Moving into a new market is considered to be a difficult step because organizations have to experience newer trends and they have to incorporate issues like new communication channels, culture, and human resources. These factors must be kept in mind when organizations are opting for an entry strategy in a global market. Demographical distributions of new markets are different therefore an organization must ensure that they have created a proper strategy for a new country. It is assumed that an ‘XYZ’ organization which is an IT-based organization is expanding its operations and they are opening its branches in India. For this reason, certain managers must be transferred to India to manage their operations. In this paper, we will discuss the communication differences between U.S. and India, analyze the cultural and workforce differences, and would devise a strategy to deal with HRM issues. Furthermore, corrective actions that the company must undertake to deal with these issues are recommended in the current paper.
Communication differences between US and India
Communication barriers between the two countries are language differences, time differences, and perception of deadlines. India is a multicultural country and Indians speak Hindi, Urdu, and seventy-two regional languages. English is considered to be their second language that is the reason why international managers must devise certain strategies to deal with language-related issues. Another issue in the communicating process is that people in India possess the tendency to assume details while communicating. The time difference is considered to be another major issue because both countries need to align their work activities. Similarly, when an international organization is operating in India then the organization must assume and be ready for people not being deadline-oriented as people from the subcontinent are often difficult to manage as it comes to meeting deadlines. The style of communication can be treated as a major issue because Americans in many circumstances are considered to be more direct and their style of communication can be misinterpreted. For example, an American manager might put up a phrase in such a way that it might be a good idea to add more details to this plan. This statement can be treated as a polite way of communicating with their subordinates however, Indians often assume this situation as criticism or suggestion for further improvement.
Corrective actions
The information must not be misinterpreted and that is the reason why certain corrective actions must be taken by the managers to resolve issues related to communication. These corrective actions are discussed below:
Managers must be trained enough to deal with communication lapses and they must be well aware of the communication trends that prevail in India.
Managers must train their Indian subordinates to ask for details and guide them not to assume while communicating.
Barriers and interruptions must be removed to ensure a proper flow of information.
Cultural and workforce differences between US and India.
Both countries including India and U.S. are culturally diversified in different aspects. To produce the best results and to create a chaos-free environment, managers must know what are cultural and workforce aspects of India are.
Organizational hierarchy can be a major factor in identifying the working environment in India. The hierarchies that are followed by Indians are fairly rigid (Pattanayak, 2005). They follow a top to bottom rule and there are very chances that formal communication would flow in the reverse direction.
India is considered to be a nationalist country and that is the reason why all the policies, rules, and regulations must be aligned with the countries traditions. Similarly, the workforce must be motivated appropriately to produce effective results. Indians are very religiously active people that are why American managers must coordinate with the workforce and the customers to produce desired results. Organizational politics and red tapping are the most common factors in the organizations of India and the people of India adopt these methods to complete their tasks.
Certain HRM issues might arise with these differences and US management can face difficulties in defining the job design and motivating the employees. Since employers possess a rigid attitude in India, therefore, employees must be motivated to change their mindset and a message must be conveyed that the policies in XYZ organization are not rigid and we believe in a decentralized environment (Jones, 2008). People in the subcontinent are considered to possess a lethargic attitude towards work. In nearly all organizations an entrepreneur is ruling the entire organization and all the policies are implemented by him/her.
Certain corrective measures can be developed to tackle the cultural and workplace issues effectively and efficiently. These issues are discussed below:
- Employees must be motivated to work through intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.
- Organizations must invest in training and development projects from employees to foster favorable results for the organization.
- Individuals must be selected according to the job design and then responsibilities must be allocated to them.
Conclusion
A traditional approach is practiced in the corporate circle of India. New managers of the United States must be adaptive to change and they must transform themselves in such a way that they can create and implement the desired strategies of their parent company. They must be trained enough to train the local employees and these managers must consider the culturally rich environment of India. Job design, job analysis, and the description of jobs must be aligned with the local working trends of India.
A huge number of local and multinational organizations are operating in India and they are effectively managing the cultural diversity and other HRM issues in this country in an efficient manner. For an understanding of the best practice followed by a foreign company in the Indian market, we take the example of Nestle which efficiently manages its operations in India through a pragmatic approach and disregard the dogmatic approach. Nestle India also plays utmost importance to cultural diversity and HRM-related issues through global thinking strategic formation plans. Moreover, Nestle pays importance to train and development in the Indian subcontinent (Pattanayak, 2005). Examples of best practices of HRM in this part of the country could also be of organizations like PepsiCo and Coca Cola. These multinationals have managed labor issues, employee-related issues, cultural issues in India, and Pepsi Co international is regarded as the best organization in terms of providing benefits to employees in India (Cooke, 2003). Therefore, we can say that managers of XYZ company must be well equipped with all the factors that are associated with the new country. They must study these factors and then must devise a proper strategy to manage the workforce and the customers.
References
Cooke, W. (2003). Multinational companies and global human resource strategies. Praeger Publishers.
Jones, R. (2008). HRM Fundamentals. Tertiary Press.
Pattanayak, B. (2005). Human Resource Management. Prentice-Hall of India Pvt. Ltd.