Indian Negotiation Style: A Cultural Perspective

While a great deal has been written about negotiation styles in Japan (Graham, 1984; March, 1988; Kramer, 1989) and in China (Pye, 1982; Blackman, 1997; Faure, 1998; Fang, 1999), negotiation in India appears to be the poor cousin as far as the negotiation literature goes. The scant attention, however, is surprising as the Indian subcontinent is fast becoming an important player in the global economy. Measured by the latest statistics, India has the 11th largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity (CIA, 2009). Foreign direct investment, for example, increased from one billion dollars in the 1980s to $70 billion between 2000 and 2005 (Alfaro and Chari, 2009). According to a study by Goldman Sachs, India is expected to be the world's third-largest economy by 2035 (Kumar, 2005). A telling measure of India's rise to economic prominence is the recent acquisitions by Indian firms of major companies around the globe. In June 2006, for example, Mittal Steel acquired Arcelor, the world's second-largest steel maker (Europe's largest) for $32.2 billion, creating the world's largest steel making company (Bouquet and Qusey, 2009). Tata, India's largest company, acquired the Anglo-Dutch Corus Group in 2006 in a $7.6 billion deal, creating the fifth-largest steel company, and in 2008, it acquired Britain's most famous automobile manufacturer, Jaguar and Land Rover, in a $2.3 billion deal with Ford…