Intercultural Communication of Indian Cultural Dimensions Through Indonesian Secretary's Perspective

The purpose of this research is to analyze the business communication between Indonesian secretaries and expatriate leaders from India in multinational companies. It is a descriptive qualitative research, using interview and FGD. The findings of this reserach, according to Trompenaars' Cultural Dimensions, shows that the Indian expatriate leaders and Indonesian secretaries have differences in two dimensions, Neutral-Emotional and Achievement-Ascription. If those cultural differences are ignored, they may be potential creating interference in the communication process.

However, learning to master business communication skill should not be done using a "tourist's point of view." In other words, it should not be done only by concerning the "outer part" or the "front side" of a certain culture. Instead, it should be done by comprehending why certain behavior happens and how cultural priorities occur within a business context (Varner, 2001in Bharadwaj, 2013).
India is considered a strong particularistic society.

Individualism VS Communitarianism
India is a communitarian culture. India is considered a moderate to high collectivistic culture with very strong family values.

Neutral VS Emotional -
People are open about happiness or sadness, problems, and joys, and tend to be surrounded by family or friends.

Specific VS Diffuse
India is a relatively diffuse culture. India is a highly diffuse culture.

Achievement VS Ascription
Hindu cultures (including India) are more ascriptive oriented.
Most Indians value ascription because of the reliance or influence of the caste system.

Sequential VS Synchronism
India is a synchronic oriented culture. Indians structure time synchronically and usually do several things at a time, allowing many things to take place simultaneously.

Internal Control VS External Control
India is a more outer-directed culture than, for instance, USA and Norway Indians coincide in an externalist society and accommodate behavior in the situation.
Source: Overgaard (2010) & Lindholm (2013) This research focuses on multinational companies owned by Indians, whose managerial levels are also headed by Indian expatriates, but the secretaries are Indonesian.
According to the ex IBM Indonesia's CEO, Betti Alisjahbana, most Indian people have an international mindset. Whenever they are given a challenging job abroad, the answer is very likely to be a certain "yes." Actually, they are still not very sure how to accomplish such a challenging task, but surely they are willing to try hard (Sudarmadi, 2011, p. 1 The interviews are done through in-depth interviews, with or without using interview guidance list. During the interview, the interviewee is also asked for opinions and ideas, with the purpose of openly finding the problems (Sugiyono, 2013, p. 233-234).
Both interviews and FGD are recorded using the digital audio recorder.
In this research, the informants are secretaries and Office Managements of multinational companies in Central Java. Secretaries and Office Managements are the company staffs who are often in contact with the expatriates, in this case, those from India. Central Java is chosen as the research location due to the fact that there are at least six multinational companies led by Indian expatriates.
The data analysis technique is descriptive-qualitative. It is a process of searching and compiling the data taken from the interviews, field research notes, and any other source of materials systematically so that it is easier to comprehend and be informed to other people (Sugiyono, 2013, p. 247-252). The data analysis technique involves four steps. Firstly, data collection, which is transcribing the recorded interview into details. Secondly, data reduction, including describing the subjects' identities, selecting main ideas, focusing on the main concerns, finding certain behavioral patterns shown by the informants through the interviews. Thirdly, data display, which includes groupings and then presenting the data based on similarities. Fourthly, conclusion drawing using the data gathered from the informants.

FINDINGS
In doing daily tasks at work, the secretaries do not find any difficulties in communicating with the Indian expatriates since both can speak English. Most Indian expatriates are willing to learn the Indonesian language even though at first they only speak English.
Speaking of communication, since the expats coming here are required to be able to speak Indonesian, at the beginning the communication is using English, errr... later on, they are getting more fluent in Indonesian, I see him as a smart person, so good in the calculation; he used to be in production so that he is really familiar with the production. He is aware of trivial things; he even realizes it when a spool of thread drops, he is able to catch such things. He knows that one lamp in the receptionist area doesn't work, he is aware of it when the people in the receptionist's do not even know about it. He is able to mingle with the others but is also smart in controlling his environment. He is smart… he is so smart… errr... and sometimes I become so ashamed, I should be the one who can overcome the problems, but he acts as my reminder. He is so excellent at handling everything, he also has an extraordinary memory. Sometimes, he can still remember certain PO from the 2000s. He truly likes to know people; person X should be given this kind of attitude, person Y should be treated like this, towards the production employees he is more assertive, that's how to treat production employees. Thus, he is able to put himself into the appropriate position when communicating with other parties. (Widiya Astuti, Office Management, FGD, 11 May 2017) In reality, without strict instruction, those production workers tend not to pay attention. Therefore, the expatriate leaders also expect the secretaries to be strict in communicating something to production workers. When a problem arises, Indian expatriate leaders prefer to find out what is going on directly. When certain rumors spread, they will check from the bottom line first.

Companies in
Hmmmm...he often discusses with his subordinates. When the leader hears some new rumor, he will try to get some information from the subordinates. For example when there's a complaint from a buyer about the linings of certain dresses which is a little bit too big, then he will try to get some information from the subordinates why such thing happened. By doing so, the vice president is trying to mingle with the subordinates. (Noviatri Handayani, Vice President Secretary, FGD, 11 May 2017) My boss usually gives me some tasks on a daily basis, so I have a kind of agenda book for my daily tasks. Well, every time the boss comes, I'll sit in front of him, and he will review yesterday's tasks. Whenever some tasks are not done yet, then they will be reviewed the next day. (Linda Suksmawati, Maintenance Manager Secretary, FGD, 7 June 2017) Having a close relationship with those from lower levels, they remain respected very much by all employees.
Indian expatriate leaders prefer to have well-performed employees since they are hard workers. When an employee can perform better, they will appreciate it. They will notice those with special skills or performance. However, they will appreciate a team's success as the whole team's performance.
One of their principles is "one team will succeed because of the members' support." The leader sees success as the result of the whole team's efforts. When there's a success in doing a project by a team, then it's the whole team's success. His principle is that teamwork can only be successful because of the support from other team members. Instead, they tend to use winged words.
The leader tends to be more cautious in revealing something. For example, "You shouldn't have shared this kind of information, I didn't directly correct your email so that the others will not consider you as doing something wrong," However, he also likes to discreetly quip so that he is more implicit in reprimanding. He once advised me "Please be patient with the juniors" because he sometimes asks "how about the newcomer?" I answered him, yes sir, he is like this, and this, then he said "Don't be frustrated and be patient, okay?" I am never asked to be stern or fierce. (Noviatri Handayani, Vice President Secretary, FGD, 11 May 2017) However, in dealing with the production workers, the secretaries are supposed to be strict.
Indian expatriate leaders try to have a good relationship with their staff. They like to know other people and discuss with their subordinates so that they can understand the characters of their employees. In this case, they do not care about differences in social status. Indian expatriate leaders try not to create a gap with lower level workers.
Some of them even share their problems in looking for a school for their kids or the difficulties they face because of their kid's sickness.
That's right, whenever my boss enters the room he always greets us one by one. Once he walks into the room, he will say good morning to everyone in here. The leader often delegates several tasks at the same time, or anytime he remembers about it. When suddenly he remembers about a certain task, he will directly assign it to me. The leader also doesn't directly inform the priority or which tasks should be done first. (Noviatri Handayani, Vice President Secretary, FGD, 11 May 2017) Whenever he assigns some tasks, then all of them, a bunch of them, are given to me today, such as over-time report, over-haul report, maintenance cost, saving, etc... then I will write them all in my notes every day, and tomorrow he will ask me for the tasks he gave me yesterday.  However, those Indian expatriate leaders are very discipline for every aspect of production.
However, for example, the production workers, they have to pay attention to the existing rules. Such as, production workers are not allowed to bring some food to the production area, well then… the leader won't listen to any excuses, if you break the rule then you must get the consequences. ( (Liliweri, 2016, p. 163) which became the basis for us to do the analysis.

Indian Trompenaars' Cultural Dimensions
Here is the discussion on Indian Trompenaars' Cultural Dimensions based on the previous researches:

Particularism
According to Overgaard (2010, p. 17) "India is a fairly particularistic oriented culture," and Lindholm (2013, p. 23) stated more or less the same thing, "India is considered as a strong particularistic society." When communicating with a culture that is relationship oriented, it is important to remember the importance of trust in a business situation (Overgaard, 2010, p. 18). This type of culture is found in less developed societies, where people tend to give a lot of value to emotional aspects and sometimes may look at each other for decision making (Lindholm, 2013, p. 25

Communitarianism
India is a communitarian country (Balan & Vreja, 2013, p. 99). This emphasizes the fact that India is a consensus-oriented culture that gives priority to cooperation even though they are not capable of keeping the agreements made (Overgaard, 2010, p. 21); strong obedience towards the seniors, trusting each other during a negotiation, and slow decision making since it has to be done by the highest level of leaders (Lindholm, 2013, p. 26

Neutral
People are open about happiness or sadness, problems, and joys, and tend to be surrounded by family or friends. They are warm and personal (Lindholm, 2013, p. 28). Through this research, it is known that Indian expatriate leaders are very cautious in expressing their opinion or in reprimanding the secretaries. However, in certain cases especially in relation to production staff, they expect the secretaries to be stricter. So, behavior, etiquette, and approach may need to be modified depending on whom you are working with (Shira, 2010, p. 6).

Diffusion
India has a relatively diffuse culture (Balan & Vreja, 2013, p. 100 (Overgaard, 2010, p. 23). Business relationships require an element of trust which places friendships on a greater level than a business contract (Lindholm, 2013, p. 27

Achievement
Hindu cultures (including that of India) tend to value ascription because of the reliance or influence of the caste system.
Professional titles, age, degrees, and caste level are indicators of status. Friendship and kinship are more important than expertise. If someone is from a higher caste or has a better job title, he should be treated differently than one from a lower caste with another job title (Overgaard, 2010, p. 28;Lindholm, 2013, p. 29 Bharadwaj (2013, p. 83) that transactional culture support people to step out of their culture and try to understand others' culture to be able to communicate in business. It creates the corporate culture that is different from any national culture.

Synchronism
Indians structure time synchronically and usually do several things at a time, allowing many things to take place simultaneously (Overgaard, 2010, p. 32).
Time commitments are desirable rather than absolute. Plans are easily changed, they value the satisfactory completion of interaction with others. Promptness and punctuality depend on the type of relationship (Lindholm, 2013, p. 29). This is also done by Indian expatriate leaders who tend to give a huge amount of tasks, and it is the secretaries' job to sort them out and set priorities based on deadlines.

External Control
India is more outer-directed culture than, for instance, USA and Norway (Overgaard, 2010, p. 29). They seem to be afraid of offending those who work with them under the same company. Indians coincide in an externalist society and accommodate behavior with the situation (Lindholm, 2013, p. 30). In this dimension,  (Boopathi, 2014).

Indonesian Trompenaars' Cultural Dimension
This part analyses the culture of Indonesian people tend to rely on certain people's influence instead of objective and abstract rules and regulations, as the social control. This does not mean that they do not respect laws and official procedures, but those are only followed if they are strictly applied.
Thus, business rules in Indonesia are applied while considering certain situations.

Communitarianism
Togetherness is very crucial for Indonesian people so that they tend to care about other people's feelings and wellness.
Most ethnic groups in Indonesia have strong groups of relatives based on patrilineal or bilateral system (Mangundjaya, 2013, p. 62). It is important for Indonesian people to be a part of a certain community.