How to Overcome the Cultural Divide?: A Study of Japanese Expatriates’ Work Experiences in India

Abstract

With the process of globalization setting into motion an increasing amount of global trade between countries, it is inevitable that different cultures converge and collide owing to differing linguistic practices and also affectations of cultural style. Such proximities throw into question troubling equations of self and others as they reconfigure a notion of the interdependent self emerging out of growing interdependence of cultures. The understood meaningfulness of the self expressed against the backdrop of social relationships, roles and duties is rendered somewhat fluid in a cross-cultural setting that exerts its own gravity in creating relatedness of the individual to others and the environment. However, in most cases, firms face serious challenges associated with various cultural gaps which threaten their business performance not quite anticipated by the management. This case study seeks to, first, analyze the kind of challenges the Japanese companies and expatriate managers are facing in India and second, to explore what may be done to overcome such situations.