Top 10 Cultural Communication Issues in India

chillibreeze writer — Priya Chandra Madabushi

Communication has assumed greater significance in offshore outsourcing of services to countries with cheaper labor costs. Global English has helped accelerate this phenomenon and given India a competitive edge. Different means of communication play a really crucial role in determining the effectiveness of a relationship between a client and vendor. Business communication needs to be captured in the proper form and correctly understood for successful expectation management. The common cultural communication issues faced in outsourcing to an Indian vendor can be broadly classified under the following heads:

INFRASTRUCTURE-BASED COMMUNICATION:

1. Problems with the functioning of landline and mobile phones:
Some of the problems that are likely to be encountered with a telecommunications network in a developing country like India are natural calamities, real estate availability and cost, bandwidth scalability, last mile reliability & coverage, power availability and reliability, public & private transportation and cost of living. But many of these drawbacks have been overcome now with the entry of private service providers, technology parks, satellite earth stations and high-speed landlines.

2. Dysfunctional broadband:
The performance of optic fiber cables in metro cities is hampered by natural calamities like floods and heavy rainfall. This is because of the absence of underground cabling commonly found in developed countries. Some of these problems are overcome by using dedicated leased lines. A dedicated leased line is a telecommunications path between two points that is available 24 hours a day for use by a designated user (in this case, a company). It is ideal for people requiring extra bandwidth and there is no problem as to distance. But, unfortunately it does not enjoy 100% uptime and is fairly expensive to maintain and use.

ORAL COMMUNICATION:

1. Lack of clarity in a telephonic conversation: Speakers of some languages seem to rattle away at high speed like machine-guns, while other languages sound rather slow and plodding. There really are characteristic differences in speaking speed with 3 possibilities:

Some languages really are spoken more rapidly, and some more slowly, than others as a natural result of the way their sounds are produced.
We get the impression that some languages are spoken more quickly than others, because of some sort of illusion.
In some societies it is socially acceptable or approved to speak rapidly, and in others slow speaking is preferred.

The faster we speak the more sounds we leave out. An unknown language is likely to sound faster than our own language. In either case, it is ideal to ask for a repetition of facts, to avoid misunderstanding between client and vendor.

2. Lack of clarity due to accent: Indian accents vary greatly. Some Indians speak English with an accent very close to a standard British accent; others lean toward a more 'vernacular', native-tinted, accent for their English speech. Accent training is provided in call centers to establish a uniform neutral accent. Cultural awareness programs can help overcome the gaps in understanding and knowledge in other departments like sales and technical fields. An open, welcoming approach to a request for repetition and a mutual respect for individuality and respective cultures are some steps that will help improve the situation.

3. Lack of understanding between vendor and client: Grievances by foreign clients were keenly felt in the following areas:

1) Loss of control: Clients perceived that they tend to lose control over outsourced software operations and knowledge of the product.

2) Geographical distance: In some projects client and vendor did not get a chance to conduct face-to- face meetings or meet each other which might create difficulties in relationships.

3) Vendors reshuffling employees across projects.

4) Vendors not having efficient writing skills in foreign language, which is needed for high quality ‘technical documentation’.

5) Language related difficulties with vendors: This was realized in exchanging emails and preparing formal documents for the project. Following up a phone call with an e-mail and reiterating details of the entire conversation of an internet chat session will be of help.

E-MAIL-RELATED COMMUNICATION:

1) Very Elaborate Response: Indian English is often affected not only by nativity, lack of neutral accent but also by lengthy, elaborate responses. Although this might only be an occasional problem, there is always scope to train Indian vendors in concise reporting and communication.

2) Sudden change of control: Very often, in the course of negotiating on a project, a new project manager/coordinator may take over. Also, reshuffling of jobs is quite common in India. This almost invariably leads to a break in communication or a feeling of lack of continuity. Although all major companies have tailor-made systems to overcome this drawback, it is always important to recognize that such a problem exists.

3) Time-difference related: Some dissatisfaction with offshore outsourcing has been reported when vendors do not keep to schedules and deadlines. Indian vendors emphasize deadlines rather than the time spent on a task, whereas the European clients insist on realizing a project within a certain amount of time. It is also important for clients to reconfirm deadlines and online meetings with reference to the Indian day/date. Different cultures have different perceptions of time, especially in terms of timeliness. Hence, there is always a need to be specific about expectations of completion.

4) Vendors’ stereotyped positive response: Indian vendors generally do not say ‘NO’ to any request. They present an overly optimistic approach to take on challenges, whether or not they may have the actual capacity to succeed at it. In offshoring arrangements between German clients and Indian vendors, some German clients have observed that Indian co-workers tend to keep to specifications, rather than actively contributing their own ideas. Furthermore, some German clients have complained about lacking communication on behalf of their Indian vendors. In cross-cultural literature, such behaviors are described by the degree of activity or passivity.

Criticism behavior is another related issue. Some cultures are used to open criticism, i.e. individuals constructively criticize work or even superiors, and they are willing to admit their own shortcomings. Other cultures rather refrain from criticism, i.e. they accept tasks or opinions as given, especially those of superiors. This dimension of criticism behavior has not been part of previous cross-cultural studies. Also, it may be difficult to manage the ‘hidden’ expectations in the relationship. Proper documentation and determination of each action in the project will help to manage expectations better.

GENERAL COMMUNICATION-RELATED ISSUE:

No recording of discussion and absence of follow-up action: It is always ideal to ensure that every phone communication between a foreign client and Indian vendor is followed up with a confirmation e-mail. It is also necessary to ensure that every internet chat session is followed up with a detailed report.

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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in October, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Priya Chandra Madabushi is a first-class graduate in Corporate Secretaryship, with creditable grades in Business English Certificates (Vantage and Higher levels) from British Council, certified by the University of Cambridge. Her hobbies include reading, solving word games, traveling, singing, embroidery and participating in quiz competitions. She is currently based in Chennai.

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