India hosts people from different religions and languages. There is a majority of Hindus, followed by Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. Languages spoken include but are not limited to Hindi / Urdu, English and Punjabi.
Business trends in a country are immensely influenced by the social and cultural norms prevailing in that country.
Likewise, business in India is unique in nature. Indians are greatly influenced by the English people who have ruled them for centuries in the past. Accordingly, good business culture in India is considered one that would conform to the Western standards in terms of business language, dress codes, ethics, organizational structure and functionality. Generally any person who can speak good English is considered literate and qualified for many types of opportunities in the market. Indians are generally polite and sharp. Usually, they would frequently be observed making promises on petty matters to convince the other person.
India generally has a 5 day working week, Monday through Friday, with 8 working hours in a day, which includes a 1 hour lunch break. However, in some organizations, it is also compulsory for workers to work on Saturday. “Business hours are usually from 9.30 to 5.30pm (weekdays) with a lunch break from 1pm to 2pm, and Saturdays from 9.30am to 1pm.” (www.iexplore.com, n.d.). However, (Nita, 2008) mentioned in her report that the official work week in India consists of 48 hours which starts from Monday and ends on Saturday. Sunday is officially declared as a holiday.
Use of fax as a medium of communication is quite frequent in Indian business culture. Although this seems quite simple and easy, yet managers can not be approached directly through a phone call, unless a formal appointment has been taken following the proper hierarchical procedure. Confidential matters are not discussed in emails and spams are not replied.