TITLECultural Difference Between

USA & India

Agenda/Topics To Be Covered

• What is culture?

• Why cultural differences are important?

• American culture

• Indian culture

• Some Important cultural differences

• Some solutions

“master of destiny” viewpoint

So what is culture?

What are different types of culture?

A lens – a frame of referenceThrough which we view and interpret human interaction

90% of communication is nonverbalNonverbal communication is heavily culturally influenced

“A dynamic mix of national/geographic, organisational, and professional or disciplinary elements in constant interaction with one another”

(Heaton, 1998)Example

“Those are my principles – if you don’t like them, I have others”

Types of culture

• Organisational Culture

• National Culture

• Company history and tradition

• Leadership

• Technology

• Missions, visions, resources

• Values and beliefs

• Procedures and policies

Organisational culture

National culture

“A shared set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, values, and behaviour organized around a central theme and found among speakers of one language, in one time period, and in one geographic region”

Why cultural differences are important?

Why cultural differences are important?

Speed: fast and slow messages

Context

Space

Information Flow

Time

WELCOME TO AMERICA

How many number of states are there?

50

Salient Points On America ……Salient Points On America ……

The US has long been known as a “melting pot” - because many of its people are descendents of settlers who came from all

over the world

The American people are always on the move

Today three out of four Americans live in towns, cities or suburbs : over 57 million live in rural areas.

New York City is America’s largest city.

Chicago is the second largest city, Los Angeles is third, and Philadelphia is the fourth largest.

Salient Points On America ……Salient Points On America …… Each city has a downtown and suburbs.

- Downtown is where the largely affluent and yuppie crowd stays. It is more expensive than living in the suburbs though the suburbs have large bungalows.

Which is National Capital of America?

- Washington D.C is seventeenth in population. Specially planned and built as a national capital, Washington was laid out by a French architect in the 18th century

What is current population of America?

- Population : 306,747,000 (3rd most populated, 4.5% of total)

- Area : 9629091 square km (3rd most sized, 6.5% of total area)

Who Found America?

America was discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus

The British pilgrims colonized America in 1620

The United States was formed in 1776

Standard Time Zone

Standard Time Zone

Daylight Saving Time (DST) DST - is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more

daylight and mornings have less

Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and adjusted backward in autumn

Start: Second Sunday in March

End: First Sunday in November

Time: 2 am local time

Ex: In 2009, it starts on March 8 and will end on November 1 at 2am

WORK CULTUREWORK CULTURE

Work Culture

In US, the work environment is both professional and causal as well

- Don’t be surprised if you see people bring their pets to work!

Schedules are flexible, and the atmosphere is informal

- There is no apparent hierarchy between managers and their subordinates

- Employees are treated as equals, and independent views are welcomed

American work culture involves a lot of meetings

Normal office timings go from 8 AM to 5 PM. You do need to maintain a minimum of 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week.

Americans are very particular about time-management

- They come to office early and leave on time. You will rarely find them working late hours, or on weekends

American Behavior

Generally, Americans are very polite, friendly and helpful, but have no patience with interference in their private lives

You may find it difficult to discuss everything with an American friend, at least, when you are getting to know each other

Exercising is important, and they usually go for aerobics, swimming, tennis or a jog a few times during the week

Don’t be surprised if strangers greet you. Be polite and greet them back

They are particular about their leisure time, health and hygiene

Living standards

Americans spend money freely and make purchases on credit when necessary to buy things they want

- More money is being spent on education, medical care, services, travel and recreation while a smaller percentage of income goes for food, clothing and automobiles

Clothing Styles

US HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS

US Festivals and Holidays

Some of US holiday customs were brought here from other countries

Other holidays and festivals are related to the history and the culture that developed in the United States itself

How many National Holidays are there in America?

- Constitutionally, there are no "national holidays" in the US, as Congress only has authority to create holidays for federal institutions

Currently, there are 11 U.S. Federal holidays, most (but not all) of which are also State holidays

US Festivals and Holidays

List of US holidays

Date Holiday Name

1st January                          New Year's Day

20th January  Inauguration Day

3rd Monday in January Martin Luther King Jr Day

3rd Monday in February Presidents' Day/Washington's Birthday

Last Monday in May Memorial Day

4th July Independence Day

1st Monday in September Labor Day

2nd Monday in October Columbus Day

11th November Veterans' Day

4th Thursday in November Thanksgiving

25 December  Christmas Day

Sports and Games

Sports and Games

American Lacrosse

Answer

Bulls Chicago

Cowboys Dallas

Phillies Philadelphia

Lakers Los Angeles

Blue Sox Los Angeles

Redskins Washington

Raider Orlando

Celtics Boston

Magics Chicago

WELCOME TO INDIA

Salient Points On India ……Salient Points On India ……

World’s first university in Takshila –700 B.CWorld’s first university in Takshila –700 B.C

Ayurveda- earliest school of medicine known to humansAyurveda- earliest school of medicine known to humans

Sanskrit Language –most suitable for computer softwareSanskrit Language –most suitable for computer software

Yoga- Made in India

5,000 year old civilization

325 languages spoken – 1,652 dialects

Indian Railways ,the biggest employer in the worldIndian Railways ,the biggest employer in the world

Salient Points On India ……Salient Points On India …… 18 official languages

28 states, 7 union territories

3.28 million sq. kilometers – Area

Population-1,166,079,217 (July 2009 est.)

Population growth rate - 1.548% (2009 est.)

Birth Rate - 22.22 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

4th largest economy4th largest economy

Fastest growing IT super powerFastest growing IT super power

Salient Points On India ……Salient Points On India …… Death Rate - 6.4 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Literacy rate - 61.0%

Unemployment rate – 7.8 %

Religions - Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.8%, Buddhists 0.8%, Jains 0.4%, others 0.7%, unspecified 0.1%.

Parliamentary form of GovernmentParliamentary form of Government

Secular democratic constitutionSecular democratic constitution

Worlds largest democracy since 55 yearsWorlds largest democracy since 55 years

You can shake hands with people, or better still stick, to the traditional Namaste, the popular Indian style greeting.

Indian Culture The culture of India is one of the oldest and unique.

The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has its own cultural.

There is hardly any culture in the world that is as varied and unique as India. India - God’s own country, has more than 65 festivals

India is a vast country, having variety of geographical features and climatic conditions.

India is home to some of the most ancient civilizations, including four

major world religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.

Culturally Rich Inventions

The digit zero and the numbering system

Chess

Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus

The decimal system

The game of Snakes and Ladders

The value of “pi”

Noble prizes in Literature, Physics, Economics, Peace and Medicine

Indian Marriage

In Indian society wedding is treated as the most important social Function.

Wedding is a ceremony which celebrates the beginning of a marriage.

Wedding Traditions and customs are varied from culture to culture, religion to religion, society to society and place to place.

Arranged marriages are still very common in India

Most of marriages within cast

Indian Family Value

A young person should touch the feet of his/her elders

He/she should never speak in a high or rude tone to those who are older to him/her.

He/She should always give respect to elders and refer to them as 'aap'.

He should not consume alcohol and tobacco or smoke cigarettes.

He should respect women

He should always speak truth and try to engage in non-violent behavior

Treating guest as god

Important Cultural Differences

Can any one guess the most important cultural difference which we try to illustrate in most of our previous slides?

National Flag as a Indicator of Culture

Indian Flag

What saffron color indicates? - courage, sacrifice, and the spirit of renunciation

What white color indicates? - unity, purity, and peace

What green color indicates? - fertility and prosperity of the land

As a religious symbolism, Saffron represented Hinduism and green stood for Islam. White represented the minority religions

Also indicates unpolluted democracy, unbiased equality and uncensored justice

The wheel - "Ashoka Chakra" has 24 spokes and each spoke depicts one hour of the day, portraying the prevalence of righteousness all the 24 hour of it

How many stars are there in US Flag?

- 50, indicates 50 different states

The thirteen stripes - 7 red stripes that alternate with 6 white stripes

- started with only thirteen colonies that stood against the oppression of the British Empire

Stripes indicates proud beginning and freedom from British

The field of blue represents the freedom to expand and explore the world and beyond

The stars represent the hope and prosperity that exists in the fifty states that make up our nation

American Flag

Some Differences…..

Some Differences…..

Eating – US have their own plate of food, but Indians usually has all dishes on the table and every one shares

Business Lunch

- In US lunch, if you are late they find it insulting

- “Let’s go Dutch” : each person pays his own bill or one of the guest is paying the bill and gets money back

Openness

Personal Questions

More differences….

Marriages – arrange marriage or love marriage

Family bonding – Joint family

US people not like to be too close during interaction, especially of same gender

More differences….

Some Differences…..

Popular American Phrases

I hate that show-off, always shooting her mouth off

- She’s talking too much

After dinner the old man would just hit the sack

- Go to sleep

I think I goofed it up again!!

- Embarrassing mistake

Act your age

- Behave maturely

Ain’t that the truth

- I agree, Ain’t means it is not

Popular American Phrases

Beats me - I cannot figure out

Cut it out - Stop doing that

Don’t beat around the bush - Get to the important matter

Dig up - Listen carefully

Hang in there - Have patience things will work out

Popular American Phrases

I’m all ears - You have my attention

It’s on me - I will pay the bill

Let’s talk turkey - Lets get down to business

Just give me the bottom line - Don’t bother me with lot of details

That’s it, in a nutshell - That’s all there is to tell about something

It’s walk in the park - It’s something that’s easy to accomplish

Some Differences…..

Some Differences…..

Solutions Don’t judge culture

– No culture is more or less valuable or efficient than any other

Understand your own cultural framework

At work or elsewhere while talking, if you want to say Yes, just say "YES". Don't nod your head up and down. Moving your head side to side is found to be very confusing, and its mostly taken as NO

Never, ever talk in your native language in presence of Americans during a gathering

Don't say "The Phone was engaged", as engaged means getting engaged. Instead say "There was a busy tone".

Don't say "I'll ring you back." or "I'll give you a ring later". Here ring is the engagement ring, rather say "I'll call you, or buzz you".

Solutions…..

Solutions Don't offer chewing gum, or a breath freshener to others. It gives

them a message that they have a bad breath

“How are you? “Should not be taken too seriously. Just answer “great! “, because no one really wants to know

Be interested – study – the cultures you work with

Move slowly and softly– Ask, listen, observe

Be brave and have fun!

THANK YOU..