Douglasian Cultural Model in Indian Context Essay

IntroductionTodays world is being dominated by daily innovations in technology and increasing globalisation which inspection and repairs organizations to spread and to operate globally in a successful way. Every organisation operating at a global level is trying to purify their financial profits. The success of such organizations greatly depends on their oeuvreforce and their decision-making capabilities. Many times the honourableity of such decisions agree been questi wholenessd because of the profit driven strategies of these organizations.As Nobel Prize master economist Milton Friedman quotes, An executives responsibility generally will be to make as much money as possible while conform to their basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in honorable custom. The decision-making assist and hence ethicality of the decisions in such organisations is greatly influenced by the polish of the workforce. Bartels (1967) was one of the first to note the importance of the use of culture in ethical decision-making. There are incompatible studies which discuss the diversity of ethical decision-making found on different perspective for example, Vitell, Nwachukwu and Barnes, 1993 discuss the effect of culture on ethical decision-making with the help of Hofsteds typology while Patel and Schaefer, 2009 discuss the said(prenominal) with the help of Douglasian heathenish Theory (CT) perspective in the Indian context.SummaryPatel and Schaefers article discusses the impact of culture on ethical decision-making from a Douglasian heathen Theory (CT) perspective. It explains the alive(p) ethical conduct of the individual with four solidarities of CT. The Article also discusses the line of credit morals in the Indian context. Authors argue that applying motionless conception of culture to the do work of ethical decision-making in business results in several problems. The Authors propose CT as an alternative model to these unchangi ng conceptions to avoid these problems. The Article says that every kindly system is ethically plural because of the presence of all four solidarities together. An Individual from different solidarities may have a different perception of an issues moral intensity which may lead to different levels of moral awareness and hence to different moral judgements. The Article explores the dynamicity and diversity of ethical decision-making in business using the CT framework inside the Indian context with examples of Amul, SEWA, Tata Steel, ONGC and Reliance.StrengthsThis article offers an alternative approach of CT stating the impact of culture on ethical decision-making process in business. Authors argue that applying the static conception of culture to the business ethics results in different problems like field of study stereotyping, focus on only national cultural aspect ignoring the other aspects and broad generalisation of culture at national level. This article strongly supports th e scholars who challenge the essentialist culture approach like Hofstedian framework. Singh (1990) and Bosland (1985a) have shown that it is possible to have different scores on the four Hofstedian dimensions within the same country. Hence there is possibility of difference in ethical behaviour within the same country. The Authors also talk about(predicate) the same ethical dynamicity in behaviour.The article powerfully illustrates the diversity in business ethics within Indian context using CT model. The Article talks about the different cultural patterns existing in same corporation at same time. This article supports the argument by Sathe (1985) which says that although, the term corporate culture is used as if organisations have a monolithic culture, most companies have more than one set of beliefs influencing the behaviour of employees.The Article also supports the Thompsons (1997 a-c) theory who argues that same individual could be a member of different solidarities in differ ent contexts which explains the different ethical behaviour of an individual at a different social context. Also the article studies the ethical practices of different types of companies and business entities to netherstand the business ethics beyond large private corporations with respect to all the four solidarities of CT. The article debates about the dynamicity of ethical decision-making by citing the examples of all the solidarities existing in different Indian corporations. Also it talks over about the historical and philosophical background for the adoption of different ethical strategies by different corporations.WeaknessesThe article explains the process of ethical decision-making in business from a Douglasian Cultural Theory perspective only. The article does not identify many a(prenominal) other factors beyond culture that may banknote for differences in work behaviour across nations. Scholars like Parboteeah and Cullen (2003) have suggested the need to allow noncultur al factors to isolate the influence of culture on ethical behaviour. Also many scholars have talked about the other personal characteristics like education, age, gender and religion that affect the ethical decision-making but they have not put any get out on this part in the article. jibe to Kracher, Chatterjee and Lundquist, education plays an grand and positive role in ones ethical decision-making. Also Singhapakdi et al. JBE (1996) talk about the relationship between ethical sensitivity and age being significantly positive.Ameen, et al., (1996) suggests that ethical judgments vary according to gender, where females have historically been more ethical compared to males. According to Singhapakdi et al JBE (2000), there is a positive relationship between religion and perception of an ethical problem. The article has not mentioned all these perspectives while considering the process of ethical decision-making. Patel and Schaefer explained the ethical behaviour in Indian business c ontext with the help of CT and argue that as CT is not limited in its stove of application, what is true for one country should also be true for other countries. This contradicts the findings of the look intoers like Tsui which states The major contexts that may separate one nation from another include the physical, historical, political, economic, social, and cultural. This may cause an individual from another country to behave differently in the same context compare to individual in India.My standpointThe research article applies CT model to explain the ethical decision-making process in business within Indian context which allows us to look beyond static and limited conception of national culture. The authors have explained the ethical behaviours using examples of different Indian business entities. Since India is one of the largest growing economies, this research paper will be useful in providing the insights of the ethical practices in India. In my opinion, the authors have raised valid questions about the studies that link static conceptions of the culture to the business ethics. The authors have successfully associated dynamicity in ethical behaviours with the different cultural patterns as per CT which proves the existence of all the four solidarities in every social system. Paper also gives us insights about how all the solidarities co-exist and try to dominate each other. The Authors explain it in an Indian context citing examples for each solidarity.Moreover, authors have highlighted the important fact that managers operating under different cultural patterns may perceive and attend to information about moral issues differently which results in different ethical behaviours. The article considered the very important factors of history and politics that may have influenced while discussing dynamicity of ethical behaviours within Indian context. I am of the opinion that the Douglasian cultural theory is not equal to judge the ethical behaviour in b usiness. There are many other factors like education, age, gender and religion which hold a significant role in the decision-making process. The authors have failed to consider these factors. I believe the consideration of the above mentioned factors would have made this research work more reliable. Also I dissent with the authors argument of what is true for India should also be true for other countries since every country has a different political, economical, cultural and physical background.ConclusionTaran Patel and Anja Schaefer have criticized the static and limited conception of culture to ethical decision-making in business. They have provided the alternative approach of Douglasian cultural theory to explain the dynamicity and diversity in ethical behaviours with the help of examples from business entities in India. The Authors advocate that the managers should be sensitive to the beliefs of all the four solidarities to be more effective. The Authors also agree that more em pirical and theoretical work is needed to strengthen the relationship between the cultural patterns and business ethics.ReferencesBartels, R. 1967, A Model for Ethics in Marketing, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Jan., 1967), pp. 20-26Vitell S, Nwachukwu S and Barnes J. 1993, The Effects of destination on Ethical Decision-Making An Application of Hofstedes Typology, Journal of job Ethics,Vol. 12, No. 10 (Oct., 1993), pp. 753-760Hofstede, G. 1980. (Revised in 1984). Cultures Consequences International Differences in Work-related Values. Sage Publications.Singh, J. 1990. Managing Culture and Work-related Values in India. Organization Studies, 11(1) 75-101Bosland, N. 1985a.An evaluation of Replication Studies using the Values Survey Module.Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation, Rijks-universiteit Limburg Working Paper 85-2, MaastrichtSathe, V. (1985), Culture and Related Corporate Realities, Irwin, Homewood, IL.Thompson, M. 1997a, Rewriting the Precepts of Polic yAnalysis, in M. Thompson and R. J. Ellis (eds.),Culture Matters Essays in Honour of Aaron Wildavsky(Westview Press, Boulder, CO).Thompson, M. 1997b, Cultural Theory and TechnologyAssessment, in F. Fischer and M. Hajer (eds.),Living with Nature Environmental Discourse and Cultural Politics (Oxford University Press, Oxford).Thompson, M. 1997c, Cultural Theory and IntegratedAssessment,EnvironmentalModelling and Assessment 2,139150.Kracher, B., A. Chatterjee and A. R. Lundquist 2002, Factors Related to the Cognitive Moral Development of Business Students and Business Professionals in India and the United States Nationality, Education, Sex and Gender, Journal of Business Ethics 35(4), 255268Parboteeah, K. P., & Cullen, J. B. 2003. Social institutions and work centrality Explorations beyond national culture. Organization Science, 14(2) 137-148.Patel, T. 2005, Using Dynamic Cultural Theories to explain the Viability of International Strategic Alliances A Focus on Indo-French Alliances. Ph D Thesis, Open University. Milton Keynes, UK.Singhapakdi, A., S. J. Vitell and K. L Kraft 1996, Moral Intensity and Ethical Decision-Making of Marketing Professionals, Journal of Business Research 36, 245255.Ameen, E., Guffey, D. and J. McMillan. 1996. Gender Differences in Determining the Ethical aesthesia of Future Accounting Professionals. Journal of Business Ethics 15 591-597.Singhapakdi, Anusorn, Janet K. Marta, Kumar C. Rallapalli, and C.P. Rao (2000), Toward an Understanding of Religiousness and Marketing Ethics An Empirical Study, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 27, No. 4, 305-319.