Assignment 4: Cultural Information Paper
HRM 500 – HR Management Foundations
Introduction to India and its Customs
In
... [Show More] Verizon’s newly created role as an International Brand Ambassador stationed in India, there may be quite a culture shock for first-time expatriates traveling from the United States. As the intention of the role is to extend Verizon’s services into the country for the first time, knowing the history, customs, expectations, and requirements of working (and living!) in India is crucial to the success of the Brand Ambassador while traveling abroad. In this paper, we will also talk about transportation availability, housing costs, the influence of work unions, the typical work week, vacation time, and anything specific to the country that would differ from the experience of living in the United States. Equipped with this information, the company’s Brand Ambassadors traveling to India will experience a smoother transition to an international culture and have an easier time communicating the value of Verizon’s services to the people of India.
India is a very large country that contains a remarkably vast population, containing hundreds of different social groups and over a hundred different languages. With a population of over one billion, it is also the world’s largest democracy and home to the world’s largest middle class (Henderson, 1). With an origin containing the stories of overcoming the struggle against colonial masters and the birth of one of the world’s most prominent religions – Hinduism – the politics and culture of the country are both framed by social justice and human rights. The philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, which utilized nonviolent protest to help the people of India gain independence from the British in 1947, is a significant cultural mentality that pervades the identity and spirit of many Indian people.
With an expansive and diverse set of cultural subgroups, however, comes a division of India’s people into shared groupings of lifestyles, religions, and beliefs that originate from the descendancy of ancestral origins (Henderson, 1). Brand Ambassadors arriving in India for the first time may be caught off guard by this, as one of the most prominent aspects of local customs is the caste system. Communities in the various parts of the country collectively “rate” the value of these thousands of different groups into a social hierarchy that largely determines the opportunities extended to that particular group. More challenging to understand for a US-born expatriate is that these castes are something that a native Indian is born into, without considerable ability to shift from one caste to another, and marriage is almost always limited to occurring within the caste as a way to promote “purity”. With this structure in place, the people of India are “constantly reminded that group membership, social position, and roles place obligations on the individual” (Henderson, 1). [Show Less]