Cultural communication differences between the United States and India

1 Cultural Communication Activity Part 1: Comparing/Contrasting the U.S. and India In terms of formality and social customs, the U.S. and India are similar in the sense that customs and formality really depend on which part of the respective countries you are from and your social class. In India, if you are from the south—i.e., Tamil—you will be looked down upon by northern Indians: your skin color will be darker and your manners different. In the U.S., it is similar: the Deep South in the U.S. has different customs than those in the Northeast for instance. The South is known for its customary friendliness whereas the Northeast is known for its customary snobbishness. The two nations have no real or strict rules when it comes to formality. The style of dress of the two nations is similar for men. Indian men have adopted Western dress, though the style they adopt is more similar to the American style from two or three decades back. Indian women have also adopted Western dress—but not on every occasion. Some still wear the sari or the chudhi, which is like a pajama-style of dress with a loose fitting tunic. Some Indian men also wear a loose fitting tunic. Indian Hindus may also place a painted dot on their foreheads and Indian Sikhs will wear a turban on their heads at all times. There is nothing comparable in the U.S. style of dress. Time is not much of an issue for either Indians or Americans: they both have a sense of what it means to be on time and both societies have issues with transportation running on time, whether it is trains, planes or automobiles. Indians have a much higher tolerance for conflict than Americans. Americans are inundated with the concept of political correctness: anyone in a position of authority or power who violates the rules of political correctness will immediately be attacked. The GM of Papa Johns is the latest casualty of political correctness in the U.S. In India, politics exists, but conflict exists much more frequently and Indians will openly battle one another on occasion. Additionally, it is not uncommon for Indian bosses to hit their subordinates to express their displeasure—so conflict is much more acceptable in India than it is in the U.S., where if a boss did that to a subordinate, charges would likely be pressed. Gender roles are more traditional in India than they are in the U.S., where the ideas of gender orientation and gender fluidity have become accepted. Traditional gender roles are viewed as repressive by Feminists in the U.S. The U.S. is more of a high context culture, because it can communicate in implicit ways that rely on contextual meaning; India is more of a low context culture in that it communicates via explicit words and in a direct manner. Individualism is celebrated far more in the U.S., at least theoretically; in the current era of political correctness, individualism as an ideal is become less tolerable to some. In India, individualism is not celebrated as an ideal nor really pursued much in practice. In both India and the U.S. people seem to accept that power is distributed unequally among the people. The U.S. has its 1% and India has its caste system, and neither seems to be going away any time soon. The U.S. pays lip service to the idea of equality but that is all. When it comes to gender equality, the U.S. will stop at nothing to support it; but in terms or socio-economic equality, the U.S. is quite used to a wide disparity in terms of class and wealth distribution. As for uncertainty avoidance, ambiguity is very much accepted in India: the Hindu religion accepts ambiguity and uncertainty is very much a way of life on a daily level, with rules, customs, even driving practices all embracing a kind of chaos. In the U.S., uncertainty can cause anxiety for many people and is not well liked. Masculinity is controversial in the U.S. Some embrace it; others view it as toxic. In India, the idea of masculinity is simply accepted, just as the idea of femininity is, in a traditional sense. As for future orientation, neither people in the U.S. nor in India seem to care much for delaying gratification to work towards a brighter tomorrow. 1) The cultural difference between these two countries that is likely to provide the biggest challenge when business teams from both cultures work together is the uncertainty avoidance difference. Americans prefer direct talk whereas Indians are quite comfortable with ambiguity. This difference could easily snarl business relations if the two groups do not understand and appreciate this difference. 2) What I can do to improve or ease challenges when communicating across these two cultures is to promote the idea of respect and to not rush to make judgments. By slowly going about relations and learning about one another’s cultures and customs, both sides can get along far more amicably than if they went into meetings blindly without knowing anything about the culture of the other side. I would thus promote learning about the other culture before attempting to communicate and I would promote this learning by encouraging teams to visit the other countries first and spend time in them first hand so that they can get to know the customs personally. 3) There are not any ethical issues that might arise when doing business between these two different cultures because for the most part India has adopted Western values. Even though its national religion is Hindu, which is not very common in the U.S., Hinduism tends to be tolerant of other religions in most cases or at least when its adherents do not feel threatened by others.

Part 2: Situation Analysis 1) As the manager of this team, I would respond to this challenge by avoiding through collaboration. I would want to work with the client on this matter and respect the client’s culture and customs even though it differs from our own, where we place a great deal of emphasis on gender equality. Therefore, if the client does not want a woman to assist in giving the presentation and the female member of our team is uncomfortable with the whole thing, I could make the decision for her to come but not participate in the presentation; or I would allow her to stay back if she would prefer not to come at all. In either case, I would respect the client’s wishes because in business it is important to demonstrate respect for the other side’s custom in order to develop a strong and lasting relationship. 2) It does not change to how I would respond to the situation above. I understand that in our country, we highly respect the right of women to work alongside men. Equal rights for women were won long ago in the U.S.—but our culture and history is more progressive and liberal than other parts of the world, and it does not facilitate friendship or business relations to disrespect the history, culture and values of client countries that we seek to do business with. It is also not our place to force our cultural values on others if they do not share them. If we want to do business with other parts of the world, it is important to show them our respect. While there may or may not be home culture consensus regarding this issue, the fact is that it does not matter: the presentation is being made in a client country that has a different set of values and norms—and that is what matters. 3) What I would say to my female employee is that she understands the problem going forward: we are witnessing a culture class. I appreciate the fact that she is uncomfortable with the situation and I sympathize, I would say. I would also note that it is important for us to respect the customs and culture of our client and that, while I personally do not agree with them, it is my desire that they be respected. Therefore, I would invite her to stay or come, as she chooses but to brief one of her teammates on her portion of the presentation so that he could give it in her place. I would then instruct the team to fill in for her during the presentation out of respect for the client. To the client I would inform him that the presentation will be delivered by the men out of respect for his culture. 4) The possible consequences that might occur after I follow the chosen response are: 1) the woman and the team react negatively and threaten to abandon the entire presentation altogether if I cave to the subtle demands of the client, who does not believe in gender equality; or 2) the woman and team react positively and accept the fact that the world does not share all our ideas and that when it comes to business it is important to respect the cultures of other people and places, even if they go against our own values; if the team accepts this, the presentation is delivered by the men and satisfies the client. 5) What I might do to alleviate this type of conflict in the future is to educate myself and my team on the customs, culture and values of client countries ahead of time before the possibility of conflict or hurt feelings arises as a result of confusion or misconception about what is and is not culturally accepted in other parts of the world. I would take the time to remind my team that though we have our own ideas and values, it is not our place to force these on other people or cultures, just as we would not expect people of a different culture making a presentation to us to force their worldview, their ideals, their values and their cultural norms on us. I would train all my employees to be mindful of cultural differences, to respect other cultures, and to not be offended if the values of other cultures go against our own. There is a time and place for all things, and for some people in parts of the world the ideals of progressivism and liberalism have not yet come into vogue—so there may be a need to demonstrate tolerance and patience. I would also teach my team that no matter how upset they might like to get were they to feel slighted by the attitudes and customs of other countries, our aim is to do business with these people, not to educate them on what values and norms we hold dearly. We are there to provide our services to them—not to force our ways on them.