1. Plan ahead: Visas and Vaccinations. Business/tourist/volunteer visas are necessary for entry into India. Processing time for a six-month business visa is 7-10 business days so don’t accept meetings in India less than 2 weeks in advance. All categories of visas can be obtained through the Indian Visa and Consular Service Centre. For BC residents, application forms, documentation requirements, and application procedures can be found here: http://in.vfsglobal.ca/HowToApply.aspx.
Vaccinations are not legally required to enter India, but they are well worth the cost and short-term pain to avoid serious illness and some may even be covered by your benefit plan. Since vaccination recommendations vary based on destination within India, local travel clinics are your best bet for up-to-date information and administration. You will also want to acquire a prescription for anti-malarial meds based on the region of India you are traveling to. BC residents should visit www.tmvc.com for more info.
2. Accept and Adapt. Accept that your visit to India will be a major learning curve. Even if you have experience traveling or doing business in developing nations, India is completely unique. The sooner you adopt an open posture towards experiencing, learning, and adapting to India, the greater your chances are of having a positive experience and achieving your goals. The best source of advice on India will be a qualified cultural guide. A good cultural guide will have a firm grasp on Indian culture as well as your culture of origin and will be equipped to help you understand what to expect and how to most appropriately adapt to the Indian context. IndoSense Consulting specializes in assisting organizations successfully navigate cultural differences.
3. Recognize that India has a culture that places a lot of importance on power-distance. Power-distance refers to “the extent to which less powerful members of society expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.” This has numerous implications for Western businesses engaged in India. For example, you will need to adapt to a more rigid and hierarchical style of management when dealing with Indian organizations. It would be inappropriate to send a director or manager to make a presentation to the VP or CEO of an Indian company. If your company has the opportunity to present to an Indian CEO, your CEO should be the one to go and make the presentation. IndoSense Consulting provides tailor-made workshops and coaching opportunities to help your organization adapt and flourish within Indian business culture.
4. Take your time. Indians are typically very relationship oriented and view their staff/work circles as family where the good of the whole is the first priority. Consequently, you will need to be prepared to invest large amounts of time developing relationships and trust with potential Indian partners prior to expecting a deal to close. Plan for two to three times the investment in time spent over tea, eating meals, and socializing together versus time spent with potential Western partners.
India is an exciting, dynamic place to do business where the potential returns on investment are enormous. If your organization does its P.A.R.T., countless opportunities await!