Rethinking Management Theory and Practice for the Indian Context: An International Management Perspective

Abstract

The Indian economy characterized variously as a slumbering giant, powerful tiger, and the most promising market has witnessed a slowdown, occasional disturbances in the industrial relations space, and attention of the world in the last fi ve years. In this special issue, we raise pertinent questions and present research on multiple dimensions of the dynamic and rapidly changing business environment of India. The suitability of management models and frameworks developed in the North American contexts in emerging markets like India and China is questioned. One example of how the well-established models in the literature on success of international joint ventures were insufficient to explain the success of three international joint ventures in the insurance space in India is presented as case in point. Finally, the nine papers that materially contribute to the theme of this special issue are introduced.

Examining the Nature and Effects of Psychological Contract: Case Study of an Indian Organization

“…This study is particularly important for cross‐cultural comparisons, as studies on psychological contract have predominantly been undertaken in the West (Roy et al, ). Further, those that are conducted in an Eastern setting have heavily relied on Western scales and conceptualizations.…”

“…In international management literature, concerns have been raised about the suitability of Western management models, theories, and frameworks to non‐Western setups. Moreover, the growing dominance of markets like India and China have led scholars to recognize the need to understand and manage differences in the employment relationships in such cultural settings (Khatri, Ojha, Budhwar, Srinivasan, & Varma, ; Roy, Vohra, & Budhwar, ).…”

A quarter century of management research in South Asia – II: India and Pakistan

“…The Indian context is thought to be unique in the sense that despite having a segment of the economy that is globally connected and knowledge-intensive, there also exists a vast low-skill, resource-intensive parallel economy that shares an overall business environment that still needs legal and infrastructure reform (Contractor et al, 2015;Narula, 2015). Such a context would require tailored responses from organizations in terms of strategy and management practice (Chari and David, 2012;Ranganathan, 2018;Roy et al, 2016). The Pakistani context is also unique not only due to the salient role of Islam in society, but also due to the major investments by state-owned and private Chinese companies (Chawla, 2017;Khan, 2015;Tehsin et al, 2017).…”