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The 21st century has witnessed India undergo sweeping economic changes. Riding on a host of factors, India today stands at the cusp of becoming one of the top four economies in the world. A growth rate of over 8%, prior to the slowdown, was despite the inadequacies of infrastructure. Yet, one organisation, which has shouldered the infrastructural burden of the transportation sector in India's growth story, is the 160 year old Indian Railways (IR). IRs profits – $5 billion over the last four years – are a far cry from its loss making days, which tempted the government of India to consider privatisation in 2001. The transformational turnaround would not have been possible but for IRs employees who are its true assets. The objective, therefore, was to understand the 'people side' of IR – the world's largest commercial employer. The study, while looking to increase awareness of contemporary HR challenges in India, is an attempt to first study the HR practices in the Indian Railways and second, to investigate changes in its HR practices and the role of HR in its turnaround strategies.

This call is an attempt to rekindle interest in understanding aspects of Indian culture in organisations. Though there have been previous special issues focusing on topics such as India specific management including human resource management practices and Indian firms' internationalisation strategies (see for e.g. Human Resource Management, 2010; Journal of World Business, 2012), the cultural aspects have been largely ignored. This special issue aims to fill this glaring gap. The World Bank predicts that globally in the near future India will be the second largest economy after China. The recent high growth rates reported by businesses in the Indian economy, while laudable from some perspectives (Cappelli et al, 2010), also need to be sustainable, especially amidst its high cultural diversity. As the world's largest and most diverse democracy, the Indian society can be best described as an amalgam of multiple cultures, value systems, socio-political and institutional orientations. Collectively, this diversity generates multiple opportunities and challenges for researchers and managers to learn about and embrace Indian cultural aspects in organisations.

This book presents case studies of South Asian companies that have strategic business implications, highlighting the complex interplay of business and social dynamics in South Asia. This region is a wide agglomeration of very different countries that share somewhat common cultures and issues and yet it is torn apart by religion and politics. There is an abundance of local entrepreneurship but a widespread institutional void. The book investigates how local companies survive and thrive in this environment and discusses those companies that have withstood the competitive pressure of MNCs, depicting their management and business practices. In today's world, where multinationals are so omnipresent that their management and business practices are considered as the de facto recipe for success, there is a need to have an alternative view that challenges the ubiquitousness of multinational management practices. The case studies in this book focus on the business and management practices of local organizations in South Asia and thus provide that alternative viewpoint of how to achieve success in South Asia. Exposing readers to a local perspective on doing business in South Asia, it is a valuable resource for students and practitioners of management.

The purpose of this edited collection is to analyze the cultural aspects of Indian organizations. As the world?s largest and most diverse democracy, Indian society can be best described as an amalgam of multiple cultures, value systems, socio-political and institutional orientations. This book offers a theoretical and empirical basis for understanding the evolving and changing nature of these aspects in Indian organizations. The World Bank predicts that in the near future India will become the world?s second largest economy. The recent high growth rates reported by businesses in the Indian economy needs to be sustainable, especially amidst its high cultural diversity. Whilst there is tremendous interest in understanding the intricacies of Indian culture and a growing literature focusing on topics such as India-specific management and internationalization strategies of Indian firms, the cultural aspects of Indian businesses have been largely ignored. This book aims to fill this gap. It covers various topics in organizational culture and management such as human resource management, cross-cultural communication and coaching, cultural similarity, cultural literacy, multiculturalism, generational cultural values, talent acquisition and knowledge management. It also features case studies from high growth sectors such as the IT and health industries. Presenting contributions from local Indian and international researchers, this book provides a multidimensional perspective that will appeal to students, scholars and practitioners interested in organizational culture and management in India.

Human Capital in the Indian IT / BPO Industry analyses human capital management in the Indian information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which has created a new paradigm for organising global talent engaged in designing and delivering IT and BPO services, Human Capital in the Indian IT / BPO Industry analyses human capital management in the Indian information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which has created a new paradigm for organising global talent engaged in designing and delivering IT and BPO services. The authors explore the evolution of the innovative talent management strategies of knowledge workers, which has received little attention in existing literature analysis. This book provides a rich theoretical grounding of managing human resources in the context of high-technology professional services firms, focusing on the design and implementation of high performance work system designs in the context of Indian IT/BPO organizations

India has and is undergoing sweeping economic changes lately. There are several organisations who have supported this positive change. Of these, one such organisation, which shouldered the infrastructural burden of the transportation sector in India's growth story, was the 160 year old Indian Railways (IR), the world's largest commercial employer. IR's profit over the last few years was a far cry from its loss making days, which tempted the government of India to consider privatisation in 2001. The transformational turnaround would not have been possible but for IR's employees. After celebrating IR's 160th anniversary in 2013, the case organization wished to revisit its HR practices to understand its recent economic transformations and to strategize how they can improve and sustain maximum efficiency in future. The objective of this case study is to understand the 'people side' of IR by explaining its current HR practices, and to investigate and identify changes over the years so that changes then can be implemented in the context of HR practices for the future. Hence the case attempts to explain the role of human resource management in IR's turnaround strategies. Resistance exhibited by IR staff towards its recent initiative of ERP implementation across India due to fear of job losses and insecurity is also discussed in the case. Teaching note for this case study explains existing people management frameworks published in the research literature to class participants by applying it to the case company. In addition, teaching note also discusses how Chief Personnel Officers (CPO's) of IR can pursue the change initiatives among the employees with least resistance. Changes/initiatives that can be imbibed by the CPO's in the existing HR practices to overcome the resistance exerted by the employees and to improve the existing system is also discussed.

This 'perspective' paper highlights the evolving concept and idea of Corporate Human Rights Responsibility (CHRR) under international law. The paper thus aims to rectify the scarcity of such a notion within the existing frameworks, and its related significance to other concepts of corporate responsibility and governance. On 11 June 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council endorsed the 'Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights' as a new set of guiding principles for global business designed to provide a global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity. This paper develops and builds upon the emerging concept of CHRR in the context of Emerging Market Multinationality (EMM), by proposing that multinational corporation (MNCs) be more proactive in taking on board CHRR within their corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) agendas, so as to avoid future risks of being sued and taken to court. This paper thus aims to use concepts of and alternatives under international law of establishing CHRR, which reflect on existing legislative and political initiatives like the above cited business principles as well as the failed 'Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights' of 2003. Based on related initiatives such as CSR and good CG practice, this article further calls for a holistic approach, which combines the existing elements and which is to be borne by a multitude of stakeholders, i.e. consumers, employees to executive directors. The current literature suggests paucity and underrepresentation of research on the legal facets of human right responsibilities on the part of MNCs in emerging economies such as India. The 'ghost' of the Bhopal tragedy twenty seven years ago in India still haunts us and has resurfaced with Dow Chemicals, then Union Carbide, who was responsible for the tragedy, also having sponsored the 2012 London Olympics, and gained more bad press, than good. This study thus specifically looks at India, through the 'unique', chronological and time-line (longitudinal) case of Bhopal, to elucidate our concept of CHRR.

"The Middle East has for a long time been at the centre of global trade as well as political interest. Demographic and social change shifts in global economic power, rapid urbanisation, climate change and resource scarcity, and significant technological development make this region both complex and hugely important. Doing Business in the Middle East highlights both the opportunities and constraints confronting foreign investors in the region and proposes strategies on how best to overcome them. The book explores the existing and emerging political and legal frameworks, socio-cultural patterns, national infrastructures, regulatory environment, conflict resolution and how to negotiate in the Middle East. It also provides useful insight into how to approach advertising and marketing, promotion and distribution, and also at the strategies for investing in the region and appropriate modes of entry. With a number of features such as case studies, examples of effective and ineffective practices, clear take-aways, and a note on a future agenda on each given topic, this book is highly practical. Based on robust research, this comprehensive guide to doing business in the Middle East is an ideal reference tool for potential foreign investors, those who are already doing business or intend to do so in the region, and for a range of business and policy decisionmakers. The book is also suitable for students and researchers in the fields of international management and business, international and strategic HRM, cross-cultural management and business communication"--