After 7 years in India it is very hard to see my Dutch upbringing in an objective cross-cultural perspective. Many of the Non-Indian people I work with often expect the Indian businessmen to fully understand where they come from and let me be Dutch: They Indians don't! They will do it their way as I would do business the Dutch way when i am in Rotterdam. The Knowledge Culture in the Netherlands does not go very far in India. Being 'right' here simply stays at with you and does not really change a lot in the relationship with your supplier or buyers in India.
I require a level of EQ that outshines our IQ in order to relate cross culturally in a very productive way. It is very interesting and offers a huge opportunity to make businesses work better in the global village. Just like one of our new customers mentioned Saturday: “During the last project with a large Indian company we all agreed on the specs and the deadlines, until the deadline date reached”. All of a sudden we had all kind of misunderstanding and a new deadline had to be established :)… this is the way it goes all the time.
Managing an entrepreneurial venture the Indian way will drive most Western managers absolutely crazy. The influx of foreign companies is India is on the rise and managing the Indian way becomes more of a requirement. As a Multinational company you HAVE to HAVE an India-plan ready to be executed, or this country with it's 1.1 billion potential customers will shop elsewhere. An amazing opportunity is right in front of us... now understanding the Indian system better.
As one of my friends puts it: “the Dutch take about 5 years to plan, calculate, and process and then complete the project in 1 year time. We plan only for 1 year and complete it in 5!”
(It is not about who is right or wrong… we simply work and enjoy life with them, and find a new way to work together, a little bit more planning, a little bit more chaotic and uncertain)… Down the line you do have to get your project completed, so: Let’s make this work!
I require a level of EQ that outshines our IQ in order to relate cross culturally in a very productive way. It is very interesting and offers a huge opportunity to make businesses work better in the global village. Just like one of our new customers mentioned Saturday: “During the last project with a large Indian company we all agreed on the specs and the deadlines, until the deadline date reached”. All of a sudden we had all kind of misunderstanding and a new deadline had to be established :)… this is the way it goes all the time.
Managing an entrepreneurial venture the Indian way will drive most Western managers absolutely crazy. The influx of foreign companies is India is on the rise and managing the Indian way becomes more of a requirement. As a Multinational company you HAVE to HAVE an India-plan ready to be executed, or this country with it's 1.1 billion potential customers will shop elsewhere. An amazing opportunity is right in front of us... now understanding the Indian system better.
As one of my friends puts it: “the Dutch take about 5 years to plan, calculate, and process and then complete the project in 1 year time. We plan only for 1 year and complete it in 5!”
(It is not about who is right or wrong… we simply work and enjoy life with them, and find a new way to work together, a little bit more planning, a little bit more chaotic and uncertain)… Down the line you do have to get your project completed, so: Let’s make this work!
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