Despite the threat of commercial ascendancy from China, Russia and others, India still leads the pack as an offshore outsourcing destination, and its global presence is only growing. You need your Indian vendors’ expertise, you entrust them with many of your company’s secrets, and you depend on them for profitability. A good relationship benefits you both. But relationships are tough to build in the best of circumstances, and when you bring cultural differences and distance into the mix, misunderstanding and frustration can arise on both sides. Here’s how to bridge the U.S.-India cultural divide.

Background on Cultural Differences
Almost 68 percent of India’s exported IT and IT-enabled services are headed for the United States, according to the National Association of Software and Service Companies’ (Nasscom’s) Strategic Review 2007. This makes it that much more likely that American employees will be working with the staffs of Indian vendors. It also increases the need to look beneath surface similarities. “Most Indians we encounter in the United States speak English well, so it is not uncommon to underestimate cultural differences,” says Gunjan Bagla, principal at Amritt Ventures, a sourcing consultancy. He says this is a mistake, and recommends attention to those differences. For example, he advises CIOs to spend at least one week a year in India if they have significant business there.

Craig Storti, director of Communicating Across Cultures, also believes cross-cultural training is key. The most in-depth training should be aimed at the most-senior executives, he says. However, “pretty much everyone who works with Indians once a week or more needs [cultural awareness] training. The potential for misunderstanding is there.”

To understand that potential, it helps to look at the cultures of India and the United States in broad strokes. India is a deeply traditional group-oriented society; tightly knit extended families place a premium on harmony. Survival depends on interdependency, on keeping each other happy. “Your first goal is to make sure nobody is upset by what you say,” says Storti. “If the group is not strong, if it is upset by confrontation, you are in trouble.”

Compare that with America’s fractured families scattered throughout the country, an ethos of individualism and lore filled with Wild West cowboys and a promise that anything is possible if you work hard enough. The United States is a land of grab-for-it. Subtlety is the exception, in both speech and manner. And when an American talks, it’s usually to get his point across, not to create harmony.