Mapping India's regional subcultures: Implications for international management

As India continues to emerge as a global economic player, scholars and practitioners increasingly need to understand the cultural heterogeneity within this large and populous nation. Based on Lenartowicz and Roth's framework of culture assessment, we have identified nine distinct subcultural re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of international business studies 2015-05, Vol.46 (4), p.443-467
Main Authors: Dheer, Ratan JS, Lenartowicz, Tomasz, Peterson, Mark F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business and Management
Business management
Business Strategy/Leadership
Cultural differences
Cultural heritage
Cultural values
Culture
Foreign investment
Hypotheses
India
International Business
Management
Management science
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Multinational corporations
Multinational enterprises
Organization
Regions
Society
Studies
Subcultures
Topography
Traditions
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Summary:As India continues to emerge as a global economic player, scholars and practitioners increasingly need to understand the cultural heterogeneity within this large and populous nation. Based on Lenartowicz and Roth's framework of culture assessment, we have identified nine distinct subcultural regions of India and used explanations grounded in functional and neo-institutional theories to account for the origin and maintenance of cultural distinctiveness of these regions. Further, we developed seven cultural value dimensions for the Indian society and used these to hypothesize and empirically test the existence of cultural differences within India. Results supported our hypothesized arguments. This study advances our knowledge of how global functional and institutional forces have combined with national forces to shape India's overall culture and how more local forces have shaped its regions. Methodologically, it identifies and develops measures that specifically reflect the values of individuals living in India and uses these to assess intra-national cultural differences within this nation. Further, it suggests how use of multiple methods can enable us to understand the simultaneous presence of somewhat contradictory values within a society. The study also provides applications of the proposed cultural value dimensions and advises implications of regional subcultures for various social and organizational phenomena.
ISSN:0047-2506
1478-6990
DOI:10.1057/jibs.2014.70