Indian Culture by The Apprentiice

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INDIA

ORDER IN CHAOS

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Culture• Way of living, doing

things & reacting• Set of shared attitudes,

values, thoughts, goals, practices and actions • An integrated pattern of

human knowledge, belief and behavior

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Language• 14 major and 300 minor

languages spoken• National – Hindi, Official –

Hindi, English • English : widely used in

business, politics and education

Hierarchy• Strict hierarchy • Defined - roles, status and social

order • Decisions - made at the highest

level• Example - Manual labour only be

carried by the "peon"

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Doing Business - Meeting and Greeting• Titles are very important.

Always use professional titles• Handshake. Sometimes

‘Namaste’ • Suffix "-jee" is a sign of a high

caste • Business cards should be

exchanged at the first meeting • Business lunches are preferred

to dinners

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Doing Business - Meetings and Negotiations

• Meetings - arrange in advance, no holiday clashing • Punctuality -10 minutes late

permitted• Family responsibilities - take

priority over business • Approach and greet the most

senior figure first• Negotiations – can be slow• Show patience and trust• Guides - Intuition, feeling and faith

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Appearance• Business:

Men - suit and tie Women- conservative dresses or pantsuits.

• Casual dressing: Men – short sleeved shirts and long pants Women - upper arms, chest, back, legs covered most of the times

• Exercising: Men - Shorts, Woman - Pants

• Leather products -considered offensive, especially in temples

Behavior• (Never) Touch someone else’s head - not even

to pat the hair of a child• Standing with hands on your hips - angry,

aggressive posture• Whistling - is impolite• Winking - may be as either an insult or a

sexual proposition• Shoes or feet touch another person- apologize• Gifts are not opened in the presence of the

giver

Communications 

• Word ‘NO’- harsh implications • More polite, Evasive refusals

are common• Never directly refuse an

invitation. Acceptable refusal - "I’ll try"

• Do not thank your hosts at the end of a meal. "Thank you“- form of payment and therefore insulting

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Geert Hofstede analysis (k)• a high level of inequality of power and wealth within the

society as accepted by population as cultural norm.• gap between values of men and women is higher• the culture may be more open to unstructured ideas and

situations• the culture may be more open to unstructured ideas and

situations

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Edward T Hall • High context refers to societies or groups where people

have close connections over a long period of time.• Low context refers to societies where people tend to have

many connections but of shorter duration or for some specific reason

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This is also India…

References • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture• http://www.crossculturecommunication.org• http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/india.htm

For a course on Global Culture, please visit

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