine lenses: performance orientation, assertiveness orientation, future orientation, humane orientation, institutional collectivism, gender egalitarianism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance. Additionally, Hall explored two more dimensions: low vs. high context and monochronic vs. polychromic.
The first global dimension is performance orientation, this “reflects the extent to which a society encourages and rewards improved performance, goal-oriented behavior, and innovation. Performance oriented societies put a thrust on achievement motivation, or need for achievement.” (Gupta, House 20). India scores with a high cluster for this aspect. Work and performance is considered very important, it is said that work prepares an individual for the cycle of life. “The Indian approach to work is best defined by the Bhagavad-Gita: Both renunciation and practice of work lead to the highest bliss. One of these two, the practice of work, is better than its renunciation.” (Gannon 58)
The next dimension, assertiveness orientation, is quite unique to the Indian culture because southern Asia (which India is grouped into) is categorized as having a low score cluster, but this is not that case with Indian culture. In The Rise of India: India and the West-Institutional Contrast, the author Kumar and Sethi found that Indians were very aggressive and assertive by nature, resembling a more European or American attitude towards business. “The Indian, for example, is aggressive, argumentative, emotional, and analytical. These are traits that set the Indian far apart from the model of the ‘Confucian gentleman’ that is so revered in Asia.” (39) One explanation that might explain this difference in Indian business acumen is the country’s strong relational ties to Great Britain, which date back to the 18th century. India achieved independence from Great Britain in 1947. Many Muslims migrated to bordering Pakistan after India’s independence, leaving a more British stylized culture behind. But it must be noted that, although business styles may still be similar, there are many cultural differences that set India far apart from Great Britain. Additionally, the colonialism lefts it mark on Indian business culture by shaping India’s attitude towards foreign investment and autonomy in the country’s developmental strategy, and making the country more cautious when dealing with the outside world
The future orientation is “reflected in behaviors such as planning, preparing and investing for the future.” (Gupta, House 23) Indians received a score within the mid-cluster section concerning future orientation. One thing that might be related to Indian views of the future would be their strong belief in karma and looking to astrology for help with their planning and decision making. “Matching the horoscopes of a bride and groom is as much a part of planning a marriage as choosing the flower arrangements. It is routine for Indians to consult the stars about the best day to close on a house or sign an important contract.” (Gannon 54) The Indian concept of time is cyclical, characterized by origination, duration and disappearance ad infintium. So to conclude, while investing in the future and becoming successful is important in Indian culture, ultimately time itself, is irrelevant.
“The dimension of humane orientation is concerned with generosity, compassion, and empathy for the others.” (Gupta, House 23) Southern Asia scores very high in this aspect because their cultures are built upon such criterion. It is obvious when dissecting the Hindu religion that “being a good person” and showing support, compassion and generosity are held in very high regard.
“The dimension of institutional collectivism is concerned with the inducements and rewards for collective behavior and norms, in contrast to incentives and rewards for individual freedom and contributions. Such collectivism is reflected in preferences for closer work relations and higher involvement with one’s social unit.” (Gupta, House 24)
“The dimension of in-group collectivism relates to how the individuals relate to their family, as an autonomous identity or alternatively as consciousness of responsibilities towards their family.” (26) Indians are very family orientated. “A Hindu child grows up in the security of the extended family and has few contacts with other groups until it is time for school.” (Gannon 55) Additionally, in Hindu philosophy love of family is not merely a purpose in itself but a way to the final goal of life.
“The dimension of gender egalitarianism is concerned with the absence of a gender-dependent division of roles, expectations, evaluations and power.” (Gupta, House 27) Southern Asia scores in middle cluster concerning gender egalitarianism. Women are revered and considered very important in Indian culture; many women have made enormous strides in business: Indra Nooyi, an Indian-born business leader was just named Pepsi-Co’s first CEO last August. Although, despite many changes and advances, Indian women do live a restricted life in the conservative atmosphere of India. “The ideal of womanhood in Indian tradition is one of chastity, purity, gentle tenderness, self-effacement, self-sacrifice, and singular faithfulness. Throughout history, Indian women have had dual status: As a wife, a woman seduces her husband away from his work and spiritual duties, but as a mother, she is revered.” (Gannon 56) An Indian family is taught very early in life that women are lower in status then men. The position of women in such a hierarchical society means that they must constantly be making demands and pleading with superiors for one thing or another. Despite these cultural feelings, women’s souls are considered to be younger so they are in fact, considered inferior to men in that aspect.
“The dimension of power distance reflects the extent to which members of a cultural group expect and agree that power should be shared unequally.” (Gupta, House 28) India is a prime example of this dimension because of the caste system. The caste system in India is in place so that there is a hierarchical ordering of society. The caste system in India began over 3,000 years ago when the Indo-Aryans migrated to India. Deepak Lal has made an argument they the system was developed in India as a response to problems of political stability that was endemic in the early Aryan civilizations. Indians wanted to make sure that they were able to optimize their agricultural capabilities. “Given the lack of an effective centralized state, which could maintain control over labor through coercive means, only a decentralized control mechanism would ensure this option. Within the rubrics of the caste system, it was not possible for any individual of group to flee, because they would lack the complimentary skills necessary to function autonomously.” (Kumar, Sethi 40) The caste system has more relevance in rural areas of India, and therefore doesn’t present itself very obviously in modern day business dealing in India. “However, it is worth noting that while caste barriers may not negatively shape interaction, caste similarity may certainly induce the actors to be more motivated to cooperate with each other. In this context caste is not intrinsically important, but it is important only because it helps to draw a distinction as to whether a person is a member of an in-group or a member of the out-group,” (Kumar, Sethi 40)
Finally, “the dimension of uncertainty avoidance is concerned with the extent to which people seek orderliness, consistency, structure, formalized procedures, and laws to deal with naturally occurring uncertain and important events in their daily lives.” (Gupta, House 30) For uncertainty avoidance, Indians once again rank within the mid-cluster scores. As we have seen within situations such as the caste system, Indians seek out more formalized procedures to maintain structure. To the contrast, their religious and spiritual beliefs lead them to think of time as relatively insignificant, so business dealings might not appear very structured to an American businessman/woman.
Hall explored two more dimensions: low vs. high context and monochromic vs. polychromic. India is a very high context culture, messages are implicit and indirect. “One reason is that those who are communicating—family, friends, co-workers, clients—tend to have both close personal relationships and large information network; they do not have to rely on language alone to communicate. Voice intonation, timing and facial expressions can all play roles in conveying information.” (Hall 181) This can be further described as a polychromic society.