The Value Of Indian Culture

According to Hofstede (2001), a value is “a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others”, he states that values are held by individuals as well as by collectivities. Values and beliefs are learnt in national culture and vary enormously across national cultures. Culture has been defined in many ways, the definition of culture used in this paper will follow Hofstede (2001) which define culture as “the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another”.

There are specific differences between cultures, particularly in the behaviours, attitude and values of individuals. These differences have a direct effect on the leadership styles in organisations, and increasing

workers and managers) (Chhokar, 2007). According to the power distance index in the GLOBE study, high power distance did not vary with social status, scores were high regardless of the caste (House et al., 2004). Nagpal studies on social cultural changes in India, suggest that individuals have a tendency to perform a lifelong research for a guru or leader which blends both maternal and paternal values, providing intimacy as well as authority (Nagpal, 2003). The opposite of autonomy in India is seen to be “connectedness”, which is highly valued in the Indian culture (Pellegrini et al., 2010). India’s culture is very family oriented with rich traditions of love and acceptance, but coexisting with strict discipline and firmness, an approach encountered in the paternalistic leadership style (Pellegrini et al., 2010). From the GLOBE research project conducted by Hofstede in 1980s, the respondent of the interviews conducted amongst Indian nationals described effective leaders as “caring like a parent would do”, “having the skills to understand people” and “getting involved in relationships outside the workplace”. This further relates the relationship approach of the paternalistic leadership style (Pellegrini et al., 2010).

Confucianism conveys relationalism and hierarchy, which are determinant in the paternalistic leadership approach in China. Relationalism is based on reciprocity in relationship, this explains one of the factors common amongst countries adopting a paternalistic approach, the relationship-based mechanism between leaders and individuals. Another factor in Chinese culture which it is linked to the adoption of paternalistic leadership is the respect of hierarchy and the acceptance of power distance, thus accepting that power is distributed unequally amongst individuals (Hwang, 2000). In the cultural tradition of Confucianism, superiors exert a paternalistic control over relationships while followers submit to their authority (Zhang et al., 2015). The Confucian ideal of five cardinal relationship much emphasise mutuality and reciprocity in social relations. Leaders restrain their behaviours through personal ethics and standards, while cultivating moral rules and adhering to paternal principles (Farh and Cheng,