MGT 747 Paper

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL, INSITUTIONAL, AND ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES IN INDIA

Environmental, Institutional, and Economic Perspectives in India: Practical Implications for Expatriate Managers

John Bell

Missouri State University, College of Business Administration

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Abstract

India is an exceptionally diverse country with considerable language, religious, and

cultural variations. As a result of the broad range of divergence that is present among

India’s culture, it is absolutely necessary to elaborate on empirical evidence so that

expatriate managers use this information to avoid generalizing India’s society. In this

paper, empirical research articles in the management sciences are investigated to explain

the environmental, institutional, and cultural factors that are present in India, and how

these factors have implications for leadership, establishing legitimacy, motivating

employees, negotiating, and implementing human resource management practices. The

researcher also explores topics in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social

inequality and how these elements are prevalent in India. Cultural theories from

Hofstede, Trompenaar, and the GLOBE project are included to explain cultural behavior

in India and to provide realistic solutions for expatriate managers. The researcher

provides realistic examples from Indian IT companies such as WIPRO and Infosys. The

researcher also addresses generational differences in regards to employee attitudes

towards workplace motivation. The importance of this paper is to inform expatriate

managers of the considerably distinctive management practices in India. Consequently,

individuals managing in India may decide to use these invaluable insights for managerial

decision-making in their day-to-day operations. The author first discusses the background

of India to provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of basic information

regarding history and politics.

Keywords: India, globalization, information technology, culture, communication,

leadership

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Environmental, Institutional, and Economic Perspectives in India: Practical

Implications for Expatriate Mangers

Introduction

It is evident that India’s economy is the tenth largest in the world by nominal

GDP, and is a member of Group 20 major economies. India is recognized as being the

largest democratic country in the world, and the second largest country in regards to

population (1.2 billion people). Similarly, the country is also classified in the economic

cluster of BRICS (World Trade Organization, 2013). The economy of India, which is

classified as a mixed economy, has without a doubt grown substantially in recent years.

This is especially accurate in regards to information technology (IT) and business process

outsourcing (BPO). The United States and Europe are the primary customers for the

Indian outsourcing industry. The USA and Europe make up “60 percent and 31 percent”

of IT and BPO exports, respectively (SourcingLine, 2014). By the same token,

multinational corporations (MNCs) are outsourcing their IT services to India with

intentions of reducing costs as a result of lower wages in India (Gale, 2014). This is

described in Thomas L. Friedman’s book The World is Flat: A Brief History of the

Twenty-First Century. Friedman describes his previous journey to Bangalore, India. He

suggests that globalization is changing core economic concepts. However, a recent

survey by SourcingLine, a research firm, suggests that wages in India are actually rising.

This research firm ranks countries in regards to their outsourcing potential using three

factors: cost competitiveness, resources and skills, and business and economic

environment. India’s overall rating in the survey is the highest (7.1) in comparison to

other outsourcing countries such as China and Indonesia. However, India’s cost index

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ranked lower than these other outsourcing countries because of the noticeably rising

wages in India (Kathawala & Heeren, 2009). In short, this survey especially has

important implications for expatriate managers who have intentions of outsourcing their

operations to India.

Interestingly, the Indian city of Bangalore is identified as the “Silicon Valley of

India” because of its function as the nation's leading IT exporter (Canton, 2012). A few

notable companies headquartered in Bangalore are Wipro and Infosys, and both reap the

financial benefits of business process outsourcing (BPO), information technology, and

software engineering. These indications have appealed to MNC managers. Thus, it is

apparent that MNC managers are considering these markets as an opportunity for growth,

expansion, and competitive advantage. Despite the aforementioned benefits of

globalization in India, it is essential that expatriate managers recognize the

environmental, institutional, and cultural factors that are pertinent to managerial practices

in India. There are several factors that will be discussed in this paper including, but not

limited to: legal, historical, religious, political, economic, social, and demographic.

Therefore, expatriates managing in India should acknowledge that these factors have

implications for managerial decision-making.

Background of India

Modern history of India’s economy

During the Colonial Period, the British East India Company, beginning in mid-

1800, gradually conquered India. This had detrimental effects on India’s economy and it

ultimately caused it to remain stagnant. Previously the country was centrally planned and

included public ownership and trade barriers (OECD, 2007). There was absence of

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industrialization in India during the Colonial Period (1510-1961). Mahatma Gandhi was

the leader of the India independence non-violent movement (Zachariah, 2011). The

country gained independence from the United Kingdom on August 15, 1947 (CIA, 2014).

This movement sought to end the British East India Company rule the British Raj.

Shortly after British Imperialism, the Republic of India implemented what are called

“Five Year Plans”. These are “centralized and integrated national economic programs”.

India suffered from an economic crisis in 1991, and started to have balance of payments

complications (Rediff News, 2009). This led to the economic liberalization in India by

adopting capitalistic principles and making India’s economy more market-oriented and

enhancing the role of foreign investment (Kumar, 2011).

Demographics

It is important that expatriate managers realize that India is an extremely diverse

country. India is the second most populous country in the world with over 1.2 billion

people and a growth rate of 1.51%. It is predicted that India will be the most populous

nation by 2050 (CIA, 2014). It is also estimated that the average age will be 29 years old

by 2020 (BBC News, 2004). Major urban areas by population include New Delhi (22.6

million), Mumbai (19.7 million), Kolkata (14.4 million), and Bangalore (8.6 million).

Forty-one percent of Indians speak Hindi. The majority of citizens are Hindu (41 %) and

Muslim (13.4%).

Politics and government

The Prime Minister of the Republic of India is Narendra Modi and has been in

office since May 2014 (the Times of India, 2014). According to the United Nations

Population Division, India is the world’s most populous democracy and is a multi-lingual

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federal state. The legal system is based on English common law (CIA World Factbook,

2014). The government is composed of executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Literature Review

Economic factors

The work environment in India is experiencing significant change as a result of

rapid industrialization (Economist, 2012). It is imperative that expatriate managers realize

that many Indian workers may be willing to leave their jobs at well-known companies to

start their own ventures because of the relatively new entrepreneurial successes. Hence,

managers may need to be weary about these progressive employees before allocating the

financial resources for training and development. Moreover, it is also critical to mention

that countries that are experiencing industrialization prove to portray high rankings on the

materialist index, signifying that individuals in such societies are achievement oriented

and prefers material gains (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2014, p. 101). The importance of

industrialization and economic development in India indicates that it would be in the best

interests of expatriate managers if they motivate their employees with monetary rewards.

Social factors

Another factor that expatriate managers should consider is social inequality,

especially concerning income distribution. Even though it is clear that India has

experienced tremendous economic growth, the country’s noticeable and widening income

inequality hinders access to important resources such as education and healthcare (Singh,

2008). Corruption and poverty are widespread in India. A reliable measure of social

inequality in a society is the GINI coefficient (0 = perfect equality; 100 = perfect

inequality), which “measures the degree to which people’s income deviates from a

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perfectly equal income distribution” (World Bank, 2009). It is apparent that India’s GINI

coefficient is roughly 37, which means that the country has a wide income gap. Hence,

social inequality in an economic sense has important implications for expatriate managers

because they should be cognizant that they may put their business in a position to have to

withstand negative publicity as a result of paying low wages to workers. Likewise, Indian

workers may have negative attitudes towards managers who pay unfair wages to their

employees and this will ultimately decrease employee morale as well as productivity and

efficiency (Cullen and Parboteeah, 2003). Therefore, expatriate managers should

consider paying fair wages to employees in India to avoid negative publicity and to

maintain high employee morale and productivity.

Religious/ethical factors

It is accurate that Hinduism predominates in India, and this has various

implications for expatriate managers. According to BBC News (2006) a law was passed

that requires Indians who desire to convert from Hinduism to Christianity to get approval

from authorities. In short, Hinduism is “acceptance of the ancient traditions of India that

are based on the Vedic scriptures” (Cullen and Parboteeah, 2014, p. 106). Approximately

13.5 percent of the world population practices Hinduism (Fisher, 2010). A fact of

Hinduism that is most likely to have implications for multinational companies in India is

the “caste system”. The concept behind the caste system is the organization of Indian

society into four distinct occupational groups ranked from highest to lowest: priests,

warriors, businesspeople, and workers. Despite the caste system being illegal, expatriate

managers should still be aware of it for an assortment of work-related reasons pertaining

to discriminatory practices. For example, it may be challenging for a member of a lower

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caste to supervise higher-caste individuals and this may ultimately result in workplace

conflicts. Furthermore, another implication for expatriate managers in regards to religion

is the Hindu’s respect for parents. Lastly, Hindus focus on four goals throughout their

lives: spiritual achievement, material prosperity, pleasure, and liberation. Nonetheless,

expatriate managers should understand that the Hindu’s religious views are generally in

favor of business and wealth accumulation. Figure 1 illustrates the religious diversity that

is apparent in India.

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Figure 1: Religious Diversity in India, Source: Tomovic C., Purdue University,

Retrieved November 9, 2014.

In comparison to religious factors in India, another important consideration for an

expatriate manager is their perspective on business ethics and/or corporate social

responsibility (CSR). For example, Infosys is a prominent IT software company located

in India. Despite being located in a country notorious for corruption and exploitation, the

CEO and founder Narayan Murthy proclaimed that he desired that Infosys should be

“India’s most respected company”. In regards to CSR, the company has created the

Infosys Foundation. The company notably donates a percentage of their profits to

charitable organizations with objectives of supporting individuals in India who suffer

from poverty (Raman, 2011). The example of Infosys has important implications for

expatriate managers. Expatriate managers in India should benchmark companies that

value ethics because there is empirical evidence that suggests that these CSR initiatives

end up being financially beneficial for a company. According to Beurden & Gossling

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(2008), companies that uphold desirable business ethics reap the benefits of financial

performance.

Hofstede’s Model of National Culture

Geert Hofstede’s model of national culture focuses on five dimensions that

explain cultural differences. According to Hofstede (1980), the study was based on

“116,000 surveys from 88,000 employees of IBM subsidiaries around the world” (Cullen

and Parboteeah, 2014, p. 51). In regards to practicality, peer-reviewed research suggests

that Hofstede’s findings may be useful for expatriate managers because it helps mangers

understand cultural differences for a particular country. It is important that expatriate

managers fully recognize these cultural differences for an assortment of work-related

reasons. In brief, the five dimensions of Hofstede’s model of national culture are power

distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and long-term orientation.

Hofstede developed the percentile ranks for India, and the ranks inform you of the

percentage of other countries that rank below India, which include the following: power

distance (82), uncertainty avoidance (17), individualism (62), masculinity (63), and long-

term orientation (71) (Hofstede, 1980). Expatriate managers may use these percentile

rankings, as well as Hofstede’s model, in many work-related situations that pertain to the

following managerial practices: human resource management (HRM), leadership,

motivation, decision-making, and strategy. For instance, expatriate managers in India

may want to adopt a “theory X” leadership style by being authoritative towards their

subordinates because of the high power distance in the country. Indian subordinates tend

to be more submissive and to expect orders from their superiors. However, expatriate

managers should keep in mind that “generation Y” Indian employees are more self-

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confident and do not have a problem with voicing their opinions (Bhattacharya, 2012). In

regards to HRM factors such as training and compensation, expatriate managers in India

may want to invest in long-term employment skills and focus on security because of the

high long-term orientation in the country. Expatriate managers should assume that Indian

workers would be self-motivated and competitive because of the low uncertainty

avoidance in India. Figure 2 illustrates the comparison of the United States, which is an

Anglo country, and India in regards to ranking by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.

Figure 2:

Comparison of USA and India on Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (The Hofstede Center;

Stambolska, 2012)

Trompenaars’ Dimensions of Culture

Fons Trompenaar introduced cultural dimensions to explain relationships among

people. These cultural dimensions include: universalism vs. particularism, collectivism

vs. individualism, neutral vs. affective, diffuse vs. specific, achievement vs. ascription,

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sequential vs. synchronic time, and internal vs. external control. Cullen and Parboteeah

(2014) list the seven dimensions (Figure 3) to provide a brief definition of the concepts

(Cullen & Parboteeah, 2014, p. 67-68). It is crucial to define these dimensions before

applying the theories to India’s culture.

Figure 3: Defining Trompenaars’ 7 Dimensions (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2014, p.67-68).

India is considered to be a particularistic society. Expatriate managers in India

should understand that since the country is high in particularism, it might be difficult to

enforce contracts. Deals can easily be modified because they are based on the situation

and the individual proposing the agreement. Expatriate managers in India must also focus

more on relationships instead of rules. However, this certainly does not imply that

expatriate managers should fully disregard formal rules. Furthermore, India is also known

for being a collectivistic culture because of their emphasis on family values. Therefore, it

is also important for expatriate managers in India to realize that negotiations require

decisions to be made at the highest level. By the same token, expatriate managers in India

must comprehend that India has an affective orientation. As a result, expatriate managers

must be tolerant of emotional expressions. For example, an expatriate manager in India

who discusses a performance review with their subordinate should expect emotional

outbursts of either joy or frustration. Thus, managers should avoid appearing detached.

This contrasts to countries who have neutral orientation—such as the US and Sweden.

India is also considered to be a diffuse culture. This is because relationships require a

significant amount of trust and “relationships are thus more encompassing and inclusive”

(Cullen & Parboteeah, 2014, p.71). Expatriate managers should mix private and business

lives and “use ambiguous direction to give employees latitude” (Cullen & Parboteeah,

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2014, p. 72). It is rational to conclude that ascription is prevalent in India because of their

reliance on the caste system. This is particularly important for expatriate managers in

India because they should realize that background and age are main qualifications for

management positions (Economides, 2008). Expatriate managers must “emphasize

seniority, use personal power of superiority for rewards, and emphasize the chain of

command” (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2014, p. 73). Indians also structure time

synchronically, and they usually perform many tasks at once because of their spiritual

focus “on being” instead of “on doing”. Expatriate managers in India must keep in mind

that plans are subject to change dramatically. Lastly, Indians overlap in an externalist

culture because of their flexibility in accommodating their behavior to a particular

situation (Lindholm, 2013). Therefore, expatriate managers in India should “emphasize

patience, build and maintain relationships with subordinates, and emphasize win-win

relationships” (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2014, 75).

The GLOBE Project

According to Cullen and Parboteeah (2014) the GLOBE project “involved 170

researchers who collected data on 17,000 managers from 62 countries around the world”

(Cullen & Parboteeah, 2014, p. 64). The GLOBE project research ideas are highly

comparable to Hofstede’s work, but it uses two independent dimensions: performance

orientation and human orientation.

India is labeled in the Southern Asia cluster in the GLOBE project. The Southern

Asia cluster has medium performance orientation and high humane orientation (Javidan

& Darfman, 2006, p. 74). Expatriate managers should understand that India is a medium-

to-high performance oriented culture. Expatriate managers in India should consider that

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there is not much admiration for individual achievement. However, research suggests that

this is gradually changing because young entrepreneurs are portraying more aggression

and self-reliance and this is becoming more acceptable in the Indian culture (Chhokar,

1998). Despite India being clustered in the high-humane-oriented Southern Asia cluster,

expatriate managers may want to understand that there are anti-beggary laws that are

present in India and there are limited amounts of handicap schools (Chhokar, 1998; Goel,

2010). There are various management implications for expatriate managers in regards to

the GLOBE project. Since India is considered a medium-to-high performance oriented

society, expatriate mangers should be directive and task-oriented. The expatriate mangers

in India should emphasize results and base promotions on merit and achievement. As a

result of India being clustered in the high-humane-oriented Southern Asia cluster,

expatriate mangers may want to portray a more “consideration-oriented” style of

leadership and show support for their subordinates (House, 2004).

Human resource management

It is well understood that India has an abundance of skilled labor. However, it has

not been simple for expatriate managers to promote loyalty to retain these skilled

employees. As a result of MNCs expanding their operations to India, there is competition

among firms in India to attract and retain skilled employees. This is giving employees a

higher bargaining position in regards to remuneration (Hamm, 2008). Therefore,

expatriate managers need to be innovative with their compensation and benefits plans to

retain their human capital. According to Grow Talent Company, a human resources

consulting firm, MNCs in India are using competitive HR strategies to keep their

employees satisfied and motivated. For example, employees are allowed to bring their

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spouse to work on special days. This idea is useful to maintain a strong work-life balance

—a fundamental topic in HRM (Merchant, 2006). The managers also allocate funds to

celebrate birthdays and/or work anniversaries. Another strategy that expatriate managers

are using to keep their employees loyal to the company is encouraging their subordinates

to obtain their master’s degree in business administration (MBA). Lastly, MNC managers

are offering variable pay instead of fixed pay to foster performance and ambition in the

workplace (Chaturvedi, 2012). Another example of a company that supports work-life

balance initiatives is Infosys, a well-known technology services firm headquartered in

Bangalore, India. The company developed an “Employee Relations Program”. This

unique program offers counseling, athletic competitions, and health care events. Since the

company decided to capitalize on their HR competencies, it has proven to be

advantageous because it prevents other large companies from taking their skilled

employees. It is important that expatriate managers focus on improving their HR

practices. Not only will the expatriate managers be able to reap the benefits of employee

retention and lower turnover, but it will also attract new talented employees.

In addition to HRM practices, another factor for expatriate managers to consider

is performance appraisals. It is important that expatriate managers realize that most

performance appraisals in India take place only once per year. This method has proven to

be problematic in India because the employees aren’t receiving enough feedback.

However, companies such as Deutsche Bank India and Niveo India are aware that it is

much more efficient to conduct mid-year performance appraisals. Other companies are

even providing continuous feedback to their employees by having the companies’ HR

team participate in the performance review (Singh, 2012).

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Motivating employees

In emerging economies, such as the economy of India, the majority of individuals

are motivated by extrinsic work values—such as preferring job security and avoiding

opportunities to leave their jobs. However, India seems to fall somewhere in the middle

between extrinsic and intrinsic work values because young professionals in India are

more aggressive towards compensation and advancement than their generational

counterparts. The Meaning of Work study has important implications for expatriate

managers in India. Figure 4 lists the importance ranking of work characteristics for India.

India

1. Generous Holidays

2. Use Initiative

3. Interesting Job

4. Good Hours

Figure 4: India’s Importance Ranking of Work Characteristics (Inglehard & Ronald,

1981-1984, 1990-1992, and 1993-1997)

Therefore, expatriate managers may want to stress the importance to their subordinates of

taking holiday vacations with family. The managers should also provide flexible work

hours to keep their employees motivated.

Many IT companies, such as Infosys and WIPRO, are struggling to motivate their

expatriate managers. The reason is that expatriate managers find the work pace in India to

be intimidating and relentless (Phadnis, 2012). Although MNCs have been attracted to

India because of low wages, it is crucial that expatriate managers increase pay to retain

their talented employees. Research also suggests that there are attitudinal differences in

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regards to motivation between generations in India. This has important implications for

expatriate managers because young Indian professionals do not value security and

stability in work in comparison to previous generations in India. Expatriate managers

should expect these young Indian professionals to demand more compensation out of

them. The expatriate managers also need to keep up with the young Indian professional’s

ambitions and make sure that they promote personal development and growth and avoid

stagnation. Therefore, expatriate managers in India need to create plans to retain these

young professionals in order to have a return on investment in their human capital

(Hamm, 2008).

Leadership: Establishing legitimacy

There are three leadership styles that are particularly useful for expatriate

managers in India. Expatriate managers in India want to adopt these leadership traits in

order to establish legitimacy in the country. The leadership styles are team-oriented,

participative, and humane-oriented. The GLOBE project places India in the Southern

Asia cluster. Research suggests that Southern Asia prefers high team-oriented leaders. As

a result of Southern Asian societies being high on collectivism, expatriate managers who

are willing to be “collaborative and diplomatic” and who value the group are likely to

succeed as a leader. (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2014, p. 661). Southern Asia is ranked lowly

in regards to their preference towards participative leadership styles. In short,

participative leaders encourage subordinates to participate in critical decisions—which is

known to be uncommon in India. Lastly, Southern Asia is ranked highly in regards to

preference for humane-oriented leaders. Therefore, expatriate managers in India must be

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fair and altruistic if they want to establish legitimacy as an effective leader. (Dorfman,

Hanges, and Brodbeck, 2004).

Legal factors

Another important element for expatriate managers to consider is India’s labor

laws. There are several labor laws in India that make it challenging to fire employees or

to cease unprofitable operations. Unfortunately, expatriate managers have to keep in

mind that it is required to get government permission to fire workers—but only if the

company employees more than 10 workers (Bhowmik, 2009). These labor laws are

motivating managers to “pay-off “workers, or simply offer them voluntary retirement as a

technique to avoid firing them and getting into trouble by the government (Karp, 1997).

Communication & negotiation

In regards to communication and negotiation in India, it is essential that expatriate

managers keep in mind that India is an extremely diverse culture. Fortunately for

American expatriate managers, English is the main language that Indians use for

international commerce. A fundamental practice that expatriate managers should always

remember is that greeting another Indian worker requires “Namaste” with the palms

brought together at chest level with a bow of the head. It is also important that expatriate

managers formally address Indians whom they know personally. This portrays respect

because it shows that the expatriate manager understands Indian cultural etiquette. It is

evident that India is characterized as being a collectivistic society in regards to

Hofstede’s culture dimensions. However, there is coexistence of collectivistic and

individualistic tendencies because of the diversity in India (Kumar, 2005, p.4). This is

why India’s culture is unique compared to other East Asian cultures. It is apparent that

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Indian managers portray individualistic tendencies when they negotiate with “out-group”

members in society (Stambolska, 2012). Kumar (2005) suggests that it is necessary to

develop relationships at the beginning when a manager is negotiating in India. Another

factor that expatriate managers in India should consider is that Indians view the concept

of time very differently than most Anglo cultures. There is very little sense of urgency,

and Indian businesspeople desire extensive facts before completing a deal.

Edward T. Hall, a cross-cultural researcher, introduced concepts that are useful

for intercultural communication. In particular, the concepts of “high-context culture” and

“low-context culture” have important implications for expatriate managers in India. First-

and-foremost, in high-context cultures many things are left unsaid and the

communication is thought to be more implicit in nature (Adair & Brett, 2005, p. 37). The

reason for this is the “in-group” has very similar expectations and the cultural context

ultimately explains the social situation to the individuals (Hall, 1976, p. 79). Therefore,

word choice is very crucial for communicating in a high-context culture because even a

few words have the likelihood of communicating a complex message to the “in-group”.

On the contrary, low-context cultures rely primarily on words to explain the meaning of

the message. In these low-context cultures, communication is known to be explicit (Hall,

1976, p.70).

In addition to high-and-low context cultures, research suggests that India is

considered to be a high-context culture in regards to communication. It is important that

expatriate managers in India realize that Indian workers avoid saying negative or

unpleasant things to other individuals in business settings. However, an interesting fact

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about India is that the individuals are more talkative than other high-context cultures, and

express their emotions more frequently (Gesteland, 2012).

Edward. T Hall also elaborates on the study of “chronemics”, and how this

concept relates to business communication. In short, chronemics is the study of the use of

time and how it influences nonverbal communication. A culture is characterized as either

“polychronic” or “monochronic”. An example of a monochronic culture is the US and

Germany. In these cultures, it is important that a person puts their full attention into the

“task-at-hand” before moving on to a next task. Therefore, individuals negotiating in a

monochronic culture tend to focus on the outcome of the negotiation and try not to waste

anybody’s valuable time. In contrast, an example of a polychronic culture is India.

India’s culture is well regarded for lacking in punctuality and preferring loose scheduling.

Expatriate managers in India should realize that a typical business meeting in India

doesn’t begin on time and may not always follow a fixed agenda (Varner & Beamer,

2011). Expatriate managers in India must also expect that during negotiations, Indians

use ambiguous language and aren’t very direct. Indians are also patient about new

proposals and modifications within the negotiation. This contrasts with US individuals

who are usually aggressive and do not have a problem with confrontation. Figure 5

illustrates the sequence of negotiations in India.

Figure 5: Typical business negotiation sequence in India (Lewis, R., 1996).

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According to Figure 5, it is evident that modifications to agreements may be accepted

during a business negotiation in India.

Conclusion

This research study has certain limitations. The research was compiled from

several different empirical journal articles. It is also difficult to entirely accept the

theories constructed by of Hofstede, Trompenaar, and the GLOBE project because India

is such a diverse country. Specifically, it is difficult to determine if India is an

individualistic or collectivistic culture. The country is also very dynamic and changing. It

is classified as an emerging economy and India is becoming much more Western in

regards to free market capitalism. Hence, it is important to keep in mind that expatriate

managers will have to keep up-to-date with Indian culture. There are also implications for

future research. It is crucial that researchers focus on entrepreneurial prototypes in India,

and how to establish legitimacy in this country as an expatriate manager. This paper

implies that an expatriate manager may take all of the results of the exploratory research

and use them when they focus on establishing legitimacy in India. The compiled results

also have broad implications for expatriate preparation, such as staffing and training.

There were several environmental, institutional, and economic factors that were discussed

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in this paper. The purpose of this paper is for expatriates managing in India to

acknowledge that these above-mentioned factors have implications for managerial

decision-making.

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