Indian companies entering other markets face a set of diverse cultural challenges in integration and assimilation because they are not traditionally, the multinationals of the world. In that respect, there is a certain amount of skepticism in countries where Indian firms try to take root.
Potential employees or business partners usually up their guard when it comes to dealing with an Indian outfit, because the global impression is that Indian firms are more skewed towards cost minimization and commercial efficiencies than towards cultural sensitivities. Coupled with the fact that Indians are believed to be lacking a structured approach towards systems and processes, things really don’t become any easy for those companies trying to break this perception and establish India and their own entity as a viable, employable, commercial option.
Amongst the many challenges that Indian firms face when they establish themselves at overseas locations is that they try to do exactly what they are doing back in India. Indians are very happy dealing with ambiguity. As a culture, we grow up in an environment that fosters and creatively tackles ambiguity. However, European or even other races do not understand it.
A curious element in culture sensitization for Indian companies looking at foreign markets is to not just adapt to and assimilate foreign cultures, but also to not let our own cultural idiosyncrasies overwhelm the cultural exchange.
South East Asian people, specially the Thai, the Malay or for that matter even the Japanese are a soft-spoken race. Aggressive physical gesturing or high-pitched conversations like how Americans usually do, tend to rattle and confuse them. From a business point of view, it is not only necessary but also critical to respect their culture and their values if one hopes to make a positive long lasting impact.
Another interesting phenomena and a challenge is the absolute inability of Indians to give bad news upfront. Even though culturally we have great discomfort giving anyone unhappy news, it is important to set realistic expectations and to deliver on those expectations or to be upfront in crisis situations. The laidback attitude might work in India, but it has serious counter-productive implications if implemented in new age economies.
Most Indian companies don’t establish strong support functions like finance and HR, to supplement these international offshoots. There is usually a poor attempt to understand local labour laws and people-related rules and policies, which again leads them to operate how they would function in India.
An appointment letter made in the Indian format not getting accepted internationally, compensation structures in India differing from international standards are little things but go a long way in adding to the frustration that Indian companies can face when they go outside of their home-country comfort zone.
Understanding and appreciating the other country’s work ethics has always been one of the biggest challenges that continues to be an Indian affliction. A 9-to-5 work schedule with weekends considered sacrosanct still stumps Indians till date, although we have seen significant improvements towards the same end within India. Expecting foreigners to work on the same extended work schedule while not factoring in work-life balance can throw a huge spanner in the works.
Some ethnic races do not consume alcohol or are largely vegetarians. Africans, Japanese are zealous followers of business protocol. Indonesians do not take business decisions on Fridays. Insensitivity towards such minute but indispensable details about your employees or business associates can cause huge embarrassment as well as loss of face and credibility.
Hence, it is vital that when companies look at cross border geographies to expand their business, they should look at not just the people and the processes but the value systems and cultural nuances. One such Indian foray that saw tremendous success was the Arcelor Mittal deal. With a Frenchman as their Head of HR, the company is a cohesive but a distinct mix of the French and Indian cultures.
Some companies go the other extreme by hiring only Indians even for their overseas locations. Alienating the local community is again a wrong example to set. Each global location that a company ventures into needs to retain its local flavour, its distinctiveness. Embarking on a global expansion should involve a process to absorb cultural singularities before actually landing on foreign soil.
Unless Indian companies expecting to have a multi racial workforce show respect for culture and ethnic peculiarities, the road to global expansion will always be paved with these potholes.
We at Positive Moves believe that Executive Search is not just about finding the right talent in overseas markets, but its also about helping both the client as well as the candidate find a common “cultural connect”. Nothing is more disheartening than to have a candidate leave his employment due to difficult “cultural” challenges. With our extensive research, and hence understanding of the cultural perspective for every global search that we undertake, we have helped innumerous Indian Business Houses and other clients to minimize risks that they would otherwise face while hiring talent for overseas markets. Our industry specialists are also armed with significant ammunition to tackle geography and ethnicity-specific issues peculiar to the process of global hiring.
Positive Moves is one of the fastest growing Executive Search firms in India. We are also the Emerging Markets specialists in the global markets of Middle East, Eastern Europe, Mediterranean and Africa.
