South Asia and it's amazing economic development

South Asia and it's amazing economic development

South Asia is a sub region of the continent located at the south of China, east of India, and the north of Australia. This sub region is very important because it includes Four of the Five "Tigers" or also known as NICs (Newly Industrialized Countries).

The region is divided in two: The Mainland South East Asia and the Maritime South East Asia.
Maritime Countries: Brunei- East Timor- Indonesia - Malaysia- Philippines - Singapore- Hong Kong- Taiwan
Mainland Countries: Cambodia- Laos - Myanmar- Thailand- Vietnam
Like East Asia, this Region is influenced by millenary philosophic trends: Confucianism, Buddhism ,Taoism , China or a strong Chinese expatriate community, Status, Karma.

Indian social organization and its cultural relations

During the South Asia exposition, the group described the Indian social organization, mentioning the Indian caste system, which is divided in four, each caste has its own set of rules and expected behaviour defining a clear difference between them.

1. Brahmins: They are the priests and intellectual leaders of the society.
2. Ksatriyas (Kshatriyas): Traditionally this is the caste for warriors and perceived as a caste for brave people whose objective is to protect the society from internal and external threats.
3. Vaishyas (Vaisyas): They are the merchant’s caste, characterized by the conventional businessman and traditional economic activities.
4. Shudras (Sudras): The worker class. Traditionally for them are assigned the less desirable works.

The traditional Indian culture is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy, from an early age, children are reminded of their roles and places in society. This is reinforced by the fact that many believe gods and spirits have integral and functional role in determining their life. Several differences such as religion divide culture. Strict social taboos have governed social groups for thousands of years.
India has had a prevailing tradition of the joint family system. It is a normative ideal that three or four generations live together and the organization is influenced too by hierarchical principles with key decisions being made by the head of the family.

In India, the marriage is thought to be for life, as a consequence of this, the divorce rate is extremely low (1.1% compared with about 50% in the United States). The arranged marriages generally have a much lower divorce rate.

Regarding the language, is important to mention that different states in India have different official languages, but central government only recognizes Hindi as the official language; However when doing business in India, English is the language of international commerce.

Organizations in India and managerial behaviour

My classmates made an approach to managerial behavior in India, we found that their attitude towards work showed that work was not valued very highly in the Indian socio cultural milieu. With the Indian familiar and spiritual dynamics, the role of work is not largely seemed as essential, however, with the process of modernization and globalization, competitiveness enters to play an important role in Indian society.
Following the principle of hierarchy, the leadership system is based in a vertical organization in which the head or leader takes the decisions. A subordinate does not criticize his superior in any circumstance, and the leader’s decisions are respected.
During the exposition my classmates talked about the approach for problems solving, which called a lot my attention, since it is defined as Idealistic, grounded in several analytical skills, extensive investigation and critical thinking. However, this makes easier the analysis of conflicts but makes harder to implement the conclusions.
In the Intra and Inter organizational cooperation, we found out that Indians are characterized for being a very individualistic culture, really different from us, due to the vertical organizational structure, in which their interaction with work partners is very low.


South Asian economy, which is the impact of ASEAN in the region?

In the South Asia region we can find the Newly Industrialized countries such as: Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, and the Well- established developed countries like: Singapore and Brunei. The Heavily independent on agriculture that are: The rest of the Southeast Asia, but each day sectors as manufacturing and services are becoming more important to these countries.
Vietnam is not an exception to its region growing trend and has a "promising" future as well.
In five to 10 years' time, the traditional emerging markets will be too developed and the focus will shift over to the next block of countries, such as Nigeria, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam." Andrea Nannini, manager of the HSBC New Frontiers fund says. (Greenhalgh 2009)

In order to have a complete economic approach to this region we need to mention the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which constitutes a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries that belong to the region, this union aims the acceleration of economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, as well as, the protection of the peace and stability of the region, providing opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.
Today and tomorrow, the challenge for ASEAN is to maintain its relevance. ASEAN must be able to respond effectively to globalization and its dramatic impact on the economy, political life and even values of ASEAN members. ( Wanadini, J. 2005)

Second, is the new threat posed by international terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, plus the new strategic developments and balance in East Asia that have and will come with the dramatic rise of China, and possibly soon also of India. Only if they work together can ASEAN members answer these new challenges adequately. To do so, they must strengthen and deepen ASEAN cooperation in many fields. (Wanadini, J. 2005)


References

Agarwal, Sanjeev, Thomas E DeCarlo, Shyam B. Vyas, & Source:. 1999. Leadership Behavior and Organizational Commitment: A Comparative Study of American and Indian Salespersons. Journal of International Business Studies, 30(4): 727-43.

Wanadini, J. 2005 ASEAN future challenges and the importance of an ASEAN charter. Available at: http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache%3Ar_0-sLjGXLAJ%3Awww.asienkunde.de%2Fcontent%2Fzeitschrift_asien%2Farchiv%2Fpdf%2FA100_085_087.pdf+asean+importance&hl=es&gl=co&sig=AFQjCNGdjm3XFeYcZ4V6N3FUhQ_K_T4y2w&pli=1. Accesed on: October 16 th 2009.

Arango, Maria Isabel. Organisations and Culture. Class notes. 2009

Indian Divorce rates, available at: http://www.divorcerate.org/divorce-rate-in-india.html. Accessed: october 16th 2009

Image source: http://www.teachersparadise.com/ency/en/media/b/b9/south_asia.jpg