A cultural paradox in organisations in India

Abstract

Indians, at the modern workplace are facing a cultural paradox between their deep seated traditional values and the modern paradigm of western business values. In the current paper, we use multiple published case studies of various organisations in India to understand how these organisations are responding to this paradox, using Cameron and Quinn's (1999) competing values framework (CVF). In terms of CVF, organisations in India are facing a cultural paradox between clan and market type cultures. We are using conjecture to explain the paradox through dialectical theory. This paper then proposes adhocracy as the synthesis of the thesis of clan-type culture and anti-thesis of market type culture for the organisations in India. Drawing lessons from the organisations which have managed to deal with the paradox successfully we draw two propositions for further research. By working with and through the paradox, the paper also presents some modifications in CVF to apt to the Indian context.