Global Business Cultural Analysis: Doing Business in India

Major Elements and Dimensions of Indian Culture

As of July 2009, India's population was the second largest in the world, behind China, comprising approximately 1,166,079,217 people. The population growth rate is approximately 1.548%. India supports 15% of the world's population while occupying only 2.4% of the world's land area. Most people (70%) reside in more than 550,000 towns (Ghazi, 2009). India's population consists primarily of two ethnic groups: the Indo-Aryan, who make up the majority (72%), and the Dravidian (25%). India's long history has made it a nation of diverse ethnic groups, faiths, and cultures; regional areas in India play a crucial role in distinguishing these ethnic groups through their distinct social and cultural identities.

India comprises specified hierarchies reflected by the caste system followed by Hindus. According to this system, society is divided into four groups: the Brahmin (priests), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (traders), and the Shudra (farmers and workers). Discrimination on the basis of caste or social standing is prevalent, particularly in more rural areas, even though it has officially been deemed unlawful by the Indian government. Nevertheless, caste is becoming decreasingly important as larger, more homogenous cities emerge (Ghazi, 2009).

A total of 22 different languages have been recognized as prevalent by India's Constitution. Among these, Hindi and English are the official languages, with English spoken by at least 41% of the population and widely used in the larger cities. English plays a vital role in national, political, and commercial interaction. Other languages include Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, and Urdu. In addition, many supplementary dialects can be found in more rural areas (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

Even though Hindi is the official language of India, English is generally used in business, education, and politics. Some cultural differences in communication include the following points:

Indians avoid using the word "no" due to its perceived harshness, preferring responses such as "possibly" or "I'll try." The phrase "thank you" is not used following a meal. Titles should always be used because hierarchy is important. Names vary by region and custom and may include a family title, a middle name, or neither. In a business setting, small talk is considered a method of building relationships. Indians are generally open, so it is not unusual for strangers to start a conversation or to ask personal questions; inquiring about one's family is always appreciated. Open argument is avoided, so it is important to seek more indirect means of expressing disagreement. Topics to avoid include Pakistan, slums, and poverty. Popular topics of conversation include customs and heritage, family, cricket, films, and Indian economic reforms (India Business Practice and Business Etiquette Tips, 2009). Politics is another popular topic, and Indians are knowledgeable and passionate about it, though views vary by region — so only enter a discussion on politics if you are well-informed (Butler, 2012).

People of India enjoy freedom of religion and, similar to the situation in the United States, many faiths are practiced throughout the country. Hinduism is the primary religion, practiced by approximately 80% of the population. Islam is second at 13.4%, followed by Christianity (Wikipedia, 2012). Hinduism was established around 3,200 BC and, like other cultural elements, India's history has shaped religion differently in nearly every region (Ernst and Young, 2010). With 35 different states and union territories in the country, a sense of regionalism has emerged among different parts, with various states exhibiting distinct cultures that ultimately fuse with a common bond to display a national cultural identity (Ernst and Young, 2010).

India's diverse cultures, together with its extraordinary terrain, make it a uniquely beautiful country. The mountains offer skiing, river running, and hiking; beaches are also popular; and the jungles allow visitors to observe an extraordinarily wide selection of wildlife. India's history also offers a vast selection of music and dance traditions (Ernst and Young, 2010).

In India, music is defined by numerous historical periods. Hindustani classical music is said to have originated in the era of the Indus Valley Civilization, when Rudra and Shiva — the gods of dance, music, and drama — were worshiped. The subsequent period was that of Vedic music, which included sacrifices and prayers expressed through hymns and chants. Music in India, from the transitional period to the modern age, has seen remarkable development in style and approach. The South Indian form of music is known as Carnatic and is distinguished by the use of instruments such as the violin, mridangam, and veena. This music is sung to pay tribute to Hindu deities and incorporates the patterns of much of Indian classical music (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

In India, dance is rooted in tradition, and there is a wide variety of dance forms, each shaped by the influences of a particular period and environment. Many dance forms can be traced back to specific regions, and each style therefore represents the culture of a particular group. Well-known classical dance forms from India include Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kathak, Odissi, Manipuri, Mohiniattam, and Kutiyattam.

Bharatanatyam is one of the most admired dances, originating in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This style has three components: bhava (mood), raga (music), and tala (timing). It is a precise dance form performed in temples by the devadasis, and requires dancers to perform with bent knees throughout. From the South-Western state of Kerala comes the narrative dance of Kathakali, which is distinguished by elaborate makeup and costuming. From the North comes Kathak, known for its use of more than a hundred ankle bells. Odissi is among the oldest dance forms and also originates in temples performed by the devadasis. It has two distinct styles within it: Abhinaya (stylized expression) and Nritta (non-representational movement). Manipuri dance is named after the North-Eastern region of Manipur from which it originated and is characterized by slow, graceful movements and meaningful hand gestures. Each form of dance represents its region's history and culture, and it is remarkable how many ancient styles of dance have been preserved throughout India (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

There are many forms of traditional dress in India, which vary according to the faith, culture, and climate of the region or individual. Men's styles of clothing include the Dhoti (also called Veshti), Kurta, and Lungi. The Dhoti is a white garment worn in the southern region of India. Over these garments, men may choose to wear additional shirts or tops. Women in southern India wear the sari, which consists of a long, colorful cloth draped over a blouse. Young girls wear a simpler garment called a Pavada — a colorful long skirt worn under a blouse. Another style of women's clothing is the Ghaghra Choli, also called the Lehenga. Mumbai (Bombay) is considered the fashion capital of India, much as New York is in the United States. Traditional clothing is more commonly worn in smaller towns; however, a combination of Indian and Western styles, called Indo-Western, is found in larger cities and professional settings. Younger people in particular are embracing jeans and t-shirts, while business professionals tend to wear dark-colored trousers and striped shirts (Kwintessential, 2009).

The traditional Indian calendar is not significantly different from the English calendar in that it includes 12 months, each approximately 30 days long. However, the dates within these months do not correspond directly with the Gregorian calendar, so an American calendar month may straddle the end of one Indian month and the beginning of the next (National Calendar of India, 2012).

India is a land of celebrations and fairs. India observes more festivals than almost any other country in the world. Its festivals range from welcoming the seasons and honoring the moon to celebrating the birthdays of deities and saints. As with all other aspects of its culture, the festivities in each region of India can vary — some commemorate different events, some use different names for the same festivals, or they celebrate those events on varying dates. Among the most well-known festivals are Janmashtami, Rakshabandhan, Deepawali, Ramnavami, and Id-ul-Zuha. Janmashtami celebrates the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, the human incarnation of Lord Vishnu, through fasting and prayer, and is observed in the month of Sravana (July–August). Rakshabandhan is also observed in Sravana and is a celebration of a brother's love for his sister. Deepawali (Diwali) is one of the most popular festivals in the Hindu calendar, described as "a festival of lights symbolizing the triumph of morality and the lifting of spiritual darkness," commemorating Lord Rama's return to the kingdom of Ayodhya after completing his 14-year exile. Like India's dance traditions, each festival incorporates ancient customs, legends, and cultures (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

India's flag consists of three equally sized horizontal bands. The top band is dark saffron and represents courage. The middle band is white and signifies purity and truth, while the bottom band is dark green and represents faith and fertility. At the center of the flag is a navy-blue wheel with 24 spokes, representing the Dharma Chakra — the wheel of law within the Sarnath Lion Capital. The National Emblem of India features four lions (only three visible), representing courage, confidence, and power. They stand upon a round abacus flanked by four smaller animals as guardians of the four directions: the lion for the north, the horse for the south, the elephant for the east, and the bull for the west. Below a lotus in full bloom, Devanagari script reading "truth alone triumphs" is inscribed (Ernst and Young, 2010).

In India, guests are treated exceptionally well. Hospitality is essential; however, if a guest breaks a rule, it is generally not given much attention. Social invitations in India can appear very casual. It is also common for visitors to arrive unannounced, and it is expected that their needs will be met. It is considered impolite to outwardly decline an invitation; when you must decline, use a vague response. Tea or coffee is frequently served in all settings, and while it may not seem rude to decline the first time, refusing any hospitality at all may be perceived as impolite. It is better to accept food or drink and not consume it than to decline it outright (Butler, 2012).

Cleanliness is important in relation to food, so one should always wash one's hands before and after a meal. Many traditional Indian meals are eaten with the hands, but only the right hand, as the left is considered unclean. It is also considered improper to offer someone food from your own plate. Indian customs and religious traditions have numerous dietary restrictions, so it is important to understand common practices and etiquette. Asking whether someone is vegetarian before offering food is a good practice, as many Indians are Hindu and consuming meat is contrary to their faith. If both meat and vegetarian dishes are served, they must be placed on separate tables and clearly labeled. Other religious dietary guidelines include the practice among non-vegetarian Hindus of not consuming beef, and among Muslims of not consuming pork. When preparing a non-vegetarian meal, chicken, lamb, or fish are the safest choices. Drinking alcohol requires additional consideration, as it is prohibited among Muslims and various other Indian communities. Since this rule does not apply universally and may only be observed during certain festivals, it is best simply to ask guests what they would like to drink and to have a range of options available (Butler, 2012).

Business lunches are very common in India; however, there has been an increasing number of business dinners and "power breakfasts" in recent times. Lunches are typically held at luxury hotels or upscale restaurants, so it is important to reserve a table in advance. Restaurants in major cities offer a wide selection of cuisines, including traditional Indian, Chinese, Thai, and continental food. When planning a lunch meeting, try to choose a restaurant that offers the type of food your guests will enjoy. For many Westerners, Indian food can be quite spicy, so it is advisable to ask the server about a dish before ordering. Although Indians do not typically make toasts at meals, it is appropriate to ask if anyone would like to do so at a business lunch. When invited to a meal by a colleague, it is customary to arrive a few minutes late unless it is a formal meeting. A businesswoman in India may invite men to a meal and vice versa, but in either situation, it will typically be assumed that the man will pay for the meal or at least offer to do so (Butler, 2012).

Religion, Ethics, and Business Relationships

There are additional etiquette considerations if you are invited to a private home for dinner. Guests are expected to arrive 15 to 30 minutes late. It is also a good idea to remove your shoes before entering, especially if you have received a personal invitation or it is a family gathering. The women of the household will most likely be in the kitchen attending to guests. Complimenting and praising the food is considered proper etiquette, as it is a tribute to the woman of the house. Unlike in the United States, saying "thank you" after a meal is considered an impersonal gesture in India. Instead, guests should invite their hosts out to dinner, which demonstrates that the relationship formed with them is valued (Butler, 2012).

When hosting a dinner or gathering, send invitations early, and rather than waiting for an RSVP, follow up with guests by phone close to the date of the event. Not only will guests arrive late, as is customary, but they may bring additional guests — a sign of a growing and valued relationship. This is one reason why buffet-style dinners are commonly offered instead of formal sit-down meals. If you are uncertain about preparing a meal that satisfies a range of spiritual and cultural requirements, it is entirely acceptable to use a catering service or host the event at a restaurant or hotel (Butler, 2012).

Because relationships are highly valued in India, businesses tend to take considerable care before accepting a new deal. Indians examine all new business proposals carefully, and having a trusted referral from someone they know can go a long way. Indians will want comprehensive information not only on the deal itself but also on all the related elements involved. Indians frequently expect negotiation and bargaining, so it is a good idea to build flexibility into pricing when making an offer. Do not expect to close a deal after a first meeting, as long-term results are far more important to Indians than a quick sale (Butler, 2012).

Companies in India will only work with parties they consider credible and trustworthy, even if it means passing up a profitable deal. If a company has not yet established a positive reputation in India, expect to invest a significant amount of time building a relationship before business can proceed. Adaptability and understanding are expected, and showing a genuine interest in the country and its culture will be vital to successful business transactions. Mindset, kindness, and character are often more important than statistics or facts. Negotiations will take time and must proceed through all levels of the hierarchy. Avoid aggression and negativity, as these can quickly ruin a deal. Relationship-building must continue even after a deal has been concluded, and the terms agreed upon are always expected to be honored (Kwintessential, 2012).

Business Manners and Customs

Among the first things one learns from India's socio-cultural history is the role of religion in the everyday lives of Indians. The primary religion of the country is Hinduism, which is not an organized theological movement but rather represents a way of life that has evolved over many centuries. Hinduism represents a complex system of daily practices, rituals, beliefs, and symbolic patterns that intersect with numerous aspects of social life. From cosmological doctrines that specify how the physical and spiritual worlds are constituted, to the more ordinary elements of daily life, Hinduism provides the framework for understanding these matters.

Despite the critical role played by religion — or perhaps because of it — there is no word for "religion" in Indian languages in the same sense that it exists in English. This is because the spiritual history of the West has no equivalent within India. In the West, religion stands in opposition to science, to rationalist thought, and indeed to modernity — the defining philosophical and cultural position held by the West over the last 400 years. Science and religion are understood in oppositional terms in the West: science represents the material dimension of life, while religion represents its spiritual dimension. Such a distinction is entirely absent in Hinduism and in Indian culture, in which the spiritual and the material are not considered separate. Indians believe that the material and spiritual worlds belong to the same realm of experience and that life can be simultaneously spiritual and materialistic without any contradiction. Similarly, the principle of secularism — another Western concept — is largely absent from the Indian cultural framework except as an imported idea from the West (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

Indians believe that objects carry symbolic meanings on three levels: visual, functional, and spiritual. In contrast, the Western conception of the objective world encompasses only the visual and functional dimensions. What is significant about the Indian perspective is the spiritual dimension routinely attributed to material objects — a fundamental aspect of Hindu cosmology that must be considered when studying Indian consumer culture (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

Indian culture must be understood in cosmological terms — how human life is constituted in relation to the order of the universe — as well as in the social and everyday terms of ordinary human experience. Indians are aware of both of these dimensions, the transcendental and the phenomenological, and are able to move between them (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

An important element of Indian cultural life is the conception of time. Time is not understood as historical or chronological; it is essentially cyclical. Birth and death are not considered two finite events but rather two phases in one's continuous existence. The time before birth and the time following death therefore hold great significance for many Indians, and individuals develop ongoing relationships with those who are deceased (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

The concept of the self in Indian culture is not a sharply defined individual identity, as in the Cartesian conception that forms the basis of Western selfhood. Rather, it is something associated with and constituted by a number of other selves (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

India is multilingual, with 16 major languages and ten non-comparable scripts. For consumer analysts and practitioners, multilingualism creates difficult problems of translation and semantic representation in marketing and policy design. Even for consumers, semantic differences create challenges of meaning and comprehension.

India is also a multi-cultural country. As the scholar Maus — himself Indian — emphasizes, India is culturally diverse but not culturally disparate (Dumont, 1986). This means that numerous practices relating to food, clothing, symbolic forms, and rituals exhibit local and sub-cultural variations while also sharing many common threads at the religio-social and semantic levels.

Indian society is fundamentally stratified hierarchically, and that stratification is largely organized around caste. Caste in India is a social classification unique to that society and cannot be directly compared with race or class, though it shares some characteristics with both (Beteille, 1991).

India is also multi-religious. The majority (82%) are Hindu, followed by Muslims (12%) and Christians (4%). The remainder includes Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis. Religious conflict in India has historically been concentrated between Hindus and Muslims, though more recent disputes involving Sikhs have broadened its scope. Although religious symbols are not commonly used in advertising, they are not absent from it either.

India is experiencing some of the most significant changes in the social and economic condition of women. Attitudes of women regarding marriage, career, and their roles in the family and society are undergoing transformation, and there is substantial literature documenting these changes (Liddle and Joshi, 1986; Sharma, 1986; Wadley, 1977). These changing roles are accompanied by corresponding changes in family structures and household systems (Saradamoni, 1992).

The tension between traditionalism and modernism — or the amalgamation of the two — is a recurring theme in studies of India. From an etic perspective, one can find Indians who are traditional, modern, contemporary, Westernized, or some combination thereof (Chakraborty, 1991; Srinivas, 1966). From an emic perspective, similar labels are used by Indians to describe themselves, although the term "Westernized" appears to be the least popular (based on personal interviews). Indians often use a combination of these terms to convey that on some aspects of life they are modern, while on others they are quite traditional. Among many middle-class Indians, this ontological tension exists regardless of age or gender, reflecting concern about a possible loss of cultural distinctiveness.

In terms of the contemporary social hierarchy — based on political, social, and economic standing, leaving the caste question aside for a moment — India is best described as a multi-layered society. The layer most significant for business research comprises a variety of groups: the employed middle class, professionals (lawyers, doctors, business managers, some civil servants), small entrepreneurs, educators, and so forth. It is this layer that is most important from the standpoint of social change. The shifting values in the Indian environment that are influencing the rest of society appear to originate most strongly from this group, whose members tend to be highly ambitious, work very hard, and aspire to improve their financial situation (Doh and Luthans, 2009).

The linguistic and ethnic diversity of India is comparable to that of the European continent — not a single nation-state. India comprises a multitude of different regional, social, and economic groups, each with its own distinct customs and cultural practices. Region-wise, differences between the social structures of India's north and south are pronounced, particularly with regard to kinship systems and family relationships. Religious differences are pervasive throughout the country. There is a Hindu majority and a large Muslim minority, as well as Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Jews, Parsis, and practitioners of tribal religions — along with many sub-religious or spiritual communities within the larger faiths, such as the Arya Samajis and Sanatanis among Hindus, Shias and Sunnis among Muslims, and Monas and Keshdharis among Sikhs, as well as countless castes, sub-castes, and communities within each faith. Each group is proud of its religious identity and confident of its distinction from others (Lamb, 2009).

Conclusion

India is a country whose people belong to many different religions and castes, which is one of the reasons for its extraordinarily rich culture. Many elements make up the culture of India, including ethics, politics, religious norms and beliefs, and religious and national events. Music is a very important part of Indian culture and is considered an essential part of both religious ceremonies and entertainment. Dance carries religious significance for Hindus, and accordingly a wide variety of dance forms can be found across Indian culture. Although dress has become considerably Westernized in India, the sari for women and the dhoti for men remain widely worn. Festivals such as Holi, Diwali, and Rakshabandhan are celebrated across the country. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes are popular in India due to the large populations of Hindus and Muslims.