Comments on Brian S Courtney: An American working in an Indian company - Part 1

Some of the things may be true in certain areas of...

2011-08-26T18:26:00.587-04:00

Some of the things may be true in certain areas of india, but not everywhere..
a culture is like living organism..
& within India there are many cultures..you can not stereotype them.
Caste system is no more prevalent.
here, in USA, I see people being judged by their clothes & money they have - so guess, its there across the globe - we cant really say "its there ONLY in India".
I have worked with many american clients & have been respected for my independent thoughts - so cant really generalize

One correction - I mean I believe there is more in...

2011-08-20T07:28:50.889-04:00

One correction - I mean I believe there is more inequlity here in USA due to racisim

I have reservations with your comments Brian. This...

2011-08-20T07:27:41.984-04:00

I have reservations with your comments Brian. This blog is a stereotype of what people think - you cannot generalize this. The article emphasizes and circles around caste system - I do not believe it is as prevalent in indian culture as it was in the past. Having lived in USA, I believe there is more inequality here than in India due to racisim. How often have you seen people of color moving to higher position. Americans are hypocrites who are quick to find fault in others but you shoudl look at your own culture first. At least Indian accept the castesim exits but americans are not willing to accept that racism exists. I work in a company that has 99% white and when I go to parties with my colleagues they tend to make racial comments on other ethinicities in my presence.

I can go on and on about my experiences in America - that will take a whole day to write up. I will leave it here but do not give me that crap that americans are equals!

Indians (Generally) only know how to follow proces...

2010-11-05T05:38:41.391-04:00

Indians (Generally) only know how to follow process and if they don’t understand a modification instruction they won’t tell you and will just interpret the instruction as to what they thought you meant, they are freaks, I tell you freaks.

I work for an "american company" its lo...

2010-03-20T10:51:52.403-04:00

I work for an "american company" its lower case because while there are three huge buildings in three different cities in India there is half a floor rented here in the US. There is no sign on the outside of the building...a company with 65,000 employees and 500 of them here in America. The customer may love your contribution to their company but unless your tamil it means nothing.

Very interesting information. My first perception ...

2009-12-11T11:47:52.672-05:00

Very interesting information.
My first perception of working with Indians was positive. I felt Americans were simply scared because so many more qualified Indians were now competing for the same positions and requiring less compensation.
It wasn't long before I realized that I as an American was being treated as a lesser caste.
I found my Indian and Pakistani co-workers to be very rude on unwilling to share any of their knowledge.
They felt they had to learn everything on their own and therefore I should too.
Success was not measured as a team but only as individuals.
More recently the Software firm I was working for was bought out by an Indian Outsourcing company. Management saw fit to terminate almost everyone and expect customers to spend more for less services.
It is clear that Mgt was not at all concerned with quality of service or the satisfaction of customers.
They felt that customers would be happy just because they were charged less.
In their eyes our jobs are nothing more than numbers on a spreadsheet.
This is also true of many American companies and the people who run them, however, they at least make some effort to make it sound like they are interested in more than the bottom line.
The Indian Mgt team didn't even make an effort to conceal their contempt.

As a consultant who has had the awful experience o...

2009-11-06T17:01:48.153-05:00

As a consultant who has had the awful experience of being acquired by an Indian outsourcing firm, I do not support you in your peace-love-and-joy tra-la-la. What you are doing here is very obviously avoiding sounding like a racist. You know you aren't curious about India, you're mad that you sold out and went to work for them. Here's the deal: its not a race issue. Its an issue with globalization. And as much as globalization has been touted as One Love, the realities are far from it. Its wrecking economies as we have seen for the past year. We have 16 million Americans unemployed. Why do you think that is? The globalization model has consequences my friend. I'd stick to reality.

Brian, I am really enjoy your blogs. I work (in ...

2009-07-18T10:58:20.396-04:00

Brian, I am really enjoy your blogs.

I work (in Canada) as a Business Analyst and find the comments and ideas helpful, enlightening and relevant. I communicate in a office space with people of many cultures. It's raised my awareness of how if can affect work projects, particularly, for me,the software development process.

Hi Brian , I agree with your views and also feel ...

2009-06-12T07:42:40.673-04:00

Hi Brian ,

I agree with your views and also feel that because of this attitude we dont have creativity in our society . I am just hoping that American companies should not tolerate managers who try to act smart and yet are incompetant . They should bring American methods and ways which reward creativity and by doing so they will do a lot of good for Indian society .Please , please deal ruthlessly with incompetance and reward creativity and competance.

Hi Brian, I totally agree with your comments. I h...

2009-06-06T03:56:35.158-04:00

Hi Brian,

I totally agree with your comments. I have lived and worked in India, England, US, as well as in Canada. I am a Canadian citizen. There are numerous criticisms with regards to the casteism (including my own) in LinkedIn. One may question about the ethnic attacks elsewhere or ill-treatment in other countries. The fact of the matter is, Indians DO treat other Indians differently within India. That being said, you would agree with me the fact, this, in fact is a generalized statement. The fact that caste system still prevails in India let me question myself: how far we are tolerant ourselves in treating fellow Indians or to accept constructive criticisms and the willingness to change. In the current scenario, the caste system is a deep-rooted evil, fueled by both by political and religious faculties. This could be almost similar to the situation elsewhere in which either politics and/or religion plays the decisive roles on behalf of its people.

With regards to the work culture, even in early 80's I have worked with range of management personalities (from micromanaging types to who treated respectfully and worked collaboratively). Coming back to your question, was this a fundamental difference in upbringing or looking for an excuse and the reluctance to change? We are able to keep up with the technology and developments and within no time we would be able to change ourselves and utilized the opportunities and let alone lead in certain areas of technology. However, when comes to these issues, we have to apologetically give an answer that people want to hear - how incapable we are in changing ourselves? If at all, one has to wait for the Government to change the system, which administration has the courage do make such change? How long one must wait for that to happen?

Hi Brian, Thanks for sharing your experience and ...

2009-06-04T22:23:45.169-04:00

Hi Brian,

Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts. I am an Indian and working in India in an organization whose parent company is American owned.I understand your views but I sinceerely feel that the scene in organizations here in India is changing gradually.I think, people are now aiming towards a blend of individualism and paternalistic approach.

Thanks,

Sameer