Markus Fischer

Cultural Guide to Doing Business in India Markus Fischer

Thesis (M. A.) from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: High Distinction / A, The University of Sydney, course: Cross-Cultural Management, language: English, abstract: This "Cultural Guide to Doing Business in India" is a comprehensive cultural profile of India, which also outlines implications for business people. This guide is meant to be for firms who aim for entering this market or for managers who do not have much experience in dealing with people from India or conducting business in India successfully. The first section of the paper gives a brief overview of the country, its population and displays relevant facts and figures and briefly describes the economy and GDP trends. The second part examines different cultural aspects in India. It is shown where India ranks on various cultural dimensions, which are mainly drawn from Schein's model of organizational culture and Hofstede's cultural analysis, and it is explained what these rankings mean in real terms. In the next section other cultural nuances such as religion, the vastly different subcultures in India and language differences within the country are outlined. Following this, the impact of Indian culture on internal and external issues of business is taken into consideration. The next section throws light on common pitfalls of multinational firms doing business in India and gives recommendations of how to avoid such difficulties. The last part of this cultural guide clarifies key managerial strategies to be successful in India. The paper finishes with a short conclusion and summary.