Comparing American and Indian Work and Life Cultures

Working with Different Cultures:
Cultural Differences Between India and the United States

As the world becomes smaller, flatter and more intertwined we find ourselves communicating with people from all over the world on a daily basis. Communicating effectively is becoming extremely important especially in the workplace with the main reason being the differences in styles, people and most of all, culture. Understanding cultural norms can prove to be an incredibly valuable asset in a business and personal setting. Personally and professionally, the cultural differences between a individualistic society such as America and a collectivist society such as India can be found at polar opposites.
It’s difficult to assess and lump people into groups and expect each individual to meet those expectations; within India’s borders there are hundreds of different languages and even more cultures, as one example. Culturally, these expectations should be considered tendencies that can be accurate and a good basis to go along with when doing business in a new country. America has many different cultures that have blended over time to create what is an individualistic, goal oriented and open society, whereas India has a long history of traditions and culture that stem from religion; Indians tend be person/family oriented, collectivist and soft-spoken (Hamilton, p.7, 2011). All of these characteristics should not be taken literally and expect each individual to act as so because people are unique, have different experiences and could have a different belief system. Especially those people who have experience with living and working in a different culture; depending on their experience and ability to be influenced, their experience as an expat could have been life changing. Since Americans tend to be individualistic, they have an increased sense of independence, goal-orientation and family values than that of Indians. American’s have been taught since they were children about the American Revolution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and this early exposure to stand up and fight for what they believe in, Americans develop a sense of individualism that continues throughout their lives creating strong-willed and dedicated individuals who fight for their beliefs; on the other hand, being independent can create selfish and greedy individuals, which is very prevalent in many ways thoughout the business world today. From being independent stems a goal-oriented attitude that Americans will usually do anything to achieve their dreams (Hamilton, p.7, 2011). Americans believe that if they work-hard, plan accordingly and take chances then they can control their future and create their own path through life. Next, family values of Americans can obviously vary from family to family and the same with Indians. But because Americans tend to be individualistic their needs or goals tend to get in the way of personal relationships; therefore, relationships tend to be short and jumped into without much thought process in order to reach individual gain and a step closer to their goals (Social PC). In a conversation with Neil Adams, an associates who works for Fidelity Investments said,
“…I worked directly with an Indian group of employees and at first couldn’t understand why a wanting a quick decision always got me dirty looks and slow responses. All I needed were their decisions, all the time…I saw them process requests in a blink of an eye before too for other colleagues…it wasn’t until a colleague shared with me that they didn’t trust me and went to their supervisor because we never associated with eachother outside of the office...in fact, I invited one of them to go out to dinner one night and afterwards, it was like working with a different person, I kind of didn’t understand their whole thinking process…”
(N. Adams, personal communication, November 28, 2012) Indians on the other hand are a collectivist people who are more people-oriented and values family over everything else, “The family is the basic social unit in India and generally takes precedence over the individual,” stated CultureGrams, an online cultural database; they also stated that Indians will keep family together, living under the same roof with a mixture of age and genders. The indian culture understands this being a collectivisit culture and in addition, it creates an atmosphere to care for elderly family members. Indians unlike Americans value the reward in human long-term relationships both in business and family life. SocialPC said that Indians have the same relationship views for extended family and this sort of respect is difficult to find in America. Another extremely important aspect of being person-oriented is how hospitable the Indian Culture tends to be. Trust and Relationships are formed over talk at dinners and tea at one’s home (Stylusinc, 2012).
“…after we had that first interaction outside of work, I was invited to a family get together of his. At his home I found our other colleagues and took the opportunity to get to know these people…to make a long story short, working was more pleasurable and getting a response was never easier. Even after I switched jobs in September, they frequent call and we talk and update eachother…” (Neil Adams, personal communication, November 28, 2012)
Since goal-orientation is not as common amongst Indians, they believe that their path and life-outcome will be directed from the gods of their religion, even in times of hardship; whether they practice Hinduism, Christianity or Islam. Getting some main cultural differences out of the way, how can the professional life be any different than personal life? Well, they are very similar and in-fact can be related to the following worklife characteristics. In addition to the main cultural differences, characteristics in the workplace such as the value of time, respect and importance can be found as differences between Americans and Indians. Again, it is important to understand that not all employees are equal and everyone has their own attitude, experiences and work ethics. The value of time in America is extremely important to the point of everything revolves around it. ‘Time is Money’ is the phrase commonly used and is taken extremely seriously by most employers. Completing assignments, reports or tasks by a specified time is more than all too common in schools and companies. However, in the professional world being punctual is extremely important whereas in personal life, being punctual is sometimes lenient without any repercussions. In the professional world, employees are expected to show up on time everyday and work exactly 8 hours. Another aspect of time is making decisions based on how effective and efficient things will operate afterwards. Business deals are sometimes decided within a few hours after meeting with no relationship foundation; instead, business deals are made through gut-instinct and short-term benefits. Respect is something that Americans earn from one another because of their individualistic notions; elders are not given the respect they usually deserve unless they are in a high ranking position. Workplace respect is given by seniority and rank however, it is not so important when an informal culture is established within a firm. Lastly, the importance of work is regarded as just work and not life. After their work day is finished, regarding the amount of work left over is finished the following day or after the weekend. In some cases, career driven individuals will complete extra work with longer hours in order to achieve their goals. In India, the value of time is thrown out the window and a more relaxed and usually late worker is found. A worker in India will typically miss due dates and deadlines because of the amount of discussion and thought that goes into a decision; remember that Indians have a higher sense of pride when it comes to human relationships, well the same can be said about decisions (Stylusinc, 2012). And, in the case of choosing a partner or going into a business decision with an outside supplier, Indians tend to typically take much longer than the American way of operating. The underlying reason is that trust needs to be ensured on the personal as well as professional levels (Christie et al., 2012).
In India, elders are respected and are considered much wiser in decision making. In the work place, the same holds true as seniority and those with a higher ranking position are respected and expected for important decisions and leadership; Indian company Stylusinc also wrote an article and stated, “In a group discussion, only the senior most person might speak, but that does not mean that the others agree with him. They may maintain silence, without contradicting him (or you) out of respect for seniority.”
The importance of work is a cultural trait that Indians truly take a career as their means of personal achievement; and it also is their livelihood to provide for their family which is the main reason they take work so seriously. Christie et al. found that personal integrity and the influence of peers and superiors led them to make more ethical decisions both in and out of the office. Acting ethically is an important factor into having a long and successful career, which by Indian standards comes second to family in terms of personal importance; like stated before, Indians will endure anything for their families even in times of hardship. Indians are torn when their career comes to paths with their family, but a typical Indian would have the tendency to choose her family over her career any day.
Indians and Americans have very different cultures but can create long-lasting and meaningful relationships when the two cultures understand each other. The personal life tendencies of individual vs person-oriented, competitive vs. collectivist and open vs. soft spoken is quite often seen between American and Indians. However, it is common that westernized Indians and Americans can switch these characteristics depending on their personality type, life experiences and uniqueness. In terms of business the common differences are the value of time, respect of individuals and the importance of work are general differences between Indians and Americans. These characteristics can be found in any individual but traditions and tendencies are common throughout each country. Having learnt these differences and cultural barriers, one can go into a new business environment and achieve more by simply applying and recognizing these cultural differences.

References

Christie, P. M., Kwon, I. G., Stoeberl, P. A., & Baumhart, R. (2003). A cross-cultural comparison of ethical attitudes of business managers: India, korea and the united states. Journal of Business Ethics, 46(3), 263-287. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198059150?accountid=1230
CultureGrams. (n.d.) "India." CultureGrams Online Edition. Retrieved on November 29, 2012 from ProQuest: http://online.culturegrams.com.proxy.cityu.edu/world/world_country_sections.php?contid=3&wmn=Asia&cid=75&cn=India&sname=General_Attitudes&snid=6
Differencebetween.net. (2009).Difference Between American and Indian Culture. Retrieved on November 28, 2012 from Differencebetween: http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-american-and-indian-culture/
Hamilton, Ch. (2009). Communicating for results. A guide for business and the professions. (9th international ed., p. 7). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
SocialPC. (n.d.) American and Indian Culture. Retrieved on November 28 from SocialPC: http://www.socialpc.com/Anthropology/American-And-Indian-Culture.html

References: Christie, P. M., Kwon, I. G., Stoeberl, P. A., & Baumhart, R. (2003). A cross-cultural comparison of ethical attitudes of business managers: India, korea and the united states. Journal of Business Ethics, 46(3), 263-287. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198059150?accountid=1230 CultureGrams. (n.d.) "India." CultureGrams Online Edition. Retrieved on November 29, 2012 from ProQuest: http://online.culturegrams.com.proxy.cityu.edu/world/world_country_sections.php?contid=3&wmn=Asia&cid=75&cn=India&sname=General_Attitudes&snid=6 Differencebetween.net. (2009).Difference Between American and Indian Culture. Retrieved on November 28, 2012 from Differencebetween: http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-american-and-indian-culture/ Hamilton, Ch. (2009). Communicating for results. A guide for business and the professions. (9th international ed., p. 7). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. SocialPC. (n.d.) American and Indian Culture. Retrieved on November 28 from SocialPC: http://www.socialpc.com/Anthropology/American-And-Indian-Culture.html