Inside The Indian Business Mind: A Tactical Guide For Managers

Inside the Indian Business Mind: A Tactical Guide for Managers

This practical guide identifies the ingredients that make up Indian culture and uniquely translates them into useful tools to help Western commercial initiatives succeed. There is enormous opportunity for companies that want to sell to India's one billion consumers or partner with Indian companies, but doing so isn't always easy. Inside the Indian Business Mind: A Tactical Guide for Managers offers a primer on the culture and its opportunities. This unique guide will help Western business people enter the Indian market, make the best use of Indian manufacturing facilities, and create and develop successful, long-term business relationships with Indian business partners and teams. The book is not a list of dos and don'ts. Rather, it approaches doing business in India from the perspective of in-depth cultural models, translating cultural knowledge into practical working strategies. The authors, an Indian who has worked in the United States and an American who has worked in India, arm readers with an understanding of 11 primary cultural ingredients that come into play in business relationships with South Asians?ingredients that can be mastered and adapted across many contexts to forge lucrative partnerships. ? Foreword by Marshall Goldsmith, bestselling author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People become Even More Successful ? Explanation of 11 key cultural ingredients for doing better business in India, such as how to locate the dharma (duty) that pertains to each person in an organization ? Easy-to-understand descriptions of Indian customs ? Dozens of real-world cases that illustrate how each cultural ingredient works ? An appendix covering cultural details specific to the major regions and cities with industries relative to American business interests From Booklist Academic Zubko and executive Sahay join forces to offer important insight into Indian culture, which includes an understanding of the misperceptions and stereotypes associated with that country. Contending there is a lack of solid cultural information on India, the authors set out to provide American managers traveling there with tools to use as strategies for improving dealings with Indian business associates. The authors identify 11 specific cultural norms that affect the mindset and behavior of South Asian colleagues and devote a chapter to each: hospitality, role expectations, business caste or hierarchy, project process and management, leadership and teamwork, risk and action, the pursuit of wealth, the original business contract, nonconfrontational negotiation, cultural views of time and space, and women in the workplace. This book is a valuable resource for companies seeking to develop and expand their business in India; The Economist (October 2, 2010) reports Morgan Stanley?s prediction that ?India?s growth will start to outpace China?s within three to five years.? --Mary Whaley Review "Recommended. Business managers as well as undergraduate and graduate business students." - Choice "This book is a valuable resource for companies seeking to develop and expand their business in India ?" - Booklist About the Author Katherine C. Zubko is assistant professor of Asian religions in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. She also serves as managing partner of a cultural consulting firm, Z&S Connections. Raj R. Sahay, who holds a marketing MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is managing partner of Z&S Connections, a business and cultural consulting organization.