1. Effective collaboration.
Indian cultural dimensions.
Pavel Kobychev

2. Case: YES / NO
It is a Friday. SW will be frozen on Monday noon. Coding has just being completed
and the SW is published. FT is not yet started. Ville tries to convince Raj to do
a testing on a weekend.
Ville: We just have published a software. Might your team be able to
come on the weekend, Raj?
Raj: This weekend? mmm...
Ville: Yes, this weekend.
Raj: Let me check my calendar… BTW, How busy is Kalle’s team?
Ville: Kalle’s team has done it’s part already today
Raj: Yes, they do work quite fast.
Ville: Your part shouldn’t take too long… So what do you think, Raj?
Raj: We will try our best.
Ville: O.k.

3. Why?
Give a general understanding of Indian
national culture
How national culture can affect working
behavior?
Increase cultural intelligence
Create awareness of multi-cultural nature of
FlexiPlatform development
Enhance communication between Espoo
and India

4. What is a culture?

5. Agenda
12:30: General facts about India. Quiz
13:30: Break
13:45: Cultural dimensions. Communication.
15:15: Q&A

6. India

7. National symbols
“Saffron denotes renunciation of disinterestedness.
Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains
and dedicate themselves to their work”
“The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct.”
“The green shows our relation to soil, our relation to the plant life
here on which all other life depends”
“The Ashoka Wheel denotes motion.
India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward.”

8. National symbols
1. National Sport
2. National Bird
3. National Animal
4. National Flower
5. National Fruit

9. Language & religion
Languages
Hindi
Telugu
Other
Bengali
Marathi
Hindu
Sikh
Muslim
Christia
n
Other

10. Demography: some facts
Age structure (2009 est.)
<15
31 %
15-64
64 %
>64
5 %
Total population:
1,195,400,000 (est 2011)
Median age:
25.9 years (est 2010)
Labor force:
523.5 million (2008)
More then EU-27 total population (est 2010 at 501 mln )
Rural vs Urban population

11. Trivia and facts. Past and Present.
India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
First university was established in Takshila in 700BC
Inventions:
The Numbering System (400BC-400CE)
Zero (IX century)
Chess
Largest…
2nd most populous country
Democracy
Indian Railways is the largest employer
Number of post offices
2nd Largest Standing Army
11th Largest Economy (GDP) , 4th Largest (PPP)
…
Practicalities
Country code
IST Time zone

13. Lifestyle
Family
Most important institution of Indian society.
Joint family events are still typical
Marriage is a social contract between two families
Investment in children education is your pension
"Matri devo bhavah, Pitri devo bhavah, Acharya devo bhavah, Athiti devo bhavah".
Relationship
I know you – I trust you
“Loosing face”
Naming:
Naming system is soo difficult. Depending on religion, region, cast, language…
Casts
Legal basis is removed by constitution of 1950
Vertical mobility is promoted by government
Cyclical perception of time
Kal (Hindi) means one day removed from today. = either “tomorrow” or “yesterday”.
Education
Oriented on examination performance
Top-down, knowledge acquisition models.
Passive receiving rather than active participation
Only top 1% admit to IIS

14. Ready for a quiz?
India for Foreigners
Incredible India
From NBC's ”Outsourced”

15. Cultural dimensions

16. Case: New design proposal
Ville has sent a new design proposal to Raj’s team. This is a regular sync phone
conf…
Ville: Have you received my latest design proposal?
Raj: Yes, we have received it yesterday and discussed it briefly
Ville: Do you agree it is good?
Raj: Yes, Ville, it is good. But what about that missing use-case when a user
wants to add all configuration in one transaction?
Ville: C’mon, Raj, this is minor issue we can handle during a sprint.
Raj: What do you think about proposal from Kumar?
Ville: mmm… made last week? It is OK by me. Will you take this item to the
sprint planning?
Raj: Yes, we’ll take it. Would you participate in the grooming?
Ville: Hmm, I might be busy tomorrow, but the document which I sent quite well
describes the proposal…
Raj: OK.

17. Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
Geert Hofstede (1923) is Dutch social psychologist and
anthropologist
Widely known as an author of the cultural dimensions
theory
Massive study conducted in 1967-1973
Cultural dimension
Power Distance (equality versus inequality)
Collectivism (versus individualism)
Masculinity (versus feminity)
Uncertainty avoidance (versus tolerance)
Long Term Orientation
Indulgence (versus restraint)
“Culture's Consequences” (1980)
Further studies:
Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness
(GLOBE) conducted in 1994-2004

18. India cultural diagram
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
PDI
IDV
MASUAI
LTO
India Finland World average

19. India cultural diagram
Power Distance
Power Distance (PDI): the
degree of perceived inequality
between people in a country's
society.
Those in authority openly
demonstrate their rank.
Subordinates are not given
important work and expected to
take the blame for things going
wrong.
Clear guidance is expected
The relationship between boss
and subordinate is rarely
personal.
Class divisions within society.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
PDI
IDV
MASUAI
LTO
India Finland World average

20. India cultural diagram
Power Distance may affect on…
Effective and open communication during negotiations,
brainstorming and idea generation.
Obtaining meaningful information and giving objective
feedback
Proposing a (alternative) solutions to critical issues.
Independent and effective decision making. Technical
expert remains silent until asked by a boss to speak
Tendency to say “yes” to requests from clients and
superiors
Agreeing to things without analyzing task requirements
properly
Knowledge transfer/knowledge acquisition

21. India cultural diagram
Power Distance. Recommendations.
Give clear and explicit directions. Deadlines should be
highlighted and stressed.
Do not expect subordinates to take initiative.
Be more authoritarian in your management style.
Show respect and deference to management.
Expect more bureaucracy
Use managerial channel to deliver an important message

22. India cultural diagram
Individualism
Individualism (IDV): the
degree to which a culture
values and reinforces the
importance of the individual
as opposed to the group.
Group embeddedness
based on own (apane) –
other (paraye) dichotomy.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
PDI
IDV
MASUAI
LTO
India Finland World average

23. India cultural diagram
Masculinity
Masculinity (MAS): the
degree to which a culture
reinforces the traditional role
of males vs. females.
High MAS:
Competitiveness
Assertiveness
Ambition
Accumulation of wealth
Material possessions
"live to work", meaning longer
work hours and short
vacations
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
PDI
IDV
MASUAI
LTO
India Finland World average

24. India cultural diagram
Uncertainty avoidance
Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI):
the (reverse) level of tolerance
for uncertainty and ambiguity
within a culture.
In India almost as low as in the
USA. (=High tolerance)
Have fewer written rules
Offer less-structured activities
and experience
Higher labor turnover.
More tolerant of new and
different opinions.
People don’t easily express their
emotions.
Not “either-or” but “not only, but
also”
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
PDI
IDV
MASUAI
LTO
India Finland World average

25. India cultural diagram
Long-Term Orientation
Long-term orientation
(LTO): the importance
attached to the future
versus the past and
present.
Finland official data
missing. Sweden, Norway,
Germany – Low
High LTO:
Persistence
Savings
Long-term strategic goals
“life after death”
Shame / “loosing face”
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
PDI
IDV
MASUAI
LTO
India Finland World average

26. Communication

27. Direct vs. Indirect communication
“Meant is not said;
said is not heard;
heard is not understood;
understood is not agreed to;
agreed to is not carried out .”
Konrad Lorenz

28. Communication challenges.
When Indian means “No” / “Not possible”
Not responding at all.
Avoiding the question/changing the topic
Postponing the question
“Can I get back to you?” / “I will check my calendar.”
Repeating the question
Coming up with some other question.
Hesitation
Conditional Yes
“Is that what you would like?”
“We will try our best”/ “We can give a try”
Pointing out how busy he is
Agreeing initially, then bringing the subject up again.

29. Communication challenges.
When Indian means “Behind the schedule”
Repeating the subject of the schedule/deadline
“Schedule is inconvenient”
“Is deadline still good?”
“Are all parts of project has to be done as per the
deadline?”
“Part of the project taking longer time.”
“Some parts are on schedule.”
“Is another team also busy?”

30. Communication challenges.
When Indian means “Your proposal is not so good”
Avoiding an answer
Asking your opinion on an idea/proposal of his own
Praising a minor unimportant aspect of your suggestion

31. Hints for successful communication
with Indians
Never accept the word “Yes” alone as an answer. Pay
attention to what the person says next.
Double check that you have been understood
Do not pose suggestive questions
First ask the Indian you are talking to what (s)he thinks
Prize openly – punish personally
To deliver a negative message an intermediary with rank
similar to the receiver can be used
Do not confuse Indian “head wagging” (rocking the head
from one side to the other) with “no”. It means “I am
listening” or even “yes“.

32. Case: New design proposal
Ville has sent a new design proposal to Raj’s team. This is a regular sync phone conf…
Ville: Have you received my latest design proposal?
Raj: Yes, we have received it yesterday and discussed it briefly
Ville: Do you agree it is good?
Raj: Yes, Ville, it is good. But what about that missing use-case when a user wants to add all
configuration in one transaction?
Ville: C’mon, Raj, this is minor issue we can handle during a sprint.
Raj: What do you think about proposal from Kumar?
Ville: mmm… made last week? It is OK. Will you take this item to the sprint planning?
Raj: Yes, we’ll take it. Will you participate in the grooming?
Ville: Hmm, I might be busy tomorrow, but the document which I sent quite well describes the
proposal…
Raj: OK.
Raj’s team definitely studied the proposal and have made own
understanding of it. Despite not fully understood (used to deal with
uncertainty) they will take it (Ambition + LTO) and will not argue with
Ville (PDI + “loosing face”). What will be a resulting implementation?

33. Thank you

34. Further materials
Some other presentation on how to make a
phone call with India 10 min
Cultural dimensions in youtube
Incredible India
Book "Working with India” by W. Messner

35. Dos and Don’ts
when writing to Indian
colleagues to always send
a copy of all
correspondence to the
manager.
Give clear and explicit
directions
Repeat and check
Prize openly – punish
personally
Fist ask Indian colleague
what he think
Do not expect
subordinates to take
initiative
Do not expect active open
discussion in group
Do not accept “yes” alone.
Do not pose suggestive
questions