Essay Example: Business Communication and Corporate Culture in India

Our company is about to open a business office in New Delhi, India, and as such, there is need to learn Indi's corporate culture to enhance proper communication and employee cooperation in achieving the company's business goals. Consequently, I have done thorough research on the corporate business culture of India. My information is majorly adapted from the book, "India: Cross-Cultural Business Behavior" written by Gesteland and Gesteland in addition to the article, "Business Culture in India" from the UK based website www.ukibc.com. This memo covers the critical role of business hierarchy in India, meetings, as well as, the business language and forms of communication while carrying business operations in the country.

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It is worth noting that Indian business culture has been profoundly affected by their caste system. Consequently, significant company decisions are made at the top level of management which means that if somebody senior such as the manager or chief executive officer is not present in a particular business meeting, no decision will be made. Besides, roles and responsibilities are well defined. For example, manual tasks such as cleaning are done by the low-level employees. As a result, the top-level employees in the human resource hierarchy is not expected to do work meant for the junior employees. Therefore, our company will need to follow this vertically structured hierarchy otherwise we will need to implement dynamic feedback, and some sought of communication mechanism that will ensure more proper work relations between workers from the US and workers from the local population. Consequently, our company should be aware that for any junior Indian workers that we employ there can be some miscommunication since they are not used to the freedom of confronting their superiors as it is in the United States of America.

Notably, English is the official language of communication in the country although there can be variations bearing in mind the vast cross-cultural gap between the two countries, that is, India and the US. It is worth noting that majority of Indians find it an uphill task responding, "No" to requests because it is considered to be offending, and therefore, they prefer using statements, for example, "we'll see", "yes, but it may not be easy", I will try" which in the real sense they are declining. It is therefore essential that our employees are aware of the meanings that answers convey. The best Advice that the book and the article that I read offers is that for somebody to get a promising answer, they should rephrase their requests for example when making efforts to secure a meeting. For example, one can ask when it is convenient for them to hold their meeting. Our company should expect any meeting that is arranged for the Indian employees to come up a bit late. Additionally, we should not be surprised to see interruptions during the sessions.

In conclusion, it is vital for our company to understand all the values, assumptions and values of the Indian Culture. It will help in getting to know how they present themselves in the market and the corporate environment which will go a long way helping us to penetrate the Indian market.