MBA India Trip Book Report #3

The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture
India
by Nicki Grihault

Overview
    Nicki Grihault, an English travel writer, has traveled and worked abroad for many years. She has spent much of that time in India and wrote this guide to help others to avoid social faux pas.  She provides examples of what common misunderstandings have been and what the outcome has been after committing them.  This small handbook will be helpful for reminding one of the differences between the United States and India and should also aid in preventing embarrassing moments.

Relevance of the book
    I chose to read this book this quarter because it's closing in on our departure date and I would prefer to avoid social pitfalls.

    One example of the guides usefulness is how gifts should be given and how they should be wrapped.  As part of our trip, each group has been assigned to buy gifts for our company contacts.  I now know that they should be wrapped in bright red, green or yellow paper, and that black and white wrapping should be avoided.

If the gift is money, it shouldn't be an even numbered amount, instead of 100Rs it should be 101Rs.  Also, any gifts given shouldn't be made from cowhides, pigskins, or amphibians (cowhide is taboo for Hindus and pigskins and amphibians are considered unclean by Muslims).

    When offered refreshment in India, don't refuse without good reason. It is considered an insult. You may refuse once, as this is customary, but you should accept the second or third time it is asked.  Wash your hands before and after the meal.  When eating, it is bad manners to eat with your left hand.  Only eat with your right.  It is however acceptable to pass a dish with your left as long as you don't touch the food.  When dishing food from a communal container, don't touch the food with your hands or other guests will likely avoid it.  The same holds true of drinking from a communal vessel.  Your lips may not touch it.   When passing the salt or other object, don't place it in the hands of the requester, put it down on the table.

    These are just a few examples that are covered in this book.  None of the other material I've read to date has given me as much practical knowlwedge of the customs and culture of India that I envisage using immediately upon arrival.

What were the shortcomings of the book?
    Being a book on customs, etiquette, and culture, it's difficult for me to gauge the efficacy of the book. Without being intimately familiar with India I felt that it covered all that I needed to know adequately, from the Geography, the Attitudes, the Religions, the Food, the Dress, even the Humor of the Indain people.  I'll carry the book with me as a reference when I travel to India.

Recommendations
    I have no qualms about recommending this book to a traveler planning to visit India.  It's not a huge compendium, but it doesn't pretend to be.  It's a small handbook that touches on the most important topics that you'll want to know about.  It related situations you might find yourselves in and helps you understand the Indian perspective in your actions.  A good little book.

Best Price Modern Wholesale (Wal-Mart) in India

The first (and only) Wal-Mart store in India is located about 500 kilometers north of New Delhi, on the Grand Trunk Road near the Holy city of Amritsar that Rudyard Kipling spoke of nearly a century ago.
Interestingly, to deflect the attention of politicians and activists who oppose the entry of foreign multi-brand retailers, the store isn’t called Wal-Mart. After many surveys and much research, it was named Best Price Modern Wholesale.
The endeavor is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart. Bharti owns the largest mobile phone GSM service in India. Until this stores opening, Wal-Mart's retail presence has been limited to providing retail items to their partner Bharti’s chain of 25 Easy Day grocery stores that opened last year.

This store however, is not a standard Wal-Mart such as the ones you see in North America. India has legislation that prohibits foreign companies from having direct competition with the domestic retailers and allows only limited foreign ownership as well. This store is not a retail store that will compete with other local retailers. This store is a cash-and-carry wholesaler that will mostly sell to vegetable vendors, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and other companies.
In order to buy from this store, you must be a business owner, a business owner’s family, or one of three of the business owners’ friends. This was a requirement that was meant to appease the local shop owners who saw the Hyper store as a threat to their businesses.

Wal-Mart has had ties with India for some time. Indian suppliers have been providing cloth, clothing, home products and jewelry for the last two decades. They’ve also been working for the 3 years before opening behind the scenes to develop additional suppliers. These new suppliers will help them stock the shelves of their new store in Amritsar with fresh produce and staples like lentils, wheat and rice. One of their stated goals is to provide localized store brands that will sell for 20-30% less than the leading brands, while being customized with taste, style or size for the local area.

Raj Jain (president of Bharti-Wal-Mart) claims that… “We’ll be able to deliver a different seasoning for noodles every 100 km - all with an appreciation for variations in local cultures and tastes.” “India is not a homogeneous market, so ours is not a cookie-cutter approach from the U.S."

Table 1 Comparison Demographics between India, Germany and S. Korea

The Story of India Q & A

Agriculture

1. What role have the monsoon winds played in Indian history?

A monsoon failure can cause years of drought, and scientists believe that a weakened monsoon may have contributed to the fall of the Indus Valley civilization. Monsoons in India blow from the sea toward land in a southwest direction from June to September and from October through December, winds blow from the land to the sea from the northeast, from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean. This switching of the wind direction season to season, aid ships making the journey back and forth across the Indian Ocean for trade.

2. What is the importance of the Anicut Dam? What does its construction in the second century CE tell us about the Cholan Empire?

The Anicut Dam, built in the 2nd century, has been providing water to support farming efforts in the southern portion of India. It’s age is a reflection of the importance farming and the support of farming in the history of India.

3. While modern agriculture continues to employ 2/3 of the Indian population, it serves as only one fifth of the nation's GDP. What does this shift indicate about India's changing economy? Will agriculture diminish over time?

The shift in the source of income indicates that India is probably leaving the agricultural age and more fully embracing the industrial age as the west has done since the late 1800’s.

Allahabad

1. How does the massive pilgrimage to Allahabad in modern times illustrate India's historical spirituality

It is where, according to Hindu legend, Lord Brahma (the God of creation) performed the first fire sacrifice. Each year during this time, thousands of pilgrims travel to the city to take a ritual bath in the confluence to wash away their sins and increase their chances for salvation. They also perform religious rituals and listen to Holy Men.

2. How was Nehru's policy of non-alignment during the Cold War a reflection of India's past?

Nehru believed in the policies of Ashoka the Great (c. 269-233 BCE), considered the greatest Mauryan emperor in India’s history. Nehru advocated nonalignment, taking the side of neither capitalism nor communism in the Cold War. His goals followed Ashoka’s in the practice of Noninterference and peaceful co-existence. This practice was probably developed by Ashoka to enable a peaceful co-existence between the myriad of cultures, languages, and religion that exist in India.

3. What is the symbolism associated with Nehru's selection of the Lion Capital of Ashoka as the national emblem?

Because Ashoka has become an enduring symbol of enlightened rule, non-violence, and religious tolerance, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, adopted the Lion Capital of Ashoka, as India's official emblem in 1950.

4. While the Great Rebellion of 1857 attempted to rid India of the British,how did Britain subsequently change its ruling style to gain an even stronger foothold in the subcontinent?

The army was reorganized to have a higher ratio of British to Indian soldiers, recruitment focused on regions that had not revolted, and units were composed of soldiers representing many Indian ethnicities to make it less likely that group cohesion could occur through a religious basis.

Edicts

1. What purpose did the Ashokan pillars play during Ashoka's rule? Why do you think they would have been effective?

The pillars contained inscriptions of the Buddhism based edicts of Ashoka after he became remorseful of his past massacres. They were rules of civility that he learned from the Buddhist teachings. They could have been effective because of their locations near the Stupas (religious burial sites) and from the respect and awe that people felt for his transformation.

2. How did the possible meeting between Alexander the Great and a young Chandragupta influence the development of the Mauryan Empire?

Chandragupta was in awe of Alexander the Great. He sought to emulate his successes on both the battlefield and in construction of architecture.

3. In light of India's many religious traditions, why do you think Buddhism suffered a sharp decline in India after Ashoka?

There were many competing religions and philosophies in India. Without the charisma and constant reminders of Ashoka, other religions were able to gather converts.

4. What teachings of the Buddha are most relevant in today's world?

They are the first forerunners of the UN’s declaration of human rights. All humans are members of the same family.

Golden Temple

1. How do Sikhs show the importance of the Sikh holy book, the "Adi Granth"?

The Adi Grnth is brought into the Golden Temple each day for viewing. The Golden Temple is a monumental 2-story structure of marble with the upper story gilded in gold that is positioned in Amrita Saras (pool of nectar).

2. What traits does Sikhism draw from Hinduism? Islam?

Similar to Hinduism, Sikhism teaches that the karmic cycle of rebirths cannot be overcome unless you achieve oneness with God. Like Islam, it emphasizes belief in only one God.

3. Compare the basic tenets of Sikhism and Akbar’s universal religion. Can you make a connection between the two?

Akbar was a Muslim, which was monotheistic. The Sikh was also a monotheistic religion preaching a one true god.

Science

1. Why do you think yoga has become so popular outside of India?

Yoga is popular because of the similarity to “New Age” practices that are popular in that it is used as a method of physical and spiritual discipline but is not a religion per sa.

2. What aspects of Ayurvedic medicine are valued by many people in the United States?

Like many people believe today, Ayurveda emphasizes maintaining health through proper lifestyle including diet, meditation, and exercise.

3. Why were India's advancements in mathematics important? What aspects of math taught today in school originated in India?

The concept of Zero are said to have originated in India, many other concepts of algebra, trigonometry and even the base 10 numbering system were used in India during the 320-550 BCE.

Tamil Nadu

1. Why did the British find the region so valuable?

The area was considered the most fertile of all the colonies controlled by the British.

2. What did the Romans trade with Tamil Nadu?

Rome's conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE consolidated a maritime route to India that remained active into the 7th century. Pepper, spices, and textiles were the primary items traded with the West in exchange for wine, olive oil, and Roman coins.

Trade

1. Why has India been an important center of trade?

With both land routes and sea routes from many different countries, it was a source of spices, culture and religion by the Romans, Chinese, Portuguese, and British.

2. What importance did spices play in the development of trade? What eventually ended the European demand for Indian spices?

Spices were used for the preservation of food (as well as to mask rotting). The requirement for the spices for preservation subdued with the discovery of artificial refrigeration.

3. What was the significance of Vasco da Gama's arrival in Calicut?

He was the first person to navigate a sea route from Europe to India

4. Who did the British East India Company employ to assist the company in its domination of India?

They hired armies of Indians as soldiers and supplied with them with European weaponry to increase their effectiveness against its western competitors, the Dutch East India Company and the French Compagnie des Indes Orientales.

5. How might people of the United States react to a corporation being given the authority to govern another country?

I don’t think it would go over too well (although we’ve gotten close to it in Central and South America in the last century.)

2nd Book Review

The Elephant and the Dragon

Author: Robyn Meredith

Subject of the book

The intent of this book is to convey graphically the state-of-affairs in both India and China. Robyn is in the unique position as an editor for Forbes who is based in Hong Kong and who's responsibile for covering both countries. She has been writing articles about the politics and businesses of China and India for the last 5 years and has a deep understanding of the subject. She covers the strengths and weakness of each country from her point of view. China's quest for a strong infra-structure and it's concentration on connecting it's manufacturing base with the rest of the world and India's weak infra-structure that prevents the country from connecting it's manufacturing capability easily with not only India, but with the rest of the world. She describes how India is overcoming this deficiency by connecting it's service economy with the rest of the world through fiber-optic cables that connect shore-to-shore to all major developed countries. She postulates that the similarities of the two countries are that they are both embracing globalism and capitalism after emerging from their self-imposed isolationism of the last fifty years. The differences she noted that are the most startling is that the politics of the two countries couldn't be more different. Contrary to popular belief in the west that democracy and capitalism go hand-in-hand, China proves this belief wrong. The population appears to be content with the authoritarian communist government while practicing hyper-capitalism. India on the other hand are practicing hyper-capitalism as well but with hyper-democracy. Robyn discusses the twp political systems in place and what problems they both will have to overcome as a result of their political systems in the near future. She predicts that economies of both countries will continue to expand and that the western countries will have to deal with the expansion by looking at our own internal policies and national goals.

Who is the book for?

It's important to know the current landscape if you have any thoughts about establishing a business relationship with counterparts in either China or India, and this book will help you to gain this knowledge. Robyn covers not so much the ancient history of the two countries, but the more recent modern history and explores the potential limitations and outcomes given recent trends. She explains some of the contrasts that are very evident between the two countries. India being a chaotic, bustling, noisy atmosphere, while China exudes a lower key nose-to-the-grindstone feeling. She describes how the information system company's in India got a bit of a free-ride by not having laws in place to regulate them to the same degree as the established industries, and how in China the challenges of getting people to really be motivated and to work when the boss wasn't watching.

What are the best attributes?

I liked that there was both a recent history review, and the first person feeling I got while reading the book. I could almost feel myself in the position of living in a company campus with all the comforts to be found at home in the United States, while at the imagining myself going to the market a kilometer away and seeing the abject poverty.

I personally believe that this is why immigrants from both India and China seem to be more motivated than U.S. born natives....the first hand knowledge of how life can be unfair depending on where you were born, and how close you can be at any time to the poverty level.

What was lacking?

I didn't perceive any major deficiencies in this book. It was an easier read than Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World, but my feeling is that she probably wasn't quite as rigorous with facts and figures. I enjoyed the personal asides Robyn brought to the book, as well as her assumptions of the challenges that both country will face in the near future.

Summation

I enjoyed this book in that it provided a good balance between facts and a vicarious experience. There was more life to this book than Farheed's. While reading, I could almost imagine myself in the situations she portrayed...and not just because of the few photographs included (though they helped). I think this book is a good "primer" on India and China, but shouldn't be the reference you would reach for if you wanted to argue a point. Farheed's book would probably be a better source for that purpose. If you wanted to get a flavor for India or China, this might be a better book for you.

1st Book Review - 2010 MBA India Trip

THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD

Author: Fareed Zakaria

Subject of the book

There is such polarization today in reporting foreign affairs, that it’s hard to tell the difference between truth and fiction.  The last administration of the United States took some of the most extreme nationalistic positions of any president in our history and created a heightened level of tension around the world, perhaps equaled only by the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. In my view, this was because of a lack of appreciation and knowledge of world history. Fareed’s book, rather than trying to incite nationalistic or jingoistic feelings from the reader, seeks to educate from a careful examination of the historical facts in the interplay between the United States and the rest of the world.  He discusses the events that he believes allowed the rise and caused the fall of different civilizations and ultimately focuses on two of the most vibrant countries currently in the running as a major player in the modern world, China and India.  He charts the course they will most likely take in their rise as an ever greater economic force, and addresses what strengths and traits the United States have that could be utilized to maintain or even improve its current status.  This book is not about the fall of the United States as a world economic and foreign policy powerhouse, it’s about the inevitable “Rise of the Rest”.

Who is the book for ?

This book will most likely find favor with people interested in understanding what triggers countries to act or react as they do with respect to major events.  If the reader is of the neo-con persuasion, they might be disturbed with some of Fareed’s conclusions and extrapolations, but if they are more of a moderate, they will appreciate the fair and balanced view that Fareed takes.  In the first Chapter titled “The Cup Runneth Over” Fareed opines that the level of “wars” in the world has continued to decrease up to the present with the levels now being the lowest since the 1950’s. He believes that the common perception only belies this because you see it every day on the news, minutes after it happens. The other reason is because of the scaremongers on TV and newspapers taking every opportunity to fan the flames of an event to elicit a maximum reaction from the public.   Because economic situations are a primary reason for allowing the support for wars, an improvement in a country’s economic status will decrease the likelihood of a war breaking out.  With the increased stability of the majority of the economic systems in the world and the quicker corrections allowed through improved technology, he believes that the world in general has become a safer place, now, than in the past.  If you want to gain an idea of where opportunities and threats may lay in the world of the future this book may shed some light on the subject.

Wt are the best Attributes?

My favorite aspect of the book was a review of early the history of China.  Although I have been to many of the Pacific Rim countries courtesy of the United States Navy, there was no effort to give sailor a historical narrative prior to arriving in port.  I was particularly interested learning about the Chinese Admiral Zheng in the 1400’s sailing in larger fleets, and better more technologically advanced ships than Columbus had.  One has to think what would have happened if China had maintained its focus on world trade rather than crawl back within a shell for the next 600 years.  This withdrawing of the Chinese expeditions probably allowed and encouraged the creation of the chartered trading company’s of the world and in fact most likely were the key to the origins of our present day corporations.

Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed was the role that geography played in the formation of China.  With the prevalent geological feature of being a landscape of flatlands, it made the job of an army general much easier. There were few mountain passes to impede an army’s advance across the country.   Once a ruler became established, there were few places for a populace to escape to.  This flatland topography also became one of the reasons the Great Wall was built.  There weren’t wasn’t any other way to keep the Mongols out.  

Overall, it was interesting to see the heights of technological feats that had been reached in both India and China but were then lost or forgotten.  This is truly a shame.

What was lacking?

The areas of discussion that  I feel were given the least attention, and that deserved a much larger part in Fareed’s equation for the post American world, were sustainability issues.  The entire paradigm of economic rules might change sooner than some might think because of major climate  events on the earth catching up to us. Fareed gives only a few paragraphs over four pages to the issue of global climate change.  Regardless of whether you think it’s Anthropogenic or not, enough data is freely available to convince me that it’s happening.  What will matter is how the world and more specifically the BRIC countries react to the situation.  In an article by Seth Borenstein writing Associated Press article (click here), he quotes the UN climate chief Yvo de Bor saying that $10 billion to $12 billion a year is needed from developed countries through 2012 to “kick-start” things.  To me this sounds like chickenfeed relative to the events occurring.  With the global average sea level rise of between 0.6 and 2 feet (click here) there will be massive human tragedy unless plans are made to combat the effects.  Just a few of the more notable effects as a result of the rise are  an inundation of low coastal areas, an increased intrusion of salt water into fresh water aquifers, an increase in disease and pests that result in the 1 or 2 degree rise in the temperature, a move northward required for wheat and grain production.  These changes will change the cozy state of mind current civilizations have and will force the world to adapt or to disappear.   

Summation

I think this book has a lot to offer.  I learned quite a bit about what the logic might be behind India’s and China’s plans for the future.  I believe that as they both grow, they both will base their economies on the western theme, but with a different flavor, where they keep their cultural underpinnings.

I already see the effects of both countries branching out and becoming integrated with the western world.  The way China has been dealing with its environmental problems is particularly encouraging.  They have become a world leader in the production of Photovoltaic Solar Panels and have in the past month in Copenhagen, committed to a significant decrease in emissions of 40-50% of GHG per GDP by 2020. They appear to believe that the world needs to start acting proactively to solve problems rather than to wait around with their head stuck in the sand.  India’s strength is the diversity of cultures and the determination of its people.  They, probably more than any other country, need to be aware of the impact that their industry has on it people and their environment.  If they don’t acknowledge and address these problems now, they will become most likely become mired in political upheaval as its population becomes more and more disenchanted with the direction its leaders are taking them.

Every country has to build upon its strengths and work on their weaknesses.  We all have them.  The requirement is to look at the world and see the opportunities and threats and create a thoughtful strategy to take advantage of the opportunities and to combat the threats.  In the business world, the first step in developing a long range strategic plan is to do a SWOT Analysis (Strength-Weakness -Opportunity-Threat).  If all countries did this with the knowledge that the Earth is small and has limited resources, and that their country is a partner with every other country, we would be better off.  This is what I believe the message Fareed Zakaria was ultimately trying to convey in his book.

Who's outsourcing to who?

     If you've ever observed the former CNN commentator Lou Dobb's views on the offshore  outsourcing issue, you'd get the idea that the U.S. was going down the tubes because of offshore outsourcing.  He has even called business leaders who use offshore outsourcing "Benedict Arnold CEO's"
     I think there's a lot of emotion involved in discussions on offshore outsourcing that cloud the discussion. Instead of trying to gain a real understanding of the impact of global outsourcing and  focusing on a strategy to combat the real  threats,  there are calls for more tariffs, taxes and laws against the practice.
     Why is offshore outsourcing considered bad? On a macro scale, outsourcing is good for the economy. Customers and investors drive businesses, and customers demand lower prices and investors demand higher profits. In order to lower their costs, companies outsource non-core activities and tasks to places where they can get the most value for their money. That's the upside.  The downside is that factories that don't adapt advanced manufacturing techniques or outsource themselves will be less competitive, less profitable and may be more likely to fail, then people lose jobs.
     I think the question should be, How can the U.S maintain and increase it's global competitiveness and maintain a low unemployment rate while still outsourcing ? 
     The U.S. is the acknowledged leader in many ways.  In spite of the economic catastrophe that we are in the midst of, the U.S. is still the safest place to invest.  The U.S. is known for the quality of it's educational institutions and it's pace of Innovation.  It is also the acknowledged leader in Information Technology and Biotechnology.   The US is also a huge consumer of goods. This the framework that the U.S. must work within to maintain and increase it's presence in the world economy.
      To maximize a company's profitability, they should focus on their core competency's.  What do they do best?  Where is the most value added?  Keep those skills and activities at home, but outsource where it makes sense.   Companies in India are presently outsourcing to the US on a greater and greater scale following the same reasoning.  The Indian Plug-in EV company Reva is collaborating with the New York automotive parts company to build a plant in New York. The Indian IT company Wipro is finding a greater value added by having software written in the U.S. rather than in India.... Why?  If the contract is U.S. defense related it may be a requirement.  If it's a new concept or interface that's being developed and if it's being targeted for the U.S. market, it's more efficient to have it done in the U.S. than in India.
     I recently attended an MIT sponsored forum in Santa Barbara that discussed the issue of turning research and innovation into a greater economic advantage. I enjoyed and got the most out of a presentation by William Jeffrey, CEO of Hughes Research Lab.  He was the first speaker and set the stage for the rest of the speakers.  He had gathered data and presented charts to show the realities of the state of pure research vs commercial development in the US.  His summation essentially was that we need to have a shared vision in this country of the importance of spending money on pure research and then have the motivation to transfer the innovations resulting from this to products that we need.  He compared and contrasted the "old" serial method of development, publishing, then "casting it out"  to see if anyone liked it enough to commercialize it, to a more focused NRC "Tire Track Model" method where you try to match up applications while innovating and removing the time lags inherent in the "old" methodology.
     In summary,  I believe if we refine our method of turning research into products, focus on our strengths like education, innovation IT and biotechnology, and outsource where it makes sense, the U.S. can maintain and increase our economic advantage over the rest of the globe.