Your Company sells household products and small appliances, as well as personal clothing, draperies and curtains, sheets etc. which are advertised in monthly catalogue you mail out and on your website. The business has been growing rapidly in the last five years. Fifty percent of the orders you receive and forward to fulfilment is from older folks who are not comfortable placing their orders online; they prefer to talk to people directly. Your sales are growing but so are your labor costs at the call center where you receive orders by phone. So you contemplate the savings that you might make if you relocate a major part of your internal sales department to India.
After much research and analysis of the cost-benefit ratio, sustainability, the regulatory environment, and the overall economic potential of this arrangement, you plan a trip to Calcutta, India to talk to potential local partners about setting up call centers to handle orders from India.
It is easier for you as the CEO of your company to prepare to negotiate the technicalities of the business arrangements with local partners, but the cultural adjustments that will be necessary during the process is more daunting. You have read how the administration of the Indian government led by Prime Minister Nahrendra Modi and The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who many regard as ‘right-wing’ and Hindu nationalist, have appeared to promote the rise of Hindu nationalism.
After much study of the religious background of India, you decide to write a “Note to Self” about what to expect about the influence of Indian religions (mostly Hinduism) in everyday and business life.
From this Session’s Assigned Reading as well as research into religious practice in modern India (including news sources) write a brief ‘Note to Self’ containing the most relevant information about Indian religions (mostly Hinduism) and its impact on modern life in the context of the political and business climate of Calcutta, India.
Your “Note to Self” should be about 2-3 pages (not counting the Cover and Reference pages, and written in APA style), and it should cover at the minimum these three levels of content and analysis (approximately one-double-spaced-lined-page for each level) and its implications:
Barely below the surface (especially to the western visitor) religious values, and attitudes, and practices can that be traced to the more modern era, and which are nevertheless observable by the discerning and culturally informed visitor.
Explicit attitudes, customs and practices (for example dress code, food, caste system, Holy Days, the role of men and women in society, subordinates and superiors, etc., that are informed by the major Indian religions, which when ignored by a visitor has the potential to either contribute to a positive outcome of business negotiations or negatively impact the potential for collaboration.
Religious attitudes, values and practices that can be traced to the recent resurgence of Hindu Nationalism in India.
The case study must be about three pages, supported by at least two relevant references in addition to the textbook and are to be submitted in APA format with an appropriate cover and reference pages (please see School of Business Writing Manual).