Comparative Analysis Of Business Operations In India And Canada

Question:

Discuss about the Interview Report for Revue Interventions Economiques.

Being new and inexperienced in the professional sector, that operates across the globe, I decided to develop my knowledge and enhance my awareness regarding the ways and common norms of working on an international platform. Hence, I conducted an interview, the findings f which have been detailed in the report.

The interview took place for one and a half hour with Liam Wilson, the Human Resource Manager of Scotiabank, on 30^th September, 2017. Wilson is an experienced employee of Scotiabank, serving the organization since the last 14 years. Currently, working as a Human Resource Manager, with the organization, Wilson has been staying in India, serving the Indian clients of the bank. Wilson has been chosen for the interview as he has been an expatriate employee for the last 5 years, and was expected to enlighten me about international job prospects, by offering a comparative view of the nature and style of business operation in India and Canada. The following report will provide the comparative analysis of the ways of managing business in the two different countries, a thorough analysis of the opposed cultural norms of the two nations, and final reflection about what did I learn from the interview session.

While India and Canada both offer huge prospects to conduct business, the cultures of the two countries as well as the business approach is diametrically opposite to each other. First of all, it is important to take a look at the human resource management of the two nations. Although Scotiabank as an international organization operating across the globe, has its own stringent HR policies, the implementation of the same totally depends on the location of its business operation. From his 10 years of experience in Canada, Wilson claimed that the Ministry of Labour at Canada pro-actively manages and heavily influences the HR strategies of the company (Rapp & Coiquaud, 2017). The Ministry of Labour is known for enforcing as well as promoting awareness amongst the employees as well as the management authority of the organizations regarding the minimum wage level or maximum working hours. In case of the violation of the employment standards, an employee can always approach the Employment Standards Officer and file a claim with the Ministry of Canada which in turn can sue the company for violation of the governmental regulations. However, in India, despite the presence of a strong regulatory framework ensuring labour standards, the government does not intervene much with the employment condition or standards as followed in the private sector organizations. However, it does strictly prohibit and penalizes any case that involves bonded or child labour. Next, the Part II of the Labour Code of Canada clearly states the importance of investigating employee complaints about workplace conditions and accidents and injuries at workplace, and report the same to the Health and Safety Ministry of Canada (Muffels, 2014). However, in India there is a striking absence of any comprehensive law protecting the occupational health of the workers. In case of any workplace injury, the company can evade the duty of paying compensations unless the employee is partially or completely disabled. There is no compensation for workplace injuries.

Overview of the Interview and Interviewee

Owing to the high rate of individualism in Canada, the Canadian consumers seeking customer service are far more formal and professional in their conversation and day-to-day dealings. They prefer to cut the conversation short and prefer to choose service independently. As per the interview findings, Indian customers possess a more collective spirit, and they dislike the overtly professional tone, which again is likely to be interpreted to be rude. They prefer a more cooperative help desk service that can help them in choosing the products or service. Besides, a limited number of consumers lack acquaintance in English language, and hence knowledge of at least one local language is desirable, just as in Canada, knowledge of the French language is required.

As far as business ethics is concerned, the interview suggests that in India the growth of an intense interpersonal relation is the building block of successful business opportunity in future. Gift giving does not necessarily imply that the business partners are trying to get the business deal, but can also be suggestive of affection and intimate bond (Ferraro & Briody, 2017). However, as opposed to this, Canadian businessmen are more professional in gift-giving occasions, and will only gift once a deal is closed, and not when it is yet to be approved. The Indian judicial system is not as pro-active as its Canadian counterpart, and hence gifts, gratuity and briber are frequently used in order to gain favourable judgments. The protection of organizations operating in India from crime is questionable.

One major difference between the Canadian and Indian market of the same industry, is the degree of political intervention and organizational autonomy allowed to the business entities. Wilson’s responses clearly suggested that in India, there is too much political intervention and governmental regulation, that is providing a potential threat to the global banking industry. On the other hand, the complete absence of governmental interference in the Canadian market makes it difficult for the banking sector to ensure higher profitability. For example, a striking imbalance in demand and supply of residential properties in Canada, has led to the rapid increase in the house market and hence the Canadian banks including Scotiabank is pleading for government intervention.

The banking industry is an essential contributor to its economic growth, the country’s present GDP is $1.82 trillion, that is sure to affect the lending rate of the customers in a positive way (Hassan & Nassar, 2017). On the other hand, the Indian market is experiencing a slow and steady GDP growth, with its current GDP being $6,616, which is much lesser than that of Canada (Breman, 2016). The average inflation rate of both the countries is more or less same, with India being at 1.97% and Canada being at 1.15% (Breman, 2016). The interest rate in India is high both on loans as well as savings, unlike the Canadian sector which offers a remarkably low rate of interest on savings that barely provide sufficient return on company investments.

This interview session has been very enlightening for me, as it has helped me gain valuable insights into the professional culture of India, a foreign country, as well as its external market environment that can influence the growth of business in a foreign nation. Although the interview was an informative one, I would still like to discuss a few questions that I have, regarding the new country.

1. What is India’s take on work-life balance and does the Indian government ask its companies to invest sufficiently in work-life initiatives?
2. What is the scope of settling down in India, and are the educational and health institutions good enough like its Canadian counterpart?
3. How far the Indian values are are culturally opposed to that of Canada?
4. What is the cost of living in India, and is it too high as compared to Canada?
5. Is seeing a job in India is worthwhile considering the heavy investment involved?

Through the interaction with Wilson and the extended interview session, I have been able to develop my knowledge and enhance my awareness of getting professionally engaged in a foreign business environment. The interview revealed various facts which were no new to me at all, such as the multilingualism in India, and yet there were some new areas the discovery of which surprised me beyond words. I was surprised to know about the absence of a strong regulatory framework in Indian government protecting the health, safety and occupational well-being of the employees. Besides, I was equally astonished to discover that bribery and gift-giving are commonly practiced in India, making me realize that conducting business in a corrupt business environment can be too challenging. I have earlier learnt about Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, and hence the difference in approach between the Indian and Canadian customers did not surprise me. Earlier, I also developed my acquaintance with PESTEL that helped me understand that the external business environment, in the form of political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors can also affect the business operation of an organization. The interview helped me understand how the difference in GDP and interest rates between the two countries or the form of government intervention affects the same organization in two different ways.

Reference List:

Bisom-Rapp, S., & Coiquaud, U. (2017). The Role of the State towards the Grey Zone of Employment: Eyes on Canada and the United States. Revue Interventions économiques. Papers in Political Economy, (58).

Breman, J. (2016). At Work in the Informal Economy of India: A Perspective from the Bottom Up (OIP). OUP Catalogue.

Ferraro, G. P., & Briody, E. K. (2017). The cultural dimension of global business. Taylor & Francis.

Hassan, M., & Nassar, R. (2017). Empirical investigation of the Effect Of Nafta On The Economy In Canada. Global Journal Of Accounting And Finance, 1(1), 1.

Muffels, R. J. (Ed.). (2014). Flexibility and employment security in Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing.