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A commentary on the article "The India Way: Lessons for the U.S." by Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra Singh, and Michael Useem, published elsewhere in the same issue, is presented. The topic is a comparison of the prevailing corporate cultures and business models in the U.S. and India. The argument that Indian firms tend to take a more socially engaged approach, while U.S. companies typically focus narrowly on shareholder value, is discussed. The question of whether U.S. businesses would do well to adopt some of the best practices of successful Indian firms is addressed, and it is said that Indian ideals of corporate governance could well have a salutary effect on U.S. business philosophy.

Strategically managing workforce diversity is a value-adding HR function that enhances organizational performance. Managing diversity is a complex and unique HR issue in India due to its religious and cultural diversity and the use of legislation by the Indian state to tackle societal inequities and complexities. This paper contributes to existing knowledge on diversity management and strategic HRM in the Indian context through an in-depth case study of 24 firms of different ownership forms in a number of industries in India. The main method of data collection was semi-structured interviews with 110 managers at various levels and 102 non-managerial employees. Each interview was conducted individually. This paper takes the U.S.-originated concept of diversity management in the HRM context as a starting point. It uses this as a guide to investigate how the concept is understood and operationalized in several leading business organizations across different ownership forms and industrial sectors in India. Results reveal the differences between Western MNCs and Eastern firms as well as the varying views of Indian managers and employees on issues related to diversity management. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lintner model of aggregate corporate dividend pay-out behaviour is applied to firms in the private sector in a developing country, India. The findings are that an augmented Lintner model which includes external finance as an explanatory variable explains aggregate dividends better. Possible reasons for this finding are discussed both in the context of India and developing countries in general. Finally, the paper tests to see whether dividend pay-out behaviour can be characterized as rational. While it appears that dividend pay-out behaviour is not rational, which is contrary to recent evidence from the US and Japan, a deeper understanding of the institutional environment in which firms operate suggests that when viewed in that context the observed irrationality may indeed be rational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a distinctive approach to business associated with the major corporations in India and contrast it with practices in the United States. Specifically, the Indian approach eschews the explicit pursuit of shareholder value in favor of goals associated with a social mission. These companies make extraordinary investments in their employees and empower them in decision making. These practices combine with a distinctively Indian approach to problem solving to create a competitive advantage that has led to spectacular business growth, not just within India but in international markets as well. A particularly important lesson for the United States is that the major Indian companies are not succeeding despite the fact that they are pursuing a social mission and investing in their employees. They are succeeding precisely because they do so. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information on a study which illustrated a multivariate cross-cultural approach to explore the meaning of job involvement (JI) and job satisfaction (JS) in the United States and India. The author gathered information from over 250 white collar workers in U.S. and Indian banks. Twenty predictors used in this study were organized into four categories, demographic characteristics, personality characteristics, job characteristics, and organizational climate factors. The survey found that factor analysis is equally applicable to both cultures. The survey also found that an employee's attitude toward the importance of his or her own job is an important predictor of JI. In terms of JS, job variety and job stress were found to be the predictors common to both cultures.

Drawing on institutional theory and using a methodology adapted from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), early stage entrepreneurial activities are examined within American Indian nations. Examining a context within a larger institutional context, comparisons are made between three American Indian nations and the United States. Patterns are identified regarding total entrepreneurial activity (TEA), nascent entrepreneurship, business discontinuation and new and established business rates. Additional analyses are conducted of individual-level variables within American Indian nations including location, self-efficacy and other variables in relation to nascent entrepreneurship and business ownership. Implications are drawn for tribal entrepreneurship development and further extension of the GEM methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on institutional theory and entrepreneurial cognition, we test the environmental perception-scanning framework in the United States and India. The results suggest that culture and transition context help explain scanning frequency, but entrepreneurs in the two countries are similar in their perceptions of strategic uncertainty in environmental sectors. Moreover, the perceptions of increased environmental change and sector importance, as conditioned by perceived information accessibility, are associated with increased scanning. Overall, our results provide important indications about perceptions and information seeking, and lend support to indications of a universal mindset of entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]