INDIA

1- Culture context (is it low or high? Explain + examples)

2- Level of Social stratification and power distance.(Explain + examples)
3- To what extent do people of this country avoid uncertainty (i.e. 1 = low uncertainty
avoidance and 10 is very strong uncertainty avoidance) (Explain + examples)
4- Give Symbols, terms and gestures that might have counter meaning
5- Punctuality (Explain + examples)
6-Jokes (what is considered funny in this culture) (Explain + examples)
7- Clothing & Esthetic (Explain + examples)
8- Discrimination – biasness (Explain + examples)
9- Education (school and university) to what extent is education valued
10-Level of patriotism (Explain + examples)
11-Religion, what percentage is a believer, and to what extent does it affect their lives?
12-When are the major holidays, and what should you know about it as an international
marketer?
13-Give some examples of values and attitudes in that country.
14-As a global marketer, how would you conduct a business meeting with managers in that
country? (is gaining trust important? Is the level of formality adopted too high? Etc..)
15- You knew it is the birthday of a colleague manager of yours from that country, give the
name of 3 gifts that are considered to be advisable, and the name of 3 gifts to avoid.

1 : culture context

In India, the culture context is high, it is actually what characterize India the most. Indian
people have a lot of traditions and habits that are related to the way of life.

For example, cows are very sacred. It is because people in India consider them as gift from
the sky, so they don’t eat any milk product, whether it is milk or cheese, or even meat. As
well as when there is a cow lay down in a street or in a market place, or on a road, nobody
will ever try to move her, because it’s an insult to Buddha to move her, even worse to kill
her. Is is true that cow is certainly the most important animal in this country, beyond every
other.
Also, family is very important, like are big ceremonies that can occur in life. Family make
always great parties for wedding, where everyone is reunited together. Men Boys always
were suit, but women and girls were traditional dresses, very colored, colors that you
usually don’t see often in Europe. The father decides for the daughter in her family which
man she will marry. There is not wedding for true love, but more political arrangement: the
family decides for the girl, not her. Then, families accord themselves for a “dot”, gifts that
bride’s family will do to husband’s family. Generally, the family who makes the gift get a
debt for 10 or 20 years. If they can’t, the other can even burn or poison the bride. That’s
why in India, there’s a lot of crimes, deaths.
But recently, given evolutions of society, things have moved a bit, and are now different.

In India, it is also very common to give some extra money in hostels, taxis, as a thank to the
person who served the customer. For example in 4 or 5 stars hotels, 300 roupies per night
and rooms, at the airport, depending what reduction proposed the agent of the company at
the registering for the flight, it can be 500 roupies, sometimes more, sometimes less.

2 : level of social stratification

The country is very known all over the world for his very strong social stratification.
Indeed, there are casts, one for the poor people, one for the rich. It is due to religious Indish
history for one part, but also on another part, because of the social and economic growth
brought by colonial period that occurred in India in 19th century. The word “cast” refers to
the concept of “blood tie”, the status each child gets from his parents at birth. Usually,
those two casts never mix with each other, because of social, wealth and way of life
differences. Richer families are trying to preserve the social status, given that depending if
it’s their daughter they will get married, they will have to give a lot of money to the step
family, as we saw before. It implies also demographic and society issues. Superior casts
people lived in the center, inferior casts in the periphery. The society issue teachs us that by
the past, there were many fights of the country because of casts system. ONU report in
2005 that, in 1996, there were more than 31 000 acts of violence against Dalits, name of
poor cast.
But today it is much more different, given the evolution of society and evolution of citizen
status. Indeed, discrimination is now illegal, according to Indian constitution. Political
systems have been set up by states that don’t take in consideration those casts. Positive
discrimination, with more rights and helps for work, studies are now present in cities.

3 : Avoiding uncertainly

In India, it seems like citizen are very chill about avoiding uncertainty. For them, all things
doesn’t have to be perfect or be unpredictable. It implies that in India, there is a lot of
routine, people don’t take initiatives, there are more waiting for something unlikely to
happen. There is a sentence in India that says : “nothing’s impossible in India, as long as
you can adapt yourself”. It is also shown by the verb “ajust”, that pictures every
possibilities imaginable about India mentality. It can be as well about corruption, like
closing eyes and not denounce irregular stuff, or at the opposite for a unexpected solution to
a situation that seemed impossible to go through. So people there have a high level of
tolerance and patience, with can seems like the opposite in Europe, where people in some
country have tendency to be always in a hurry.

4 : Give Symbols, terms and gestures that might have counter meaning

In India, there are particular signs that of this country, that use most of the time hands
First, the gesture for salutation is to join hands, palms with palm, and to incline the body by
saying “namaste”.
Also Indian people have particular way to say “alright” : they move head by inclining from
left to right. The faster it is, the better and happier is the answer.
In India, they have a different way to show sincerity, to make a promess for example. They
can touch their ear, touch their Adam point with finger, or to show the palm of their hand.
By doing this way, people show they engage themselves to what they say or do. Finally,
one of the most important things with hands, related directly to the tradition and habits, is
that no one must ever use his left hand. She is considered as a cursed hand, used for
impurely tasks. So it’s really important to never take money, shake hands, or do anything
else with the left hand.

5 : Punctuality

On that point, Indian are absolutely the complete opposite of Europeans, given they don’t
really have to avoid uncertainty. Indeed, most of Indians don’t have any watch, they refer
themselves to sun position. So then, when they have to take transport, cars, train, or flight,
they can wait peacefully for hours without getting angry, for them it’s normal. There is no
rush.

It is same for professional meeting, or appointment, or any kind. For them, there’s no
problem if the guest comes 1 hour later, the afternoon instead of the morning, or even the
next day. Then don’t have precise time schedule to do things, there are very patient. So it
implies also they don’t get mad often, it will be more about symbolic and gestures. For
them, it very surprising to see how easily can European get angry for little contrarieties.
They are people very kind and passive, and they are really not violent.

6. Jokes (what is considered funny in this culture) (Explain + examples)

7. Clothing & Esthetic (Explain + examples)

The traditional attire of Indian women is the sari. A sari is a piece of cloth about five meters
long and a little over one meter wide; The type of fabric depends on the region. In northern
India, prints with bold designs are usually used with large flowers, in bright colors such as
orange, blue, red and yellow.
There are many regions where women wear other dresses instead of sari like in Rajastan;
they use a set of three pieces: ghaghra (a wide skirt), choli (a blouse) and chunri (a scarf)
very bulky. There is a very popular vetimenta called salwar - camis that is totally different
from the sari. The salwar is a kind of baggy very broad at the top, but tight at the ankle. The
shirt that means shirt, is a long tunic that reaches to the knees and completes the set a gauze
scarf to the tone that is placed on the shoulders and sometimes covers the head. It is
considered more practical than the sari to work, travel etc. The colors of the Indian dress
are illuminating and a mixture of different colors. These garments are made with different
types of fabrics that are manufactured from different types of Indian textile yarns.
Traditionally, men wear a collarless shirt called kurta, a long tunic with a closed neck
(sherwani), narrow pants or a skirt (doti), a rectangular piece of cotton that can measure up
to 5 meters long by 1.20 meters wide. it is usually passed between the legs and is rolled in
the waist area and the known cap worn by Pandit Nehru.
8- Discrimination – biasness (Explain + examples)

The caste system is one of the most important factors in the identity of the Indians. Every
person in India has their language, their religion, their social class and also their caste that
is inherited from their parents.

The problem with this system is what generates a very hierarchical society, where it is very
high and others very low, which increases the percentage of difference and social
inequality, is followed by the book of Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh it is described as a
"caste apartheid", a complex of systems in Indian culture.

Despite the existence of the Right to Equality, enshrined in the Constitution, and the Law of
Castes and Tribes, which guarantee that no citizen is discriminated against because of their
religion, caste, race or sex, the exclusion of Dalits (considered untouchable) ) is a constant
practice in the country, frequently reinforced by the State and private institutions. This
practice manifests itself in different ways. Clear examples of this are the awarding to the
members of this caste the most servile tasks (such as garbage collection, the removal of
human excrement, sweeping, paving and eliminating human and animal bodies, etc.), the
criminal action that they support for part of higher castes and exploitation, rape, murder and
kidnapping that Dalit women suffer day by day.

In the same way there is a strong discrimination against women and their rights since due to
their culture and tradition women are seen as a burden for families and are mostly
dependent on their husbands who decide on their future. in 80% the marriages are agreed
by their families

9- Education (school and university) to what extent is education valued

The extent of importance of education in India is very important because it is considered

one of the tools for the development of the country, but due to cultural issues and the
division of social classes, although education is universal, not everyone has access to this,
in the same way the effect of discrimination with women causes many to abandon very
young studies to get married, so there are very few who manage to get to higher education

The Indian educational structure is based on five fundamental levels: preschool, elementary
school, high school, higher education (university), and postgraduate.
The compulsory educational period comprises from 6 years to 25 years. All educational
levels, from primary to university are under the control of the Ministry of Human
Resources and Development.

10-Level of patriotism (Explain + examples)

The level of patriotism in India in recent years is high and it is being implemented in a
mandatory way by applying techniques such as putting the national anthem in the movie
theaters before starting the film compulsory in which all the people have to stand up and
respect the symbol of the anthem in the same way it has been considered that anyone who
is not in agreement with what the state dictates is considered a traitor which has caused a
disagreement among the citizens by the way in which the heritage.

11-Religion, what percentage is a believer, and to what extent does it affect their lives?

The two most important religions in India are Hinduism to which at least 82% of the
population belong, followed by Islam, to which at least 12% of the Indian population
belongs.

Religion has an important role because in traditional form by Hinduism the social classes
are organized by means of the caste system which classifies the society into 5 social classes
the castes are assigned by family inheritance

12-When are the major holidays, and what should you know about it as an international
marketer?

13-Give some examples of values and attitudes in that country.

Ahimsa: Ahimsa which translates into non-violence has ancient roots in Indian tradition.
Two of India's great religions Buddhism & Jainism profess non-violence.

Unity in diversity: india is an extremely diverse country in terms of languages, dialects,

races, castes, religions, food and clothing habits. India has as many as 22 official languages
while the United Nations has only 6.

Yoga, ayurveda and vegetarian diet: Indians have mastered the art of healthy living since
ancient times eating vegetarian food, practising yoga and taking recourse to Ayurvedic
treatment when falling sick.
Vasudaiva kutumbakam: Vasudaiva Kutumbakam or the whole world is a family, a unique
Indian concept, reverberations of which reached America through Emerson and Thoreau
and got manifested in Wilsonian school of thought in American foreign policy. This was
what Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore professed in his message of universal humanism.

Atithi devo bhav: Atithi devo bhav or guest is God is an ancient Indian tradition of great
Indian hospitality. Even today this tradition continues in contemporary India and tourists
who visit India, spend time in India can experience this wherever they go.
Those who visit India fall in love with the country, its people, its culture and come back to
India again and again.

14-As a global marketer, how would you conduct a business meeting with managers in that
country? (is gaining trust important? Is the level of formality adopted too high? Etc..)

The Indians usually greet each other by saying "namaste", joining the palms of their hands
with their fingers facing upwards and tilting their heads slightly, this gesture may include a
subtle bowing of the trunk when one wishes to show special respect to someone. However,
Westerners are greeted through the international handshake; It is useful to note that very
traditional men do not extend their hands to women, be they Indian or foreign, as a gesture
of respect towards them. Westernly educated Indian women usually also employ a
handshake, but it is recommended to let them take the initiative for the greeting and the
beginning of a conversation, otherwise it is only recommended to the foreigner to smile and
tilt his head slightly. In India the titles are highly valued, that is to say that if one is a
doctor, licensed, etc., it is recommended mention it when presenting, in addition suffix ji
(sounds "yi") or "sir" is used after the proper names to indicate respect, for example Sanjiv
Sanjiv ji or Sanjiv sir. It is customary to ask permission to withdraw when you are in a
meeting, then you start to say hello for the oldest or most senior member.

The Indians value the punctuality of their guests but do not apply the same concept to
themselves, that is, the schedules are usually not respected for meetings of any kind. It is
fair to mention that sometimes the chaotic traffic of the big Indian cities influences these
delays and it is not even surprising that a meeting is repeatedly reprogrammed at the last
moment before finally being carried out. That is why you have to calculate a comfortable
agenda with a few extra days as long as possible, however it is usual to arrange meetings
with a month in advance, although then change the date.

It is normal for businessmen in India to dress informally but very neatly and for top
international brands. The usual outfit is trousers and short-sleeved shirts; in special events,
initial appointments or official meetings the dress is more formal, in the less hot seasons,
light cloth suits can also be worn. It is not well seen to wear leather jackets or accessories,
avoid them as much as possible.

15- You knew it is the birthday of a colleague manager of yours from that country, give the
name of 3 gifts that are considered to be advisable, and the name of 3 gifts to avoid.

The gifts that are suggested for the Indians are electronic devices such as calculators, pens
or office accessories, as well as personal products such as perfumes and household items.

what should never be given are leather products, if food is given, it must be taken into
account that they do not consume meat products and if it is a liqueur it is necessary to have
prior knowledge about the religion since this depends on the consumption of alcoholic
beverages