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Our experience tells when European companies start conducting business, among others, the following problems are usually faced: Finding partner: finding a suitable partner is probably the most important step in entering a new market or sourcing material from new country. Indians generally are very eager to jump to new opportunities to conduct business. So one can expect a large number of responses to trade and distributor search enquiries. However, one will soon discover that most of the responses will turn out to be irrelevant – either the sender is not serious enough or will not have the required capabilities. To gain a proper understanding of each candidate’s suitability one should visit each personally and conduct some interviews among third parties in the industry to analyse each candidate’s reputation. This process is very tedious and time consuming but it also is the most important step in the process.Communication: both verbal and nonverbal communication play an important role in negotiations and misinterpreting these signals can lead to expensive mistakes. Body language, voice tone and conduct in negotiations in India differ to that in Europe. One should be aware of these differences to avoid misinterpretations. Part of this is also the ‘over positive’ or ‘no problems’ attitude that some Indians have. Concept of time: for a person accustomed to task-oriented, fast paced business culture in Europe understanding Indian mentality and conduct can sometimes be difficult. One should be aware that it usually takes more time to get things done in India – though this varies greatly from company to company. This leads to a situation where European partner usually underestimates the time it takes for a project/task to complete. Quality control: Before supplier’s track record has been established the buyer should have a third party person looking after buyer’s interests, delivery times and conducting quality control. Checking for quality problems before shipment can prevent many problems unsuitable quality might cause. Effect of corruption and grey economy: corruption and grey economy are a part and parcel of conducting business in India and one should understand their implications. Management issues: it is always difficult to find good managers. In the case of India, western managers hit often the cultural barrier even harder than usually. It has become obvious for us that managing Indian workforce, regardless nationality of the manager, requires specific set of management tools. |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 09 June 2007 ) |
