Negotiating With the Complex, Imaginative Indian

This article outlines the way in which Indians negotiate and highlights the difficulties that such a style may pose for North Americans. It begins by describing some dominant Indian cultural values, and subsequently assesses their impact on the Indian negotiating style. The coexistence of individualism and collectivism, an idealistic mind, a strong nationalistic sentiment, a subjective view of time, and the presence of a hierarchical culture constitute dominant cultural values that have resulted in a complex and highly imaginative Indian negotiator. Implications for Western corporations include the presence of drawn out negotiations, the growing importance of maintaining social relationships, accepting that contractual obligations have less sanctity in India, and finally dealing with a perception of fairness that is relatively more outcome based. The article also explores the possible strategies that North American managers may employ in their interactions with Indians. By being patient but firm, working with the Indian’s high aspiration levels rather than against it, recognizing the virtues of flexibility, inducing Indian negotiators to behave differently by being less aggressive, and accepting that negotiated agreements may not be implemented in a timely way, North American negotiators can successfully operate in the Indian business environment.