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Title: Where the crowds are not.
Program: MBA - FT 14 - Grenoble (2013 - 2015)
Academic Year: 2013-2014
Dissertation / Project / Internship Report: Final Management Project 2013-2014
Student Name: Basistha Vikram
School Tutor / Evaluator Name: Mielly Michelle
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Summary: This project seeks to explore and develop a deeper understanding of the motives, identities, and specificities of skilled Indian Self-Initiated Expatriates (SIEs) settling, working and living in France.
Keywords: (cf. Thesaurus du Management):
FRANCE
INDIA
HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
PROFESSIONAL MOBILITY
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FINAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT-‐ MBA FT14
Vikram BASISTHA. Grenoble Graduate School of Business, Grenoble.
P r o f e s s o r : D r . M i c h e l l e M I E L L Y .
Where the Crowds Are Not: Careers and Identities of Skilled Indian SIEs in France
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1-‐Introduction: A bird’s eye view. .............................................................. 5 Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Who is an SIE? .............................................................................................................................. 6 Are SIEs migrants? ..................................................................................................................... 6 Nature and Relevance of this paper: .................................................................................... 6 SIEs from a developing nation? ............................................................................................. 7 Problems encountered by French managers? .................................................................. 7
The Research questions: ................................................................................................. 8 Three key observations of this paper: ................................................................................ 8 Why not the UK? ....................................................................................................................... 10
Literature Review: .......................................................................................................... 17 Sub questions related to the main research question: ........................................................... 17 Defining SIEs ............................................................................................................................................ 19 Factors responsible for stimulating or de-‐motivating the lives of SIEs in general. ... 19
Chapter 2: Data Collection For Analysis. ................................................................. 24 The Methodology Used: Qualitative Analysis ................................................................. 24 Collection Methods .................................................................................................................. 24 The interview technique ............................................................................................................ 28 Analysing the data .................................................................................................................... 28 Stereotypes faced by Indian SIEs in France ..................................................................... 36 Skirting the law by the French: C’est comme ca! ........................................................... 39 Further enrichment of the database: Ask the experts! ............................................... 40 Expert Interview # 1: AF de Bombay: ........................................................................................... 40 Expert Interview # 2: A French Business school’s local office in Delhi .......................... 41
Tackling the problem: Indian brain drain equals the Western brain gain. .......... 42 Pestle analysis on India .......................................................................................................... 42 Economic issues of India: .................................................................................................................... 43 Sanitation Issues of India .................................................................................................................... 45 Poverty in India ....................................................................................................................................... 47 Education in India .................................................................................................................................. 49 Environmental Factors of India ....................................................................................................... 50
Chapter 3: CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................. 52 Theoretical implications: ...................................................................................................... 52 Theoretical limitations: ......................................................................................................... 55 Data collection methods:. ...................................................................................................... 55 Individual Agency to come to France:. .............................................................................. 55 Stereotyping: .............................................................................................................................. 55 Managerial implications: ....................................................................................................... 56 Methodological limitations: .................................................................................................. 57 Future Research suggestions: .............................................................................................. 58 Subjective Career Drivers: Push & Pull ............................................................................. 59 Quotes on Opportunities in France: ................................................................................... 62
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Commodifying Frenchness: a Postcolonial reading ............................................ 64
Post interview analysis and valuation: a final summary. .................................. 66 Successful methodology: implementation and analysis ............................................. 68
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 69
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Chapter 1-‐Introduction: A bird’s eye view.
Abstract Purpose—This project seeks to explore and develop a deeper understanding of the motives, identities, and specificities of skilled Indian Self-Initiated Expatriates (SIEs) settling, working and living in France.
Design/Methodology— Our data sources include a total of 30 in-depth semi-directive interviews conducted with Indian expatriates in France, as well as interviews with key experts in France and India linked to the phenomenon of SIEs from India to France, and various websites/organizational documents. Using a social constructivist, qualitative approach to analyzing the discourse used by the SIEs and experts during the interviews, particularly through a sensemaking and sensegiving analysis, the authors look specifically at the motives behind the choice to leave India and move to France—‘push and pull’ factors—seeking to identify emerging narratives on ‘destination France’ in the context of a long-term economic recession and the move from an emerging to a mature economic environment.
Findings — Of special interest to the authors will be to uncover through narrative analysis how these Indian SIEs make sense of their choice to self-expatriate to France, how their post-colonial identity can be linked to the choice of destination (the reasons underpinning the selection of France over the more obvious UK or US). Adopting a social constructivist paradigm, we hope to add to understanding on how SIE life choices can illuminate both migration theory and career theory (i.e. destination and motivation). Our study suggests that a cumulative effect of practical ‘small problems’ push these SIEs to seek work in France and a combination of pull factors to France are in operation prior to departure from India. In France, and in developed economies in general it seems, such problems vanish and create a long-term perception of a better life choice.
Practical Implications— The study’s finding should prove useful to a range of groups, including practitioners and decision-makers in any organization, specifically those recruiting SIEs from developing economies in general. It may also prove useful on a broader policy level for governments and agencies involved in questions of migration, immigration, and demographics. A deeper understanding of the career aspirations and motivational levers pushing skilled professionals out of India and pulling them to France could be key to understanding the most desirable career trajectories for these individuals; i.e. contributing to organizational knowledge and diversity management, and talent management strategies by placing them where they will bring the most value to the organization in terms of their perceived differentiation from a ‘typical’ career trajectory in India.
Originality/Value— This paper seeks contribute to the limited research examining the career motives and trajectories of self-initiated expatriates from a developing economy. In particular, studies of the Indian population in France are thus far relatively rare and not linked to careers. Indians form one-fifth of the world population, and developed economies stand to gain much from India’s well-educated, skilled self-initiated expatriates. A post-colonial analysis using a sensemaking approach to the narratives and life histories provided by these SIEs may shed light not only on questions of how career trajectories of these SIEs are linked to collective historical memory and individual motivational drivers, but also on understanding how the metropolitan ‘Center’ creates opportunities for a thriving career, despite the gloom of the recession economy.
Keywords/Key concepts—Self-initiated expatriates, boundaryless careers, mobility, global HRM, India, France, narrative analysis, sensemaking, post-colonial, neo-colonial, SIE identity..
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Who is an SIE? The term “SIE” used in the management literature refers to individuals undertaking an international career experience on their own initiative. (Al Ariss & Crowley-Henry, 2013). In other words, an SIE is different from an expatriate who has been financially backed by his/her organization to undertake a particular project on foreign land. An SIE uses his own financial resources to look for a more promising future abroad, mostly in a developed nation.
Are SIEs migrants? The answer is NO.
There is recurrent confusion between the terms SIE and migrants to such an extent that these two terms are often times used interchangeably. In order to better understand the distinctness of each of these terms, let us first look at the two main distinguishing factors.
The most rudimentary point of distinction between the SIEs and migrants is contingent on the level of development of their nation of origin. The expatriates coming from the more developed parts of the world are termed as SIEs and the ones coming from lesser-developed nations are termed as “migrants” or “immigrants.” (Al Ariss & Crowley-Henry, 2013) Therefore, the migrants coming from the lesser developed nations of the world are subject to a stereotypical image of being lesser advantaged than their developed nation’s counterparts and as such the latter are subject to a greater ease in terms of being internationally more mobile.
The second major distinguishing factor is the level of education. The management literature refers to the SIEs as being highly educated and having the privilege to travel across other developed nations. For example EU citizens can freely travel within and outside the Euro zone for work. Needless to say there is lesser or minimal red tape and bureaucracy involved when it comes to their recruitment in other developed nations. These SIEs can choose where to go and when they would like to repatriate. (Al Ariss & Crowley-Henry, 2013)
The lesser-developed nations’ citizens, on the other hand are placed in the migrant category as the management literature has a rather biased view of the workforce from lesser-developed nations. The management literature refers to such labour force as being neither educated nor skilled enough for the developed nations to take them aboard. Moreover, the lack of diplomatic status of their home country further impedes their prospects to arrive on foreign soil on account of the myriad diplomatic barriers in procuring work permits. (Al Ariss, Vassilopoulou, Ozbilgin, & Game, 2012)
Nature and Relevance of this paper: The SIE niche was chosen on account of the recent and growing trend observed on part of the global labour force, especially from developing economies to auto-finance themselves and move to a developed nation. For example, after their inclusion in the Euro zone in 2005, a huge exodus of labour force from Latvia, Poland and Lithuania made its way to more developed nations of Western Europe such as the UK.
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SIEs from a developing nation? In the preceding section SIE criteria was discussed, namely, being educated and skilled and from a developed nation. Our case however, takes a slightly different perspective on this concept.
India is not considered to be a developed nation. And yet, in this project, we have considered the Indian expats as SIEs and not as immigrants or migrants. The main reason for this categorization is that these expats fulfill the second major criterion of being well educated and as such they are highly sought after on a global scale. However, on account of being third world country citizens, they encounter myriad hurdles on their path to success, one of them being longer duration/ permanent contracts. Thus, their career trajectory is subject to a great deal of ambiguity despite being equally qualified or in many cases, more qualified than their French counterparts.
Hence, in our case, we are looking at Indian SIEs who have come to France to enrich their professional prospects.
Problems encountered by French managers? The main problem encountered by the French managers is that of choosing an SIE over a French national (there is a related question of lingua franca and language in this case). The most obvious outcome of this would be the augmenting rate of unemployment for the nationals. On the other hand, France in order to internationalize itself needs to look for English speaking work force. Indians with a good level of proficiency in the English language, apart from their stereotypical IT skills are in high demand. However, permanent job positions are not as common a phenomenon. Therefore granting “Indeterminate contracts” (CDI in French) to a large number of Indian SIEs will only jeopardize the livelihood of the French nationals, as their jobs will be taken away by multi-lingual Indian SIEs.
On the positive side, recruiting international workforce will give the French manager a wider range of opinions and perspectives crucial to internationalizing a firm.
This paper is the first of its kind. The concept of Indian SIEs coming to France has never been explored before, perhaps because researchers were not aware of this growing trend or perhaps because it just seemed too insignificant. Be that as it may, France is in the fray with England and other developed nations when it comes to attracting the Indian students and more recently, the Indian work force.
This phenomenon is what brings me to my research question.
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The Research questions: Are the Indian SIEs now taking the calculated risk to look for greater opportunities in countries such as France on account of lesser competition from compatriots present in other English speaking nations? How do Indians self-identity in France?
A detailed analysis of the above mentioned research questions has been undertaken in the second chapter of this project.
As mentioned earlier, there is no direct literature on Indians working in France. Hence, we did not have many references at our disposal. . However, the very concept of SIEs has become a significant topic of interest and hence, related concepts such as Sensemaking, career drivers and a whole list of literature on SIEs was used to draw accurate inferences. Before we take the plunge in the literature review, let us get acquainted with a few basic concepts of this paper.
We formulated this research question after making some key empirical observations.
Three key observations of this paper: Observation# 1: Indian diaspora’s ambitious decision to not follow the crowd.
India, like China has long been experiencing an overpopulation crisis with the two nations contributing to a third of the human population on earth. India’s contribution to this significant figure is around 17.5%, with an official population count of 1.2 billion inhabitants, which translates into one in every sixth person on this planet being Indian.
India will soon have one fifth of the world’s population and will need to create about 100m net new jobs in the coming decade. (“India’s demographic challenge: Wasting time | The Economist,” n.d.)
It is therefore not unusual to come across the Indian diaspora in different nations of the world on account of lack of appropriate work opportunities in India, among other reasons. What is unusual though is the fact that more and more Indians are now considering France as a future study and work option. We say so as the natural propensity of Indians is to flock to the English speaking world or the Commonwealth nations such as England, Australia, and Canada. Hence, what we experience with France is the ambitious segment of the Indian population that does not follow the crowd and that is not afraid to take the additional risk of confronting a language barrier and constructing a life on a terrain that is still relatively uncharted by its compatriots.
Obsevation # 2: France is now moving to become the number three European destination for Indian SIEs(“Population_Overseas_Indian,” n.d.)
Talking about the commonwealth nations, it is only logical to think that Indians would be drawn to self expatriate themselves to the UK, and have done just that for various decades since India acquired Independence in 1947.
A recent trend in self-expatriation, of which pursuing higher education in the UK is a major part, has taken a nosedive on account of myriad factors.
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Here is an analysis as to why Indians are now shying away from a more obvious option such as the UK and choosing instead a more atypical option, that of France.
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Why not the UK? Reason 1 Complicated Visa procedures: “You are not welcome”
Many of the applicants interviewed in our qualitative surveys have cited the convoluted visa procedures of the United Kingdom as a major disablement when it came to pursuing their Masters degree in the said nation. The Indian SIEs who wished to come to Europe and came to France, brazenly repudiating the more obvious option of going to the UK, did so to a large extent on account of the rapidity of both, the Visa procedures and the acceptance granted from their respective universities. France, primarily on account of the language barrier is not the first place that comes to mind when one eliminates the UK off the list. Other English speaking nations such as the United States, Australia, Canada and even Germany have taken up the extra load. In short, UK’s loss has become the welcome gain of the above-mentioned nations. The US, for instance, has been the largest study-abroad destination for Indians for ages. Moreover, the US has experienced a 6.1% surge in enrolment of the Indian students in the year 2013-2014. This surge is yet another comprehensive proof that the US has been able to lure the dejected Indian students toward itself with utmost ease. As per November 2014 figures, there are more than a million Indian students studying in the US.
(Kanchan Srivastava http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-‐massive-‐drop-‐in-‐indian-‐students-‐going-‐to-‐uk-‐for-‐5th-‐straight-‐year-‐2053271 Daily News and Analysis, Saturday, 17 January 2015)
(“Massive drop in Indian students going to UK for 5th straight year | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis,” n.d.) Reason 2 Post-‐study work visa abolished in 2012: “Study abroad, work at home.”
One of the major reasons that middle class families aspire to see their offspring get an International degree instead of an Indian one is to see them well settled on foreign land. Young Indian students who invest their life’s earnings (and those of their parents) in a first world country, have conspicuously a vested interest in mind, that of recouping every penny which they invested in the pursuit of acquiring their Master’s degree. A rather conservative approach on part of the English Prime Minister, Mr Cameron ensured a covert quota for the English, by stonewalling overseas students’ efforts to procure work visas after having completed their respective degrees. This obstinate post-study work visa policy deterred many Indians who chose the more sought after option of heading to the US instead. Germany has been the only country within the EU to make a significant impact in terms of attracting the Indian student populace. In contrast, a bilateral agreement between India and France allows Indian students to work and stay in France for 2 years after completing their graduation. (“Indian students can stay work for two years after graduation in France | Migreat Blog on WordPress.com,” n.d.)
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(“Massive drop in Indian students going to UK for 5th straight year | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis,” n.d.) Indian students enrolled in higher education institutes in UK 2013-14: 19,750 2012-13: 22,385 2011-12: 29,900 2010-11: 39,090 2009-10: 38,500
Reason 3 The 3000-‐Pound tourist visa bond: “Prove your financial worth.” The Indian community in England, the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Indian workers’ association received the controversial tourist visa bond introduced by the British government with much angst. As per this tourist bond, India was amongst six other Commonwealth nations that had to deposit a sum of 3000 English pounds in order to procure a tourist visa. The said amount was to be forfeited in case the applicant over stayed his/her visa. This was primarily aimed to curb illegal immigration in the UK. On account of the wrath faced by the British government, the bond had to be eventually scrapped in 2013. The introduction of this bond however left a sour taste in the mouth of the citizens of these six nations who regarded the bond as an outright discriminatory measure. (“India welcomes scrapping of UK visa bond proposal -‐ The Hindu,” n.d.) Reason 4 The Conservative government of the Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron: The anti-immigration target of Mr., Cameron’s coalition government is to reduce the net migration to tens of thousands by end of 2015. This basically means to curb immigration from outside the European Union. Graduate students are being asked to pack their bags and leave Britain soon after their degrees have been completed. Applicants applying for residency visas after the expiration of their post study visas have been met with brazen denials on the part of the British government. British employers tend to balk at the cost of sponsoring work visas for the developing nation citizens and as such prefer to not hire such employees despite their sometimes-superior qualifications. Graduate students in the earlier years had the right to work for 2 years after the completion of their study program. This tenure has now been mitigated to a few months with the additional clause that such students will have to find a licensed sponsor who will pay them a minimum of 20,000 English pounds (US $ 32,300) per year. As a result in the first half of 2012, there was a reduction of study visas by 21%. Many English firms, especially technological start-ups find it difficult to wean themselves off the imported skill sets that run their sector. In such a case, such autocratic immigration policy making could spell doom for the English economy, for global commerce and trade are characterised by technological advancements and as such, such a skill set, be it foreign in nature, cannot be condoned.
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Uncertainty and bureaucracy are two words summarizing the ordeal to procure a work visa in the UK. Squandering in terms of time and money is commonplace at the UK visa procurement centers for nationalities that need them. It is also not uncommon to see all of your efforts be treated in vain when these visa centers grant an emerging economy citizen with a letter of refusal as opposed to a work permit or even a tourist visa1. Mr. Paul Davis, who leads an architectural practice, states that you tend to lose out on lucrative business and commercial opportunities if you do not have international staff at your disposal. This is especially the case when firms earn their revenue by way of exports. Mr. Davis affirms that it is the foreign staff that understands the local regulations and culture pertaining to the latter’s country. The education sector provides one such example that has borne the brunt of this adverse migration policy and as such the UK economy in general has taken a hit in retrospect. UK’s education sector is second only to US’s in terms of exports. It generated 3 billion English pounds in 2010-2011 in student fees alone coming from the non-EU students. A huge contribution toward this staggering figure came from emerging economies such as China, India and Nigeria. Hence, the British government needs to rethink its strategy of adopting a far right xenophobic front, more akin to the likes of Marine Le Pen of the Front National. Readings on the British immigration have cited a faulty immigration system that coerces the English companies to sponsor an immigration, which adds up to a significant amount of overhead costs that no entrepreneur would like to bear. As David Cameroon pledges to come hard on cutting down immigration, his primary efforts are directed to the ones coming from outside the European Union, including non-EU students. (“Immigration and business: A harder road | The Economist,” n.d.)
Observation # 3: India’s romance with France: the “Paris je t’aime” phenomenon. Reason1: French is taught in almost every school in urban India. Hence the Indian students are exposed to numerous aspects of the French culture, apart from the language at a very young age. French is by far the only European language that Indians, the second largest nationality in the world, are exposed to. The only other European language that has received some recognition in India,-apart from French--is German. However, the reach of German or even Spanish is a far cry from the charisma that French as a language and Paris as a city of romance have crafted in the minds of the Indian folk, especially the younger urban population. French as a third language option is rather common amongst Indian students, especially those pertaining to the metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and the like. The French language exuded an aura of exoticness and is more of a status symbol for the urban youth. Since almost all Indians are very conscious of their proficiency in the English language and since there are many commonalities between the two languages; there is a natural tendency on part of the Indians to carve out their niche in society by demonstrating an ability
1 (This author speaks from personal experience as well). Having applied for a tourist visa in
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to correctly pronounce French words such as faux pas or c’est la vie, which form part of a quotidian usage in English. Reason2: Bollywood celebrities and their opulent trips to the Cannes Film festival have only added more spark to the already glorified version of France in the Indian minds. Since Indians are mesmerized by the surreal world of Bollywood, watching their favourite movie stars in action, whether in Bollywood movies or at the Cannes film festival only augments their interest for and fascination toward this mystical world of Indian cinema, which makes little sense outside the nation. (“Cannes Film Festival 2014: Bollywood Stars At The Festival,” n.d.) Reason 3: Pondicherry-‐ India’s answer to Cote d’Azur.
Location and political character
Pondicherry, officially renamed, Puducherry is an Indian union territory and the erstwhile capital of French India. It is about 160 kilometers from Chennai, a major southern Indian city. Although Puducherry is technically in the State of Tamil Nadu, it is centrally administered and hence it is regarded as one of the seven union territories in India.
(“Pondicherry -‐ French culture in India | Simonseeks,” n.d.) Colonization: Pondicherry had for long remained the capital of the French territories in India, with the establishment of the French East India Company as early as 1674. Pondicherry was only ceded to the Indian government in 1954, whereas India had technically gained independence from the English 7 years ago, in 1947. The other major French cities in India during the 17th century were in Chandernagor, Yanaon, Mahe, and Karikal. (See map below). Pondicherry was inevitably the jewel of the French colonisation in India.
(“French Colonial Empires,” cite the source of this information directly-‐-‐n.d.) http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/notes/frenchempire.html
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On account of the French rule that lasted for nearly 3 centuries, Puducherry, the then French capital hitherto bears reminiscence to the French architecture. Puducherry is often times referred to as the “French Riviera of the East” or the “Indian Cote d’Azur” (“Pondicherry: A corner of India that is forever France -‐ Asia -‐ Travel -‐ The Independent,” n.d.) A walk around the city: The following example should undoubtedly shed more light on how absorbed this former French capital of India is toward the French culture.
The street signs in Pondicherry are bilingual: In French and in Tamil (the local language)
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Oui, Je parle francais: The staff members of most good hotels are expected to be conversant in French, not an overwhelming demand, one might presume, after having considered the potent relation this city still withholds with its former colonizer. Architecture: This city is home to numerous French monuments and architecture such as the Romain Rolland library, which is one of the oldest libraries in India and is named in the honour of Romain Rolland, who was a French scholar and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. Other noteworthy architecture includes, the church of Lady Angels and the statue of Joan of Arc. Diplomatic procedures: Moreover, it is common to come across citizens of this Indian union territory with French passports, as they are eligible to opt for the French nationality, on account of the fact that Pondicherry was a former French colony. This option of naturalisation is subject to a clause mentioned in a Treaty signed by the French in August 1962 with the Indian government. More information: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/More-‐from-‐Puducherry-‐queuing-‐up-‐for-‐French-‐citizenship/articleshow/15909624.cms Reason4: Alliance Francaise: A window to the French-‐speaking world for the Indian populace. While Alliance Française in France might only be another option for the foreign populace to learn French; its presence in India is greatly revered, for it is the only recognised French language learning option that exemplifies goodwill and value for money. The Alliance Francaise in India is home to both, the crème de la crème of the Indian crowd, as well as a significant student populace from certain other sectors of the economy. This is because most enterprising individuals view French as an invaluable asset toward their career ascent. Here is a short advertisement made by the Alliance Francaise de Bombay, which will help understand the Indian penchant to learn this language that exudes sophistication and charisma like none other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_dJuDexhuo
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This is the sort of immersion that one would not find in Goa, which was a Portuguese colony until 1961. Reason 5: Ease in obtaining visas: Bienvenue en France. Bilateral agreements between the French and the Indian governments have led to a rise in the number of Indians choosing France as a destination to pursue higher education. Visa issues tend to be one of the biggest impediments that Indians as citizens of a developing nation inevitably confront. An eased entry into a European nation has sparked the keen interest of many Indians who take the plunge to enter an unchartered terrain, with little hesitation. Moreover, in order to further cement and fortify their bilateral ties, the French government has come up with the added incentive of providing Indians, who have successfully completed a Masters degree in France with 5-year French tourist visa, which gives them additional access to the Schengen zone. (“Facilitating visas for Indian students -‐ La France en Inde / France in India,” n.d.)
Now that the reader has become familiar with the key concepts of this paper, let us look at the literature review.
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Literature Review: Various components of literature have contributed to the inferences drawn in this project. Care has been taken to link related components of the management literature such as unfair opportunities, career drivers, sense making and more so as to obtain a wider and more precise understanding of the different factors affecting the lives of Indian SIEs in France.
Sub questions related to the main research question: • How and why is it that France maintains its attractiveness for skilled Indian SIEs despite
currently stagnant economic conditions? • How are members of this population integrating into the French socioeconomic fabric and
developing new career paths? • What are the common characteristics of the career paths being developed by this
population?
Part I of Literature Review:
Management literature read and analyzed to discover and segregate other variables
studied in relation to SIEs
Defining
Self Initiated Expatriates (SIEs)
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Part II: Clear segregation of the factors responsible for stimulating or de-motivating the lives of SIEs in general.
SIEs
Unfair treatment/ hardships
Lack of recognition of work exp +
temporary contracts
International Experience
Inmluencial Factors
Marital Status. + Lack of Research
Overlapping components
Sense Making, Post Colonialism
Self Initiated Expatriates
International Experience
Raguz, Ivona Vrdoljak; Podrug, Najla; Kovacic, Ana. (Apr 2014)
Vance, Charles m.1. (2002.)
Overlapping components
Akram Al Ariss, (2013),Andresen, Maike
(2014)
Influential factors
Lan Cao, Andreas Hirschi, Jürgen Deller (2012) Tharenou, Phyllis (2003)
Unfair treatment/ hardships
International Journal of Human Resource Management, (2012)
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PART I
Defining SIEs
Self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) are defined as employees who are not assigned to another country by an organization but have instead chosen to move to another country to work and live on their own arrangement (Tharenou and Caulfield, 2010)
In order to better understand the concept of SIEs, a wide range or management literature articles were read and deeply analysed. Some of which include:
SIE literature topics covered Number of artilces read and analysed
SIE and migration, career success, career experiences, challenges, relation to Compnay assigned expatriates (AEs)
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Career agency, international mobility confusion, competence building, receptivity to working abroad
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Self-identification, marital status, independent expatriates, cross- cultural management
4
Neo and post colonialism, career anchors
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PART II
Factors responsible for stimulating or de-‐motivating the lives of SIEs in general. The concept of SIEs is as intriguing as it is complex. After having taken into account the various point of views of the authors of the above mentioned academic journals I came to the conclusion that SIEs in general are confronted with myriad challenges linked to their career development. I noted that in some cases, a similar message was being conveyed in two or more articles and hence, I have summarised the most repetitive outcomes by placing them under topical sub headings and then stating which article(s) deal with that particular sub heading.
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Apart from the obvious limitation of not being self financed and not having any certainty in terms of the time period and the outcome of their ambitious venture, the SIEs have to deal with the following issues:
SIEs’ hardships:
Al Ariss talks about the unfair treatment that SIEs from developing nations such as Lebanon have to face in order to achieve their career goals and objectives. For instance they are compelled to work a lot harder and longer than their French counterparts, even though they are as qualified as the latter. Certain skilled professions such as Medical doctors are mostly reserved for the French nationals. The professional work experience of the Lebanese in their own country is simply not taken into account.
(Akram Al Ariss, 2010)
The international journal of HRM, on the other hand talks about how certain SIEs pertaining to specific ethnic minorities are negatively stereotyped. The most common among them include those of the Turks and the Arabs.
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2012, 1–21, iFirst.
The journals also states that SIEs could perhaps even replace the Company-assigned expatriates (AEs). But then, resurrects its own statement by saying that the SIEs cannot be an exact replacement for the AEs as they are not deemed fit to control, transfer or run a foreign firm on account of firm-specific possibilities. Moreover, it adds on that SIEs can be hired for lower and middle level management jobs that are more generic in nature.
Tharenou, Phyllis. Journal of Global Mobility 1.3 (2013): 336-356.
Importance of International experience:
Raguz, Ivona Vrdoljak and their co-authors, along with Vance and Charles talk about how important it is to have international experience in order to develop global management skills. They highlight the fact that not much literature has been written in this regard and what individuals do in order to self-expatriate themselves. Vance and Charles in particular look to explore this topic at some length with the intention of providing a few guidelines for prospective SIEs who intend to develop their global competence. Raguz and co-authors on the other hand stresse more on the complex nature of international business and the dire need to upgrade and internationize our global skills in the face of challenges that confront the self initiated expats. Raguz, Ivona Vrdoljak; Podrug, Najla; Kovacic, Ana. (Apr 2014) Vance, Charles m.1. (2002.)
Overlapping components of International Mobility: SIEs v/s migrants: The confusion between the two terms of SIEs and migrants has been addressed earlier in this paper. To shed additional light on this issue, Al Ariss, along with Andersen highlight the overlap of the various international mobility terms and state that these terms are often used interchangeably. These two articles clearly delineate the two terms mentioned above, apart
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from providing more information on the concept of company-assigned expatriates (AEs) for further clarification. (Akram Al Ariss, 2013)
Andresen, Maike; Bergdolt, Franziska; Margenfeld, Jil; Dickmann, Michael. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2014.
Influencing factors: Tharenou and Phyllis talk about factors such as family ties and superior outcome expectations (fullfillment of their personal agency) from the work that an SIE will undertake on foreign soil. They also mention the concept of “country ease 2”. An SIE, thereby choses between a developed or a developing country to work in, depending on the above mentioned factors. Tharenou, Phyllis (2003)
Lan and his co-authers state that in order to achieve a given amount of success, the SIEs have to possess three forms of capital; namely: a protean career attitude, a career network and cultural intelligence. The authors state as to why the possession of these three capitals is vital for the SIEs to survive and even flourish on foreign land. (Lan Cao, Andreas Hirschi, Jürgen Deller) (2012). Lack of Research: Although much has been written about the SIEs quite recently, there is still a good deal of confusion with regards the movement of such SIEs, i.e whether SIEs are the ones who move between two or more developed nations, or could also be termed as someone moving between developing and developed nations. The International Journal of Management Reviews deal with such issues. Furthermore, it explores SIEs on a micro, meso and a macro level. International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 15, 447–469 Doherty (2013)
At the micro level, Doherty points out the role that the agency of an individual plays in order for him to select his desired host country. This personal agency could comprise a desire to explore the world or meet career goals. A combination of push and pull factors such as the home country’s economic and political situation, the host country’s culture and/or economic prosperity contribute in forming the personal agency of an SIE. Wang also expresses the role of agency/ desire that deals with post-colonialism. This article deals with the Mainland Chinese work force that yearns to cross over the border to HK, a former British colony, mainly to experience a more westernised/modernised culture that encourages freedom of speech, rule of law and social order, as opposed to what one would experience in a communist China. The author of this paper highlights the contribution of desire as a conceptual vehicle to instigate the Chinese work force to solidify their aspirations of having a “sense of place” that was characterised with implicit social conditions. Cangbai Wang (2013) Surprisingly enough, this work force did not consider the investment opportunities or the income levels to be a motivating factor. Their focus was more toward the elements of modernity and trans-nationalisation, apart from acknowledging the fact that HK was a fairer
2 Country ease= the extent to which the SIEs prefer countries that are safe, stable, economically well developed and not corrupt.
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society that vouched for meritocracy. In other words, HK offered equal opportunites for development to everyone. Such an image of HK was formed on account of the HK media exposure which further fuelled the enthusiasm of Chinese workers to be in HK. Moreover, the fact that HK provided dual citizenship, as it is a part of China but an autonomous governing body also played a vital rule in ensuring the movement of the Chinese labourers in such high numbers. At the meso level, SIEs are often seen to take up unskilled work that is a lot lower than what their capabilities warrant. Sargent (2002), surveying Western expats to Japan noted that the SIEs have a greater desire to go to the host countries and hence integrate better with the local language and culture. SIEs are able to choose a host destination. Tharenou and Caulfield (2010) add that the weak host country pull, accompanied with the strong home country pull is what leads to repatriation of the SIEs.
A macro-level view of the SIEs considers them to be a rich pool of global talent. It is therefore vital for a host country organisation to retain the crème de la crème of the global workforce by offering a working environment that is conducive to better integration. This is because the most crucial resource that an organisation can have to ensure growth and productivity is its competent human capital.
Martial status and the SIEs. :
Selmer and Lauring ((2011)) hold the belief that married SIEs in general fare a lot better than their unmarried counterparts. More importantly, when the male spouse accompanies his wife on a foreign assignment, he tends to feel that his career is on hold, which eventually exerts additional pressure on his wife as a female expatriate.
Moreover, a lot of emphasis is placed on the two concepts of work efficiency and work performance. The former is the degree to which an employee’s performance is congruent to the sender’s expectations.
The latter entails the more technical aspects of the job. The authors confirm that there is a positive relationship between being married and the two aspects of work efficiency and work performance.
Foreign organizations therefore, in general, tend to recruit married SIEs as they tend to achieve better outcomes. (Selmer & Lauring, 2011)
Scurry, Rodriguez and Bailouni (Scurry et al., 2013)discuss borderless careers and the growing concept of global citizens. Ironically enough, the concepts of nationality, citizenship and culture form the very basis of differentiation between individuals, which in turn lead to the attainment or loss of commercial opportunities that come along with such a demarcation. This article also examined an SIEs’ adjustment strategy in order to adjust to international transitions of a new culture. It explains the SIEs’ effort to find a specific space within this new culture.
Sense Making:
Mckenna (2001) casts light on the concept of sense making. This article talks about the other selves of individuals apart from the professional occupation. For instance, a professional
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could be a Sunday footballer, or a frequent church-goer and so on. A common observation in the sensemaking literature states that it is the work life of an individual that “interferes” with the personal lives of professionals. Recruiting organizations should therefore be wary of this fact and design their working schedules in a more prudent manner so as to offer each employee a sense of job satisfaction that would emerge from a better work-life balance.
(Mckenna, n.d.)
This feeling of satisfaction gives rise to the definition of adjustment, which crudely speaking is a state in which a given SIE does not feel or experience negativity about his host environment. The SIE strives to be socially acceptable and interpersonally active as he tries to get a strong foothold in his new setting and environment.
Sensemaking occurs when what is perceived in the social environment is very different from what is expected. (Mckenna, n.d.) Sense is therefore made after the experience. The expatriate has to make sense of the current situation in order for him to confront the surprise that might appear as a disorder and a change. Here is where he develops the sense of coherence, which is not merely a trait, but a certain level of comfort that is developed and honed through life experiences. Weick and Stutcliffe (2005)
Career Anchors: I also looked at the 8 career anchors cited by Edgar SCHEIN. These are career anchor themes such as autonomy, stability, dedication to a cause etc. These themes are embedded in a person and are what drive him/ to choose a particular field of work.
Cultural impact: The last topic, on the other hand discusses the Chinese cultural experiences and their impact on business effectiveness of expatriates from the developed world.
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Chapter 2: Data Collection For Analysis.
The Methodology Used: Qualitative Analysis Given the exploratory nature of this paper, I approached my sample population using qualitative methodology as a means to collect the data. The process consisted of conducting one-on-one semi-structured interview with 32 individuals which were audio recorded and later transcribed verbatim to remain as faithful as possible to the respondents’ language and choice of words in their answers to our interview questions.
This process, although painstakingly lengthy, was a more logical way of approaching the research question that required the interviewees to narrate their personal experiences and stories. Based on the information provided by these respondents, I was also able to draw quantitative equivalents of their feelings. This quantitative data set is expressed in the form of pie diagrams in the analysis section of this paper.
Collection Methods The data was drawn from a variety of sources as summarized in the table below.
Data Sources
Source Type Number Collection Methods Sector(s) concerned Analysis Methods
Research Interviews 30 individual Snowball sampling, convenience, semi-‐directive using interview guide
4 main sectors: Engineering (IT & Energy), Education, Marketing, and Leisure/Luxury.
Keyword frequency, Narrative analysis, thematic categorization, axial coding
Expert Interviews 2 individual Purposive; semi-‐directive Cultural promotional & Education
Narrative analysis, keyword Frequency
Related Websites 7 main websites* Purposive; Thematically driven Cultural, Educational, NGOs, Consular & Ambassadorial, Governmental,
Keyword Frequency,
Axial coding
Internet & Press articles, videos
Multiple press and media articles
+ 2 videos ** Purposive, Keyword-‐driven Same as above
Keyword frequency, Thematic categorization, axial coding,
Post analysis validation Interviews
3 individuals Purposive; semi-‐directive, Keyword-‐driven
Education, Leisure and Luxury.
Narrative analysis, keyword Frequency
*These include the following : Ambassade de L’Inde en France (Indo-‐French relations), Campus France en Inde, L’Institut Français en Inde, Alliance Française de Pune, de Delhi, de Mumbai, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (http://www.francophonie.org/Welcome-‐to the-‐International.html)
** Videos consulted include those for the Alliance Française de Mumbai, Alliance Française de Pune.
Collecting the data: Primary and secondary, with major emphasis on face-to-face interviews to maintain and safeguard the authenticity of the data.
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Consistent with much of the extant SIE literature, data has been gathered via in-depth interviews, focusing on one group of expatriates in a specific host country (Indian expatriates in France). This data collection method enabled me to access rich data on the individual experiences and to explore the complex range of drivers underpinning participants' macro-level decisions to expatriate. As Doherty (2013) observes, our convenience sampling technique is in line with a number of previous studies, including Crowley-Henry's (2007) study of expatriates in France, predominantly due to difficulties in gaining access to a suitably large sample of Indian SIEs.
I chose to focus to a good extent on micro-level issues, which is in line with Doherty's (2013) conclusions following her extensive review of the SIE literature on the importance of individual, subjective perceptions of context, location, and the role of family with regards to the participants' individual SIE decision and motives. I thereby further examined existing themes, but from an individual perspective following the self-initiated transition from the Indian environment to the French one.
As befits our social constructionist research paradigm, this study does have a clear emancipatory agenda, seeking to give voice to a group, which has been marginalized in the SIE literature to date. In addition, I drew on Doherty's (2013) twin calls for further research to explore issues such as intra and inter home and host country comparisons, and how these impact on our participants' individual intentions to expatriate, plus to further explore career aspects, seeking to contribute to existing research into the career anchors of SIEs.
Conducting one on one interviews: Using non-probability sampling techniques, I employed a mix of convenience, purposive/judgmental, and snowball sampling to locate the interview subjects (Smith 2009; Lucas 2014). Since the size of the Indian population in France is limited, we selected professionals currently employed in France across a large cross-section of career stages (ages 27 to 62) wherein all must have obligatorily worked in both India and France[1]. In some cases however, there were people who did not have a great deal of work experience or were first-jobbers.
A total of 30 semi-directive interviews were completed over a 4-month period, along with 2 longer interviews with experts (representatives of Alliance Française in Mumbai and a French business school recruiter based in Delhi). Besides the expert interviews, 3 additional interviews were conducted to verify the accurary of the inferences drawn in the form of mind maps.
The mind maps (of the present and the future self) of one such interviewee who is a female respondent and pertains to the MNC sector of the economy are provided below:
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A: The present-self mind-map
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B: The future-self mind-map
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The interview technique
An interview protocol (Eisenhardt 1989), was deployed and improved after a test interview, and the interviewing process was approached using an interview guide focusing on discussed themes rather than asking questions from a rigid questionnaire to keep each interview like a conversation (Yin, 2009).
Building of the questionnaire
The 12-item interview guide developed was based on a constructivist approach to qualitative research design which, following Charmaz, enables the researcher to “move grounded theory methods further into the realm of interpretation in social science, without assuming the existence of a one-dimensional external reality. A constructivist grounded theory recognizes the interactive nature of both, data collection and data analysis” (Charmaz 521).
By adopting this method, I positioned myself as a participant-interpreter socially constructing the experiences recounted through the interviewees’ words, and attempted to render this through the grounded theory approach where specific concepts emerge from their words and from close readings of the data after the data collection phase.
First, an exploratory pilot or test interview was conducted to elicit implicit and explicit motives informing the choice of France for expatriation using open-ended questions.
The second step was to carry out a purposive review of secondary data sources, including the academic literature on expatriation and self-initiated global work, focusing on the themes of Global careers and boundarylessness, SIEs arriving in mature economies from emerging or post-colonial countries, and push-pull factors at the micro, meso, and macro levels.
In addition to these sources a detailed study of websites, promotional videos, blogs, and annual reports on related topics was undertaken.
Analysing the data Finally, the information collected on the items of most interest to the study on this population yielded four main topics; namely, how Indians are:
1. Making the immigration decision for France (push & pull)
2. Self- organizing their own expatriation ‘package’
3. Integrating into French organizational life and
4. Making and giving sense to a new and different identity than what would be afforded to them in the UK, the traditional destination for immigration from the subcontinent.
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Now, a look at the mind maps embodying the micro, meso and macro factors that fuelled the Indian Self initiated expatriation.
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The push and pull factors of expatriation:
The above mentioned points enabled me to refine the pilot guide and adopt a grounded theory approach to data collection. I sought to discover the concepts, assumptions and propositions of my respondents inductively in the data analysis phase rather than starting out with a priori assumptions based on prior research, empirical observations, or existing conceptual models (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Following the test interview, items were modified and two additional items were added in order to elicit a ‘meta-reflection’ on the part of the respondents, focusing on a current perception of individual integration in France at the time of interview and membership in a given community, as well as the explicit and implicit conceptualizations they hold, both of their lives in France, and of their eventual repatriation back to India.
Each individual interview was recorded and subsequently transcribed, and semi-directive knowledge elicitation techniques were used, including open-ended questions, rating questions, yes-no questions, and focused discussion (Cooke 1994) in order to maximize knowledge sharing and to better enable a posteriori the specific positioning and narratives emerging from each interview on the self-initiated move to France. Care was taken to select respondents from different fields of the labour market in order to draw rational inferences, which would be free from any particular industry bias. A general observation however suggests that most Indian SIEs coming to France pertaing to the engineering and scientific background.
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To validate our preliminary observations and findings and to gain additional insights, we conducted interviews with two experts from foremost institutions representing France in India: the director of the Alliance Française in a major metropolitan city of India, and a highly reputable recruiter and marketer working for a top French business school, based in Delhi.
I shall now present a summary of the major observations that came to light after having interviewed the AF director de Bombay.
The ten questions asked in this interview formed the basis of the exploratory or the pilot interviews, which underwent certain modifications depending on the responses, obtained from the first few interviewees.
As mentioned earlier, two additional questions were later added for “meta-reflection” that dealt with the level of integration of this Indian SIE community in France.
After having meticulously analysed the answers of all 30 respondents to the above mentioned questions, I was able to arrive at the following conclusions. Please note that each of these paragraphs denotes the answers analysed for each of the exploratory twelve questions. For the sake of clarity, the answers of each of the thirty respondents were first accumulated and every answer was diligently analysed. Additionally, based on the information contained in those answers quantitative tests were run to provide the reader with instant information that could be easily understood. To obtain the final answers (in the form of a percentage) I ran through all the interview transcripts and dug out more information by analyzing each and every answer and converted those answers into numerical data using tally marks. I then used this numerical data to draw out pie diagrams that gave us a clearer idea of the responses in the form of percentages.
Here is an analysis of the responses obtained by the 30 respondents interviewed by me. Each sub topic is highlights the nature of question asked.
Gender divide:
24 of the 30 respondents interviewed were male, which accounts for a whooping 80% in terms of the gender divide. One might therefore, consider that the survey undertaken is prejudiced towards the opinions and ideologies of the male section of the Indian SIEs and perhaps renders the possibility of taking into account a more holistic social view as highly difficult. It is however imperative to note that the number of male Indian SIEs far supersede that of their female counterparts.
France as a destination:
The US and the UK are almost synonymous with the Indian populace when it comes to pursuing education abroad, with Australia and Canada being the other small players in the pool. All the above-mentioned destinations have the English language as the common factor that stimulates the Indian students to opt for one of them.
France, realizing the obvious, had evidently taken measures to prop up its level of education and internationalize its education sector, in order to attract such lucrative prospects. Grenoble, the ski capital of France and a small city near Lyon, for instance, is known for its multi-national student life as Business Schools are now imparting education in English.
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It is therefore not surprising to note that one-third of the respondents interviewed chose France as their destination on account of the high quality of education that some French schools are known for. More importantly, many students also accepted that apart from the glittering ranking of top French schools, what acted as an incentivization for many Indian students was the rapidity with which the French schools accepted them.
Indian students relate education abroad with arduous and uncertain visa procedures and a high risk of non-acceptance. French schools have found a way to address these onerous issues, much to the delight of the prospective Indian students.
While education in English is what sparked the interest of most Indian students, around 15% of the ones surveyed actually took up the challenge of coming to a non-English speaking nation so as to further widen their linguistic prowess with the addition of another very important European language.
Apart from education, many female Indian SIEs followed their husbands (also SIEs) in order to look for a brighter career prospect in France. One of the major factors that seconds such an ambitious move on part of such couples is the high probability and in some cases even the assurance of having a job in France after having completed your higher education here. 7% of those interviewed chose France as it had a distinct advantage over UK in terms of getting a job.
France has long being associated with glamour and romance, with Paris arguably being the fashion capital of the world, apart from being home to other world renowned tourist attractions such as Le Tour Eiffel, Le Louvre and the like. The list is indeed endless and the sheer magnitude of these worldly attractions have charmed the Indians no end As such, many Indians came over to this land in the hope to see in person what the entire East admires on digital media.
Around 19% of my sample population came to France to experience the wonders of sophistication that France as a nation exudes. The style quotient of the French in India is so potent that it draws millions to this cryptic land, and even the language impediment seems rather insignificant for those willing to take the plunge to explore a surreal world.
Sector of occupation:
We now know that France is home to a reasonable amount of the Indian population that has been slowly entering its various cities for numerous decades. What is more interesting to know is that much of this population is not bound by the incumbency to use French for its survival and/or work. The reason being the international nature of the French education sector in France and as such daily work in International schools, whether pedagogical or administrative, is carried out in both, French and English.
30% of the respondents pertain to this category. Another imperative sector in France is that of Information Technology, which is considered to be the domain of the Indian population, stereotyping all Indians as engineers or IT geeks. Since a lot of such IT work is conducted in tandem with the US, near native knowledge of the English language comes in handy to the French recruiters. As such, a robust combination of English speakers having IT skills is what has paved the way for a large chunk of the Indian population to find work in France. 34% of my respondents pertain to this category, which when amalgamated with those working in the
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educational sector sums up to be a whooping 64% of Indians who would not require to be conversant in French in order to earn a livelihood in France, a notion which might sound incredible to most individuals across the world.
13% of the respondents are working with International firms in their marketing departments and realizing their goals of having an income, which by Indian standards would be a far-fetched dream.
French proficiency:
It is quite surprising to learn that 60% of the respondents interviewed took the decision to come to France, without having any knowledge whatsoever of the French language. This calculation and fact throws light on the internationalization of France, both as an economy and as a nation. France has albeit to a feeble extent, welcomed the prospect of using another language but its own for conducting daily commercial operations. Such an attitude has enabled the country to be the second largest economy in Europe at present, behind Germany (a nation where English is abundantly spoken.)
30% of the respondents however had some basic knowledge of French, before their arrival in order to avert the quotidian hassles of living in France.
Only 10% of the respondents were bilingual and to come to France for these respondents was akin to moving to another Indian city, with the added advantage of gaining access to a state of the art infrastructure, coupled with ubiquitous transparency within the French administrative system.
Should one foreign language be made mandatory in India:
57% of the Indian SIEs interviewed were of the opinion that another foreign language apart from English must be made mandatory in the Indian education system. Indians are known to be polyglots and as such learning a new language is not a major barrier for most Indians, on account of the rich linguistic diversity that india is known for. On an average, most Indian students are conversant in a minimum of three languages with English and Hindi (the most spoken language in India) being the first two languages learnt at school.
The third language is usually the one which a student learns depending on the Indian state in which he grew up. For instance, a student residing in the state of Maharashtra (of which Mumbai is the capital) will speak English, Hindi and Marathi with more or less equal eloquence. Hence, it is not uncommon to come across Indians who can speak 5 to 6 different languages.
Be that as it may, none of those languages, with the exception of English has any commercial value. The Lebanese or the Tunisians for instance are trilingual (English, French and Arabic) and have the inimitable advantage of being conversant in three languages, all of which form part of the 6 official languages of the United Nations. As such, although an Indian linguistically speaking is a lot better off than his Middle-Eastern counterparts, he cannot commercialize his linguistic accomplishments the way the latter can.
This is why a high percentage of the Indian population considers learning a new foreign language as a very potent tool capable of leading to more lucrative opportunities in the future.
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They strongly accept the notion of one foreign language being made compulsory, given the overall development and the future prospects of an individual.
On the other hand, 23% of this population adopted a more nationalistic approach stating that learning any other foreign language apart from English would be an autocratic move on the part of a democratic government and would defeat the very purpose of living in the largest democracy in the world. Some others of this category were of the opinion that adding another language would add more burden and stress to the already burdensome academic life of the students and as such would not yield the desired result.
23% of the population studied said that a choice must be offered to the Indian students at a young age, as foreign language acquisition really depends on their interest levels, as not all of the students would like to bid adieu to their motherland and as such in such an instance, learning another foreign language would make little sense.
Self-Identification:
Once an Indian, always an Indian/ always an Indian at heart: such answers during our interview sessions were indeed commonplace. 63% of the population surveyed stuck firmly to their Indian roots and was quite firm with its nationalistic stance.
20% of them acknowledged, by virtue of their long stay in France that they have acquired certain French traits that warrant them to view themselves as Indo-French.
10% of this population, sees themselves as having more than just the French component in terms of their outlook, and considered itself as more European instead of French, whilst a mere 7% view itself as global citizens.
Preference for their offspring to speak Hindi or/and their mother tongue:
Unsurprisingly, the number of Indians wanting their offspring to speak their mother tongue and/or Hindi was as high as 83%. This staggering figure would conspicuously include the 63% of the Indian patriots mentioned in the analysis of the previous point.
Amongst them, the ones who considered themselves as Indo-French or global citizens also opined that speaking the mother tongue is a very imperative factor in order for the child to realize what his roots are. They all are unanimous in their belief that speaking the mother tongue and/or Hindi would bind them to the Indian culture, which is a vital part of their ethnicity.
Repatriation as an option:
A lot has been spoken in the press about India’s shoddy infrastructure and about Delhi, the Indian capital, being the most polluted city on earth. Thereby, the paucity of rudimentary factors of human existence has instigated the young Indian populace to expatriate, on most occasions reluctantly. I say so, as 50% of those interviewed have expressed a keen desire to repatriate. However, the repatriation decision is something they intend put aside for the time being and not show any potent interest to head back in the foreseeable future. A huge number of those considering repatriation have set themselves a timeline of 5 years, in the hope that things in India will change for the better with Mr. Narendra Modi steering a boat that for centuries has been voyaging in troubled waters.
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The major factor inducing this decision was the proximity and the potent connection that most Indians felt with the their culture and the impregnable family bonds/ties that impel this population to repatriate. Interestingly enough, 18% of this section chose to go back to lead a more “laid-back” lifestyle further where daily life can go on with lesser amounts of professional stress.
Running a population that amounts to 17.5% of the global population, apart from the sheer diversity it exemplifies in terms of languages, race, religion etc. is as arduous as it is challenging. This complex socio-economic phenomenon (or problem) of India, coupled with the huge gulf of income inequality is cited as the root cause of the nation’s regress.
Whether or not the perpetually developing economy of India can enter the elite league of the developed nations is indeed debatable, but for this notion to be translated into reality, there needs to be a paradigm shift in the attitudes of the Indian public to adopt a more professional and transparent way of life for the overall betterment of the society. The government in time to come will hopefully mirror this transparency as well.
30% of the respondents however, were absolutely certain about never heading back to their homeland and cite factors such as poor work-life balance, deplorable infrastructure, lack of a social life on account of strenuous working hours (arduous commuting times), deteriorating and unhealthy air quality as perpetual and incorrigible obstacles of India’s existence.
34% mentioned pervasive corruption and unsatisfactory service to be the main culprits that deter them from ever heading back to their country. On the other hand, the social and environmental factors such as pollution, interminable traffic jams and uncontrollable population figures play the role of a catalyst in inducing this section of the Indian population to fashion a life outside their homeland. The issue of cultural adjustments when going back to India resulted to be a major hindrance for 19% of the expats. They claim to have lost a great deal of affinity with their compatriots when they go back to India for short trips. The topic of discussions are confined to insipid domestic life. Moreover, the societal views of such individuals are skewed to the orthodox Indian traditions that hinder such basic human quotidian features as making independent decisions (8%).
20% of the sample group said it was too early for them to take a stand, as many have recently completed their academic degrees and hence are still trying to establish their foothold in this foreign land. Thus their answer on this score was a tentative and an uncertain “Maybe.”
Perceived competition amongst compatriots:
The pie chart relating to the opinions about the competitive feeling that Indians confront from their compatriots in France is equally balanced in terms of low and high competition. One third of the Indians working in France feel that they experience a high level of competition from fellow Indians in sectors such as Marketing, E-commerce, IT, building and construction, corporate communication.
Conversely, Indian SIEs working in sectors such as Research and education, Luxury, FMCG goods, micro-electronics (37% of the sample population) feel that the competition is rather low. Interestingly, this section represents other Indian SIEs working in the IT and Telecommunication sector who think that the competition is relatively low, as compared to other IT work force (IT and Telecommunication mentioned in the previous paragraph) that
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voiced their opinion in favor of high competition. Thus, there is some ambiguity with regards to the unanimity of opinion in this sector. However, the majority of the IT and other engineering work force still backs the opinion that competition from fellow Indians in their respective fields is still low. The IT interviewee who stated the competition to be high is working in a start-up that is looking to better market itself to capture a larger market segment. I would surmise that the overlapping concept of IT, along with the added marketing responsibility is what has resulted in the competition being high.
30% of the people surveyed said that they did not experience any competition at all. Such were the sectors of steel and metallurgy, leisure, imparting of yoga lessons and restaurant owners, wherein the only competition that Indians came across was that from the French nationals. Most Indian SIEs are more preoccupied to procure the CDI/indeterminate French working contract and hence concentrate all their efforts toward the accomplishment of that objective.
Stereotypes faced by Indian SIEs in France
As the analysis progressed, I realized that there is an inevitable connection between Indians and their IT prowess. Unsurprisingly therefore, this is precisely what most French think about Indians, to be IT geeks. Indians therefore have the stereotypical image of being prolific in IT, math and engineering fields, or in other words fields that require a lot of number crunching.
This is not surprising, as the IT sector has grown from US 4 billion in 1998 to US 80 billion in 2011. This sector alone provides employment to more than 10 million Indians back home. The contribution of this sector to the nation’s GDP was 9.5% in the FY 2015.
Internationally speaking Indian is the world’s largest sourcing destination for the IT industry. It accounts to about 52 per cent of the US’s $124-130 billion market. Thus the potent combination of IT and English has proved to be the success formula for most Indians.
http://www.telstraglobal.com/blogpost/india-‐s-‐growth-‐in-‐the-‐last-‐decade-‐and-‐its-‐impact-‐on-‐technology-‐growth-‐and-‐its-‐leadership
http://www.ibef.org/industry/information-‐technology-‐india.aspx
This stereotype has however posed to be worrisome for Indians working in other departments such as Marketing or CRM, which do not involve the crunching of numbers. In such
33%
17% 17%
33%
Stereotypes faced by Indian SIEs in France
Acquiescent: "Yes" never "No" Undervalued previous experience
IT Techies / Math Geeks Poor English, Strong Accent
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instances, such Indians have had the experience of being sidelined when trying to put forward their suggestions in a board meeting. They said that the senior management of the organization does not seek an Indian’s inputs in such non-numerical fields. The inputs of Indian SIEs are given more heed and reverence in more technical and quantitative fields. Hence, having a skewed vision about a nationality is a grave deterrent to an MNC, as it loses out on innovative ideas generated by its capable workforce.
Another deterrent in terms of the Indian stereotype was the inability of the Indian workforce to say no. Saying a firm “No” is considered impolite in the Indian culture and hence, often times such workforce tends to indulge in ambiguity by not being able to come up with a clear answer.
Another dimension of this ambiguity is the power distance theory. India ranks high on the PDI scale, with a total of 77 points over a 100. A high PDI stands for an unequal distribution of power and as such, this in part also explains the ambiguous demeanor of Indians whist interacting with their superiors or even with peers.
http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-‐hofstede-‐cultural-‐dimensions/power-‐distance-‐index/
This stereotypes results in many senior members not even considering the point of view of the Indian workforce. On occasions when my Indian SIE respondents expressed a different point of view in board meetings, they have almost always been frowned upon by one and all. Here is a quote from one female respondent pertaining to the MNC sector, “When I opened my mouth in a meeting everyone would turn around and look at me, I am like a surprise to many, it used to be irritating at times.”
Hence at such instances, the Indian workforce just quantitatively adds on to the number of participants in the meeting in order to constitute a quorum.
Another major hindrance for experienced and qualified Indians is the fact that their work experience in India is hardly given any weightage and as such, they are treated no differently than another freshman from a French University. This results in a major setback to experienced individuals in their middle ages, trying desperately to revamp their careers on foreign soil, besides having enough trouble dealing with the pressing issue of learning a new language.
Another common stereotype of India was that it is an impoverished nation, whose individuals are adept at speaking English, an uphill task for most French. 24% of the population surveyed held this opinion.
Other non-deterrent stereotypes are the result of the exaggerated Indian image that the media often undertakes to claim a larger chunk of TRPs (Television Rating Points). For instance, the head bobbling (18%), over-indulgence in sex and drugs (18%), snakes and elephants (18%) being domesticated are some of the other Indian stereotypes that come to a Frenchmen’s mind, when he thinks of India.
Surprisingly enough, one third of Indians interviewed learnt via different channels of communication that the French found their levels in the English language to be below
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standard. Some though the Indians spoke at a brisk pace, some others found the Indian accent to be funny. All in all, the Indians were unable to make an impression on a certain segment of the French population with their English language skills.
Opportunities in France and them aiding your family in India:
The answers to this question is not unanimous or one sided.
However, in general, the Indian SIEs seemed to have a positive perspective about the opportunities that France has given them vis a vis those of India. A healthy 63% of this population said that France has definitely offered them much better career prospects and life in general than what their homeland ever possible could.
One PhD student was happy to have been able to start off with his Doctorate at the age of 38, which would be quite unlikely in India, where as another other PhD student, who is currently pursuing his degree is content with the quality of education offered at his University and rates it to be a far cry from that offered in India.
Certain other members of this 63% club cited the social security service on part of the French government as the most crucial factor, which has really fuelled their decision to stay back in France, for more than a decade. This sort of service is would be impossible to provide at the same level within the Indian economy, which may explain the attractiveness of France’s high level of healthcare management.
Moreover, many Indians also cited the work-life balance and the ease in commuting to their work places as a distinct advantage; something that they never have and never will experience in India, whatever may be their salary package. The essence of such statements boiled down to the “additional time” that these Indian SIEs had in their hands and as such, they could achieve so much more with every passing day. They were mentally a lot more relaxed which directly translates into a balanced and a healthy life-style.
Such Indian SIEs were introduced to the previously inexperienced aspect of a social life, which was non-existent whilst they worked in India. They now have a “life”, wherein their days are not solely characterized with a nightmarish commute to their work place and back, with intolerably long working hours and with overexploitation of labour in terms of making the work force work over time without the work force’s acquiescence and on many occasions without additional pay. Overtime in India is regarded as part of their job. This is because the supply of labour in India is in abundance, courtesy of its very large population, and there is only so much demand that an emerging economy can cater to.
The result of this vicious demand and supply circle is that Indians back home spend a major part of their day, working in the office and have a very poor work-life balance.
Others have mentioned transparency in the government’s proceedings to be a major factor, which is completely exempt from the act of greasing the palms of government officials with kickbacks. India scored 38 out of 100 points on the corruption perception index and a significant 7.5 out of 10 points on the bribe payers index.
https://www.transparency.org/country/#IND
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/07/daily-‐chart-‐8
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30% of those interviewed, thought that they were better off in India than they are here. Their betterment view is primarily skewed in terms of the monetary benefits. For instance, a former Indian lawyer who later on pursued a Maters degree in International Business said that he was better paid in India, whereas the salary that he earns working in the legal department of a Japanese automobile firm in Paris is more of a pittance.
Similarly, a yoga instructor said that in India, he can quote a price and people are willing to pay exorbitant rates per hour (this point highlights the financial disequilibrium of the Indian society and economy as a whole), whereas in France, he considers himself as poor. He has continued to live in France to honor his family responsibilities. His daughter is 7 and he would like to give her the much needed parental guidance till the age of 15. He plans to head back to pursue more lucrative prospects awaiting him in India after a period of 7 years.
Skirting the law by the French: C’est comme ca! The fact that the French government has come up with work related schemes wherein French entrepreneurs can recruit expats for 6-month periods and pay them a little over the legal basic pay in France has not escaped the attention of many.
A 6 month renewable contract offered by French firms or international firms in France is a innovative way to circumvent the French law that provides any given employee with certain human resource rights. These HR rights translate into a liability for the French company.
It is noteworthy that one of the pillars/mottos of the French Republic is “egalite”, which stands for the equal treatment of all. Its work force is certainly not exempt from that bracket. In this manner, the French government is prohibited to distinguish the rights of different work force working in France (at least on paper.) This explains the recruitment of the English-speaking work force for short-term contract periods, and with lower salaries. However, so deplorable are the conditions in the world’s largest democracy that most of these individuals are more than happy to accept an internship in France, being fully aware than an internship rarely gets translated into a full time job. However, as the mere prospect of earning one’s salary in euros, which is 65 times stronger that the Indian rupee is alluring enough for most SIEs to not think twice and sign the first contract that comes their way, imprinting on it the famous French quote of “Lu et approuvé.”
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Further enrichment of the database: Ask the experts! As mentioned earlier, the above information was collected by personally interviewing 30 Indian SIEs with the intention of acquiring precise and in-depth answers to our research question(s). However, it was essential to take a more commercial view of the situation. Hence, an interview with the director of the Alliance Francaise de Bombay was organized. The AF in India is the premier institution that resorts to the eloquent and wide-spread promotion of the French language and culture. It is thanks to this exposure that prospective Indian students are drawn to France as a destination wherein to pursue higher education or to earn their daily bread. The entire interview trascript can be viewed in the dedicated appendix section on the dropbox. The answers thus obtained threw more light of the strategies adopted by the French government to counter competition from its arch-rival for centuries, the UK and other English speaking nations. https://www.dropbox.com/home/Self-initiated%20Expats/FMP-%20GGSB%20Sept%2015/Appendix/Expert%20Interviews I shall now present a summary of the major observations that came to light after having interviewed the AF director de Bombay.
Expert Interview # 1: AF de Bombay: A short summary of the interview with the director. ü The answers provided by the director highlighted the fact that France is no match to other
English speaking nations such as the UK or the US as far as alluring foreign students to its Universities is concerned.
ü France however wants to promote its flagship strategy of subsidized/ free education so as to attract Indian students, who are often on a tight budget.
ü The attractive trio of a quick visa process, lower tuition fee and learning a new language and culture are neatly marketed to the Indian populace.
ü As mentioned by the director himself, Indian students have a reputation of being very bright and since they are already conversant in English, French by default becomes a first foreign language. Chinese students, by contrast do not have similar English language proficiency skills and hence learning French for them is more challenging.
ü Hence, the Indian student market provides the fertile ground for France to promote its educational sector.
AF, although an important tool for the promotion of the French language and culture does not directly indulge in inducing Indian students to head to France for further studies. Its activities as a language institution are confined to the spreading the French language and culture in the Indian subcontinent.
For this purpose, we interviewed a country manager of a reputable French business school in order to get an insight of their marketing strategies that French schools are adopting in order to catch up with their English rivals. The following interview provides more information on the subject.
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Expert Interview # 2: A French Business school’s local office in Delhi: A Short summary of this interview: As with the earlier interview, this section only contains a short summary of the actual interview. The entire interview transcription can be viewed in the Appendix section, on the dropbox.
ü Out of the many points highlighted by this country manager, two were exceptionally striking in nature. viz: a) ease in obtaining scholarships, procuring a 5 year Schengen visa on the successful completion of a Masters’ degree, b) the ambitious nature of the Indian students.
ü Visa applications for a developing country citizen are often characterized by red tape and woeful outcomes. In such a context, having access to the Schengen zone for 5 years on the mere completion of the academic degree is certainly a big boost for the Indian students as many who would like to cement their commercial base, in a European country could easily do so, without indulging in tiresome application processes.
ü Moreover, the one-year Masters’ programs of France offer a lot more time to the students to look for placements in their second year and to get conversant in the French language. In this manner, an Indian student has about three years of legal stay in France, before applying for the 5 year Schengen visa option. This is so, as after the completion of the Masters program (2 years on paper), the student is entitled to apply for a one-year extension to look for placements. In either case, a student begins to do just that after the first year, as the second year of education does not require the student to attend any lectures. Hence, in practice the student gets 2 years to look out for a job, making it a total of 8 years of legal stay permit in France. This is invaluable for a citizen from a developing country.
ü Furthermore, the higher tendency of procuring a scholarship means that further mitigating the already low tuition fee becomes even more attractive as a prospect.
ü The very fact that Indians have chosen France as a destination itself is proof enough of their ambitious nature and the fact that they do not blindly follow the crowd. They want to be recognized and are willing to travel the extra mile to accomplish their goals. In such as case, a diplomatic boost given by the French government will only serve as a perfect launch pad for them to accomplish the same.
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Tackling the problem: Indian brain drain equals the Western brain gain.
The very first words of our research question deal with the term “risk”, for risk is what Indian SIEs are forced to take to ensure a better future. On account of experiencing substandard living conditions, be it in terms pollution or sanitation, Indians can be expected to have a close relationship with ill health. There is also no social security system in place in order to cater to the health issues of a 1.2 billion population. Thus, medical assistance is rather limited and thereby, expensive. As the basic civic amenities in India cannot take the load of this expansive population, the educated Indian folk, at times have no option but to self-expatriate themselves, to live a life that does justice to their life aspirations. Now, a look at the “Push Factors” of India, that drive the skilled Indian SIEs abroad. This list is not exhaustive, but is based on the feedback obtained after having interviewed 30 Indian SIEs. Based on their answers, further research was conducted with the help of press journals to supplement the claims of these SIEs.
A Pestle Analysis of India stands to better explicate these factors.
Pestle analysis on India Political Issues of India: The political (un)rule in India is characterized by a magnitude of corruption scandals. With all its potential and promise, India has unfortunately never been short of scams, almost all of which have been inevitably witnessed on an international scale, much to the horror of the world and to the incessant chagrin of its nationals. The 3 big Indian political scams that gained international notoriety are as follows:
Ø March 1986: Bofors scandal: This was perhaps one of the most devastating dents on the integrity of Indian politics. The Bofors scandal involved a $ 15 billion contract between the Indian government and the Swedish firm called AB Bofors. This contract entailed the supply of over 400 155mm Howetzer field guns on part of the Swedish firm to the Indian government. In April 1987, a Swedish radio channel leaked the horrifying news that Bofors paid kickbacks to the top officials of the Indian government in order to secure the deal.
Ø 2G Spectrum Scam, 2008: This particular scam involved a covert deal between the Indian politicians and the Indian telecommunication companies. These telecom companies were deliberately being undercharged by the then Indian telecom government minister, Mr A.Raja so that the difference could be used to create 2G subscriptions for mobile users. This difference eventually amounted to US$ 32.53 billion. (“What is the 2G spectrum scam? : India, News -‐ India Today,” n.d.)
Ø 2010 commonwealth games: Included alleged theft of billions of rupees by officials in the process on conducting the Commonwealth Games. (“Corruption in India: A rotten state | The Economist,” n.d.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_over_the_2010_Commonwealth_Games
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Why was hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games a disastrous idea for a decrepit economy like India?
• From the socio economic point of view the very concept of hosting an event of such high magnitude was rather far-fetched for a developing country like India.
• A country that is already troubled with the issue of having one in three of its citizens living below the poverty line, should know better than to spend billions of a sporting event such as the Commonwealth.
• To state a few statistics, 46% of India’s children and 55% of India’s women are malnourished. Hence, to hold a 12-day sporting event involving such a high capital was indeed superfluous.
• Mr Suresh Kalmadi, the then Chairman of the Commonwealth Games was jailed for 10 months for charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suresh_Kalmadi)
• The total amount of corruption amount amassed in this event was to the tune of US $433.7 million. This disastrous event brought much unwanted international shame on the country.
(“Corruption unlimited! Rs2,342 crore lost on Commonwealth Games | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis,” n.d.)
Economic issues of India: Infrastructure, or the lack of it.
Indian politicians vehemently talk about its economic growth and quoting intangible numbers, subject to fabrication. Its “ground reality” in literal terms, however paints a rather gloomy picture. Mumbai, its economic capital shoulders the main burden in fostering the country towards economic growth and development; a prophecy that lacks credible results. The conditions of its basic infrastructure such as roads, bridges and the like are in dire need of betterment. Every year, the monsoon washes away the surfaces of Mumbai’s roads along with the far-fetched hopes of its citizens who yearn to have access to better commuting facilities.
Studies conducted in 2011 indicated that there has been heavy investment to ameliorate the infrastructural levels of the country and private enterprises are being looked upon as the nation’s saviors. It was then predicted that a leviathan amount of US $ 1 trillion would be invested to prop up the country’s unsatisfactory infrastructure over the next 5 years. We are at the end of that period and the results are nowhere close to the targets previous envisioned.
The major Indian firms are hand in glove with the Indian politicians in order to procure construction contracts. The problem is that the biggest Indian private sector firms with their indulgences in rampant corruption are facing serious net debt issues and hence do not have the financial independence required to be in charge of their own balance sheets, let alone those of an entire nation.
The following table cuts a sorry figure for this BRICS member nation.
Hence such Indian firms are in dire need of investment to ramp up their balance sheets toward the positive quadrant. However, this investment ideally needs to be brought about by raising equity and not debt.
(“Infrastructure in India: Infrastruggles | The Economist,” n.d.)
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(“Infrastructure in India: Infrastruggles | The Economist,” n.d.)
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Sanitation Issues of India Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as the father of nation and the alleged architect of Independent India once remarked that good sanitation is more important than Independence. The current finance minister, Mr. Arun Jaitely has set a goal to eradicate defecating in public by 2019, which is around 150 years after the birth anniversary of the Mahatma.
In a country where temples spring up like wild grass, little attention is paid on the more blatant aspect of public sanitation. The total world population that lack toilets is accounted to be around 1 billion, to which India contributes a healthy 60% or 600 million people. 130 million households in India lack access to toilets.
This scenario begets crime against the female rural population who take to the fields to answer the nature’s call. This is especially so when they leave their homes late in the evenings. The barbaric state of Uttar Pradesh has for ages had a tarnished image of being home to several socials evils such rape and murder.
On account of the large Indian population, even crops, wells and food are not sparred from getting in contact with the human faeces. The ingested bacteria from such contact give rise to chronic intestinal diseases in Indian children, grossly malnourishing them in the process.
Hence, despite the augmentation of family incomes, such diseases are unavoidable and result in one half of India’s children population to be malnourished. Hence, a higher income does not lead to a safer life in India. This is one of the many reasons as to why Indians, despite higher income opportunities do not wish to stay in the country. They give more importance to the air that they inhale than to the enviable bank balance.
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Diahorrea, which is rampant in India, leaves the Indians with smaller body frames than those of their African counterparts who consume far lesser calories per day.
The present Indian government intends to change the infrastructural scenario of the nation by building 5.2 million toilets by September 2015, which translates into a building a toilet per second.
However, the cultural habits of the Indian rural folk are frighteningly archaic with the Hindu tradition encouraging Hindus to practice open defecation away from their homes to avoid ritual impurity. This has resulted in one out of every 100 Hindu infants survive to the age of 5 years. The number in case of Muslims is 1.7 per 100 infants.
Many north Indian families who do have access to latrines at their homes, have also taken to open defecation for this concept is regarded as wholesome, social and even healthy in the Northern Indian states and in Nepal.
Hence, the availability of public latrines is not the silver bullet solution to India’s sanitary issues. There is instead a dire need to conduct public campaigns in order to spread the all-imperative message of the health benefits of using latrines and the hazards of not using them.
(“Sanitation in India: The final frontier | The Economist,” n.d.)
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Poverty in India Poverty in India has been rampant during and post the British raj. A year old article in the New York Times specifies a more comprehensible definition of poverty. It says that a family of five in the rural areas of India spending less than $80 and their counterparts in the urban areas spending less than $116 on a monthly basis are fit to be termed as poor.
As per this criterion, 29.5% or 363 million Indians are poor, which is more than the population of the United States (2014 estimate= 318.9 million). The prices for the basic human food requirement such as 50 grams of protein per person per day were highly fluctuating depending in which region of the nation you were living.
Some of the most expensive regions of the nation were twice as much costly as compared to other regions of India, wherein such basic human consumption was a lot cheaper. For instance, a pro industrialization state such as Gujarat has garnered much wrath for having poverty rates lingering around the national average, despite continually outperforming every other Indian state when it comes to accomplishing China-like growth rates. This state has been an outlier, if we were to compare Gujarat’s economic growth and India’s. In the latter’s case ,case, inflation and GDP rates have swapped places. Another Indian state called Kerala has a horrid atmosphere for industrial growth, but has a robust social welfare and educational system. Thereby, the poverty rate in Kerala is a mere 7.3%.
(“Setting a High Bar for Poverty in India -‐ NYTimes.com,” n.d.)
Poverty in India - Statistics
• 50% of Indians don’t have proper shelter;
• 70% don’t have access to decent toilets
• 35% of households don’t have a nearby water source;
• 85% of villages don’t have a secondary school
• Over 40% of these same villages don’t have proper roads connecting them.
(“Poverty in India: Causes, Effects, Injustice & Exclusion,” n.d.)
(“Poverty in India: Causes, Effects, Injustice & Exclusion,” n.d.)
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Urban poverty in India
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Education in India
Access to sound education in India is unfortunately, still a distant dream for many Indian households. Thousand of mill and handloom workers in India dream for a better future for their children in terms of at least basic school education and some conversational ability in English.
Such is the story of a handloom worker from Lucknow whose illness ensured that his nine-year-old daughter trade private school education for domestic work as the family could no longer afford her education.
Education in India comes at a cost and its quality has a direct correlation with a person’s bank balance. That said, India has witnessed a surge in terms of pupils seeking private education in both urban and rural areas. While urban areas experienced a surge of 33% from 28% within a span of three years, the surge in the rural areas was more meteoric: 29% from 16%.
Private schools, especially in the rural areas have very little or no infrastructure. A tiny room is what would serve as a classroom in most private schools, be it in urban or in rural areas. In most rural areas, classes are still conducted out in the open with chalk and slate replacing modern pedagogical instruments.
Absenteeism of schoolteachers is commonplace, especially in state schools, with a teacher being absent 1 out of 5 days on an average.
An Indian NGO by the name of Pratham released its annual report in which it states that although the enrolment of the students at 96% is very high, the primary (or perhaps the only) motivating factor for the same is the one free meal a day for the student who attends school.
(“Poor state education in India threatens the futures of millions of children | World news | The Guardian,” n.d.)
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Environmental Factors of India Pollution:
Delhi, the Indian capital (unofficially foulmouthed as its “rape capital”), has another feather in its cap. Delhi is officially the most polluted city on the planet.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/delhi-‐is-‐now-‐indias-‐rape-‐capital-‐show-‐ncrb-‐data/article7554551.ece
While many might associate pollution to resonate more with its economic rival and neighbour, China; Delhi has left no stone unturned to make sure that it overtakes the latter by quite a margin.
The SMP (the smallest measure particles), is the most hazardous component of air pollution. Its level in Delhi’s atmosphere is frighteningly high.
The visible smog from the particulates of 10 microns or less has primarily two versions, namely: PM 10 and PM 2.5. Delhi. Delhi ranks high on both these versions. Out of the two, PM2.5 is more likely to kill as these pollutants go a lot deeper into the lungs.
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These PM 2.5 levels in Delhi are 15 times higher than those considered safe by the WHO. Given the latest statistics, Delhi is about 45% more polluted that Beijing.
Out of the twenty most polluted cities in the world having dangerous levels of PM 2.3, thirteen alone are in India.
The rural folk in India are certainly not better off than their urban counterparts. They are as much affected by atmospheric pollution as any other Indian living in India. The only difference is the source of pollution. Rural India is subject to the inhalation of indoor pollution on account of a quotidian usage of paraffin stoves and dung-fuelled fires.
Studies have shown that the indoor and outdoor pollution together, apart from causing conspicuous irritation and discomfort among civilians, has a more dire consequence. It claims over 1.6 million Indian lives every year.
(“Air pollution in India: Breathe uneasy | The Economist,” n.d.)
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Chapter 3: CONCLUSIONS
Theoretical implications: The HRM literature puts forth theoretical concepts such as sensemaking, adjustment, sense of agency and so forth. After having conducted a total of 32 in-depth semi-directive interviews, I wanted to test the results thus obtained across my respondents, either directly or indirectly. There were times when some amount of probing was required, in order to validate/ contradict the management literature read and applied. Towards the end of this section, I examine such other aspects of the management literature as type of career drivers and sense of ambition.
1/ Contribution to research methodology –Using semi directive interviews I gathered data from my own sample population using snowballing and convenience sampling, and especially by conducting a follow-up second interview following the member-checking methodology from life history theory along with the inclusion of Mind maps.
2/ Theories of career and life trajectory literature: The Push and the Pull.
The push and the pull factors refer to the push from India and the pull toward France. Goodhall Na Li, Warner (2006/07) put forth the cultural experiences of the English and American expats in China with emphasis to aspects such as culture shock, language barriers and so forth. This is the quintessential example of developed nation’s expatriates working in emerging economies.
In this study, I have addressed the under-examined and underexploited concept of a developing nation’s SIEs moving to a developed nation and the set of problems associated with staying in a more expensive economy. The language barrier and cultural shock, although different in nature, are indeed apparent.
Moreover, the obvious financial constraints of a developing economy act more as a push, than a pull factor. The depreciating rupee has fuelled the enthusiasm of the Indian SIEs to work abroad. Given the poor work-life balance ratio in India, Indians are more than happy to work shorter hours, with a two-hour lunch break, which they view as a luxury in France. They are a lot more relaxed and are very happy with the remuneration offered. The conversion of euros to rupees provides them with staggering figures. Furthermore, these SIEs are adept at economizing, and as such do not indulge is extravagant spending. This unique combination allows them at times, to even send some money back home.
Hence, adaptation of the French life that does not move at a hectic pace, like India’s, greatly ensures a smooth adaptation process.
3/ Discrimination based on the country of origin was the most common phenomenon encountered by the Indian SIEs. Many cited being undervalued despite having years of work
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experience in India in their respective sectors. This is exactly what Al Ariss (2010) refers to when citing similar lack of recognition for the Lebanese workforce in France.
4/ Negative Stereotyping
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2012 refers to the negative stereotyping of certain ethnic minorities. One of the 30 respondents interviewed stated that stereotyping Indians as IT pros is not particularly a thing to be proud of.
To quote the male respondent, “ The fact that the French acknowledge Indians to be good at IT, is not a good thing. They know, the should call an Indian in case they encounter an IT problem.”
Perhaps, the respondent’s intention is to cast light on the narrow mindedness of the French, who consider Indians to only have this skill set.
Our next example provides more clarity to this concept.
In other non-numeric fields such as CRM, one of our female respondent’s views were often sidelined, as she is Indian and not supposed to have the same degree of competence at something that does not deal with numbers, even if she actually had multiple years’ experience in CRM expertise.
5/ Married male spouses and their career issues
Selmer and Lauring (2011) talk about married SIEs and say that when a male SIE accompanies his female spouse on account of the latter’s placement, the former seems to feel that his career is on hold. In terms of our Indian male spouse respondent who falls in this category, it was his parental duty that has kept him back in France and not because he feels his career to be on hold. This male respondent is from the leisure industry and continues to impart Yoga lessons, as he would have in India, albeit with a slight acknowledgement that his financial gains in India would probably be higher.
The implication that comes out clearly from this example is one that clearly defies what Selmer and Lauring (2011) had said about a male expat earlier. However, I would consider this individual case an outlier, as other female SIEs interviewed by me have followed their French spouses to France.
Another important aspect to note here is that this male respondent pertains to the non-numeric fraternity and is not the stereotypical IT geek who is in good demand in France. The nature of his work (as a Yogi) allows him more flexibility to chose any terrain wherein to earn his livelihood, as such he has no qualms in staying in France to work, by fulfilling his first obligation of providing sound parental guidance to his seven year old daughter. Hence, his priority was to stay back or rather be in France, to ensure that his daughter get the right education and upbringing from both her parents.
6/ Agency of an individual
Doherty (2013) puts forth the agency of an individual as the main driver for choosing a particular country of expatriation. She talks about the desire to explore the world, as has been stated by our respondents mesmerized by the beauty of France. Additionally, respondents
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cited inhuman living conditions as their “push factor”, resulting in their expatriation. In this paper, it is more the hardships of the home country than the expatriate’s yearning to satiate his desires.
The simple agency of having access to hot water, of a more transparent administrative system, or of the commuting time and process being more organised has been witnessed through these interviews.
The Indian population wants to achieve more from life, such as learning a new art or playing a new sport, but it does not have this liberty back home, as once an employee starts working, his life is confined to his office and has little time to indulge in a social activity of his liking. France, with its excellent work-life balance ratio and a high value for social life, offers just the right platform.
Here are a few quotes on their agencies
“I would like to open the tap for hot water and actually get hot water. I do not see that happening in India”
“I like living in a less crowed place where I can walk to work. Hence, it is the small parts of this irritation which builds up towards the end.”
“The efficiency of the service sector in India is not up to the mark. There are frequent repetitions of work, which reduces productivity and leads to lesser efficiency. There are often times Grid Locks.”
“Here you can learn a lot more in lesser time, whereas in India you are bogged down by traffic. “
To conclude, I can summarize the general voice of the Indian populace in the following bullet points.
France offers a sense of independence to Indians, who are not used to/ allowed to take independent life decisions on account the social grid locks of the nation.
It offers more time on hands and as such contributes to the overall development of an individual’s personality, as an individual can now decide what to do with his free time on account of a healthy work-life balance. As such, an individual leads a more balanced and a happier life. To quote one of our female respondents, “Time is currency”.
It offers better infrastructure, quality of life and social security, further enriching an individual’s experience of working in France. The organization of the country with cleaner air to breathe is the least of the gains that Indian SIEs profit from.
It adds another dimension to their personal and professional lives with the addition of French as a foreign language. This helps to not only enable them to better integrate within the French culture, but also widens their inter-cultural skills and makes them more adept to working in an international environment.
It offers financial stability to them, by offering a healthy salary package, which is far more lucrative that the salary scale present in India.
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Theoretical limitations:
Data collection methods: Snowball and convenience sampling methods were applied in order to collect first-hand data. The limitation faced with snowball sampling was the commonality in the type of industry. Indians working in a particular industry recommended fellow Indians working in the same sector as prospective interviewees. This confided my research to a few industries of the economy.
Married couple theory: I was unable to test the married SIE theory presented by Selmer and Lauring (2011) mentioned earlier, as even after having conducted 30 one on one interviews, I was only able to interview one married Indian couple. Hence, I was short of extensive data to either validate of contradict the findings of the above-mentioned theory.
Individual Agency to come to France: Although, this paper highlights the agency of some individuals to come and experience the French way of life, and in most cases to get easy access to the Schengen zone; their main agency has been to avoid the harsh living conditions back home. Hence, France has served as an outlet to better living conditions, which any other first world country could have provided. Few have come to France for the love of Moliere’s language or to appreciate the world renounced art that the country is famous for.
Stereotyping: There is a great deal of ambiguity about this phenomenon. While some have experienced innocuous stereotypes such as the head bob; there is still some confusion with regards to the IT status provided to Indians. Some view it as positive, a skill that they are proud of; while others have a more reserved opinion on the matter. With mixed reactions, I was unable to deduce the real value of associating an Indian with his IT skills.
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Managerial implications: 1/ Number crunchers: As mentioned earlier, those French managers who relate the Indian human capital’s skill set with a good grasp of mathematics, would need to broaden their horizons a bit.
If not, then this stereotype could have two undesirable outcomes, which might prove to be a waste of that human capital. Firstly, capable Indian SIEs who have an inimitable skill set in non-numerical areas will be sidelined to such an extent that their point of views will not be given any weightage. This will in turn curb any prospect of devising innovative solutions to ongoing management issues.
Secondly, blindly trusting the numerical ability of Indians may certainly backfire, as not all Indians are gifted with potent numerical abilities.
2/ Acquiescent nature: Some of the SIEs interviewed quoted that their French managers would hardly ask their opinion on a matter of discussion, and would take it as a given that they would gladly comply with whatever was asked of them. Such archaic misconceptions can completely disrupt the working relationship between the employer and the employee. The employer could actually end up extracting less from such Indian employees on account of lack of motivation that mainly arises due to lack of recognition. Such employees could develop a lackadaisical attitude, which would directly translate into lesser revenue for the employers. The managerial problems such as these might seem very obvious, but I was surprised to see many Indian SIEs quoting the same issues on a regular basis.
3/ Recognition of previous experience: Recruiting qualified individuals is a challenging task for the HR department of a firm. However, recruiting experienced individuals who have weathered many corporate storms is what provides a firm an edge over its competitors. Blatant disregard for such indispensable work force merely on the context of not having French or European work experience is rather foolhardy. Global commerce is often observed as being borderless. Giving due credit to such individuals will help French managers to outperform their rivals with ease with the recruitment of a hard working English speaking work force.
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Methodological limitations: Lack of detailed answers: Even though a qualitative analysis would warrant elaborate answers to questions asked, a small percentage of the respondents was unable to provide detailed answers. This could perhaps be due to the nervousness felt by them on account of being recorded.
Reluctance to be interviewed: Many reluctantly agreed to give an interview on the constant insistence of my professor, whom they knew well. This reluctance, I would reckon resulted in poor quality of answers as they saw the process as a mere formality and wanted to get through with it.
Using technology: For interviews that required the use of Skype, poor Internet connections entailed a substandard quality of recording, which further added more difficulties for the recordings to be transcribed verbatim.
Male dominated: Eighty percent of the respondents in this survey are males. Hence, the inference thus drawn might not cover the opinions of both the sexes. It is noteworthy that many female expatriates have followed their husbands to France and thus, form part of the survey. Very rarely in our case, has a female expatriate taken to self-expatriating herself on account of family obligations. The only exception was the young female students who again lacked substantial work experience in order for me to be able to compare their working patterns in the two countries.
Geographical confinement: The majority of the Indians interviewed were residents of Grenoble. This is because I was residing in Grenoble and it was a matter or convenience and practicality for me to approach Indians within the confines of this city. I would reckon that being in a bigger town such as Lyon or Paris would have offered me greater options in terms of the population size as well as the diversity of fields that they pertain to.
More expert opinions: Diligent efforts were made to approach the AF de Delhi, Campus France and the Indian Embassy in Paris to further enrich the quality of data collected. Their incessant non-availability and lack of response, for reasons best know to these institutions restricted our expert interviews to two.
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Future Research suggestions: The following points underscore the areas that I was unable to fully explore and that the future researchers could take note of:
Collaborating with French firms: French firms could indulge in the data collection of the Indian population within their organizations so as to get an idea of what measures it needs to take in order to address the issues encountered by them and also ensure a high level of motivation among them. If possible, the answers received must be anonymized so as to impart more confidence from the respondents and also to obtain more direct answers.
Geographic dispersion: As my research was mainly confined to Grenoble, I would encourage future researchers to seek to carry out interviews in other metropolitan cities of France, which are home to more international firms.
Female employees: It is imperative to have some balance in the gender ratio whilst collecting data.
Diplomatic Organizations: An interview with a commerce minister or an Ambassador of either country would provide valuable insight on bilateral policies of the two nations, as such the discriminatory measure which at times are so apparent would perhaps make more sense.
Interviewing Indian students in India who have taken to learning French would provide a great insight of the Indian mind set and would give us more of an idea as to how many of these French language students actually consider of moving to France someday for academic or professional reasons.
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Subjective Career Drivers: Push & Pull Results from the interviews reveal a number of micro-level subjective career drivers motivating the push to leave India and the pull to come to France. The factors that push the Indian SIEs out of India are the very same that discourage them from repatriating. When such SIEs come to France, they by default make sense of their stay in France by experiencing the factors that pushed them out of India. In this manner, they justify their decision of Self-expatriating themselves. Among these factors are the following:
Push Factors instigating departure & projected repatriation issues
1. Personal Independence:
8% of the surveyed population feels that certain conservative Indian family values act as a deterrent when it comes to making independent decisions back home; noting, for example, that “France has taught me how to be highly independent, lead a sophisticated life and organize my life the way I want.” This sense of liberation, and concurrent concept of ‘leading a sophisticated life’ ties in well with “I am not sure that after returning back to India I could enjoy the same degree of freedom, as ‘being independent’ is not a common way of life in India”. “When I go back to India, my compatriots only ever talk of their domestic life, which I find rather insipid”, notes one of the female SIEs. Vibhuti KHARA. The Indian populace is therefore strangled for liberty. With continuous betterment in technology and further modernization of society, this population feels the need to be able to take independent life decisions without the probing family pressure.
8% 19%
8% 34%
31%
Indian SIEs Push Factors: Motivation for Departure & Expectations of Repatriation
Issues Personal Independence Cultural Adjustments
Family obligations Poor Service + Corruption
Trafmic, Pollution, large population
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2. Family Obligations: 8% of the population feels that family obligations impede their personal and professional choices. “For me, may be being married to a French is good, because I don't see myself as being able to adjust to an Indian family, which would entail cooking, taking care of the mother in law and so on. My family duties in India are heavier.” Auroflore RAISON. “I pretty much followed my husband. He chose France and I really did not give myself much of a chance to think about it”, Nabanita CHOUDHURY “I came to France in 1999 just because of my husband, otherwise I would not have come here, with English I would have come elsewhere”, Auroflore RAISON. In the first quote, we experience the traditional Indian culture that has certain unspoken obligations from its younger population. Comparatively, family participation is more demanding from the women folk than it is for the male counterparts.
3. Traffic, pollution and large populations: 31% of the population attributes these factors that translated in their departure from India. “ I would once again face the harsh realities of pollution, inequality in terms of gender, caste etc”, Sreenath KURUPATH SUDHIR, Building and Construction. “40% of the fuel used up by cars is wasted in the form of traffic jams. The road conditions are very poor. It takes about two hours to travel a distance of forty kilometers on Indian roads, as opposed to the European equivalent of 500 kilometers in the same time frame.”, Luv SHARMA, Yoga Instructor. “Here you can learn a lot more in lesser time, whereas in India you are bogged down by traffic”, Amit CHOUDHARY In this section, Indians relate to the superfluous wastage of time caused by traffic jams as the factor that impedes them to live life in a more productive manner. The European equivalent to the Indian travel time presents a daunting picture of the lack of basic civic infrastructure in a country growing close to 8% annually.
4. Cultural adjustment: 19% of the people in our survey sample came to experience the sophistication associated with the French culture. Another 19% thought encountered staggering differences in terms of not being on the same wavelength when interacting with their compatriots upon their return to India. 63% of the population surveyed stuck firmly to its cultural roots. This is the case with the Indian restaurant owners and yoga/Ayurveda practitioners who are more in touch with the Indian culture than other Indians working in other sectors. This is because this particular group has a greater connectivity with the positive aspects of the Indian culture has been able to sustain itself financially, apart from being looked upon with reverence.. “The French love India and find the Indian folk very welcoming”, Gulshan RATRA, Indian grocery store owner. “Ayurveda has given me my identity in France. Here, I am revered like a hero”, Krishna GOPAL, Certified Yoga Instructor.
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“The French government takes care of its citizens, especially of its older generation”, Anand SINGH, Indian Retail shop owner. What I experienced here are two different dimensions of being Indian. On the positive side, the Indian culture is home to natural and safe treatments such as the Ayurveda and on the other side, Indian expats who have witnessed a sense of personal freedom on foreign land find it difficult to adjust to the traditional Indian life once they go back home, even if it were to be a short holiday to visit family members.
5. Poor Service and corruption 18% of the population says it would go back to experience a laid-back lifestyle, akin to living in India. “ There is no service system in India”, Luv SHARMA, Yoga Instructor. “I like to open the tap for hot water and I actually get hot water. I do not see that happening in India, Kary BHEEMAIH, Researcher at GEM 34% of the people blame poor service and corruption to be a major push factor. This section of the population takes a strong anti-repatriation stance, as it value transparency more than their feelings of patriotism.
Indian SIEs repatriation motivational factors:
A small section of the India population did show some interest to repatriate. Hence, I without elaborating much on each reason, the above pie diagram, would give a clear indication of their sentiments toward their country.
18%
18%
18%
28%
18%
Indian SIEs Repatriation motivational factors
Climate Food Employment Culture+Family Relaxed lifestyle
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Quotes on Opportunities in France: A convincing 63% of the respondents stated that France has offered them far
greater opportunities that India ever possibly could.
Here are some of the interesting quotes.
Perception of Opportunities in France
1. The exchange rate is a very imperative factor. Goods and commodities seem a lot cheaper once I go back to India. The government takes care of you even if you are unemployed, Luv SHARMA
2. I would have never had the same opportunities if I had stayed in India. Since I have come here, I have had the chance to travel the world. I have leveraged this experience to get into Multi-nationals, Kary BHEEMAIH.
3. I have been able to experience the multicultural living aspect of life. I would consider it to be difficult to get similar teaching opportunities in India where I could interact with so many different nationalities under one roof, Chacko PHILIP
4. France has indeed given me greater lifestyles as compared to India where stiff competition in all fields drives the salaries to a saturated minimum. I have also learnt the art of positive work-life balance which is zero or negative even back in India., Sreenath KURUPATH
5. I work in the automotive industry in France. I cannot dream of having a similar salary back in India right now with my profile, Sanand SANJEEV
6. I started my doctorate at 38. I do not think that I would have been able to start a doctorate in India at that age. Pabitra CHATERJEE.
7. In terms of exploring new big firms and different French working environments. A negotiation for the French with different European firms is an exhilarating experience, Jaggannath DELLOYE
8. The level of education here is excellent. The medical allowances and doctors are world class. My family in India has benefited by us staying here as we could help them out financially from time to time.,, Gulshan RATRA, Grocery shop owner.
63%
30%
7%
Indian SIEs Pull Factors: Perception of Opportunities in
France Better in France Not better in France Undecided
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9. Their social security system is impeccable and laudatory that even provides “unemployment allowance”. I certainly cannot expect such treatment back home. Nirmal SINGH, Indian restaurant owner.
10. I liked the working culture here, which I think is better. I have better work-life balance here, when I compare my work-life balance in India. It was more of a horse race, back home, Divya SUHAS.
11. There is no hierarchy that you would see in India. So you have the creative freedom that you would not get in India, Jacob JOJO.
12. Time is currency, Nabanita CHOUDHURY.
As observed with these quotes, Indians in general are content with the opportunities in France, besides acknowledging the presence of undervaluation of home country work experience on part of most French employers. France has in relative terms been able to provide Indians with comfort and a better quality of life. Indians have thus stayed loyal to this nation and contribute to its economic prosperity. Here is a chart showing what pulls these SIEs to France.
Pull Factors in France
33%
7%
19%
15%
26%
Indian SIEs: Pull Factors in France
Educational opportunities
Better job prospects
Chic Image and Sophisticated Travel
Learning a new Language
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Commodifying Frenchness: a Postcolonial reading
France’s relationship with India goes back to the 17th century, when she indulged in costal trading or comptoirs des Indes. Thereby, this relationship has been fortified for the past 4 centuries. France’s perpetual and incessant rivalry against the English is what primarily sparked its interest in India. It was only in 1962, that the French officially decolonized its holdings (Weber 1996).
Pondicherry, the southern Indian union territory was the capital of the French colonization, wherein Indian freedom fighters such as Aurobindo took refuge against the English army Indians. France, as opposed to her archrival granted such freedom fighters special status, which even included special voting rights in the 19th century (Deschamps 1997). It can therefore be inferred that France’s incursion in India was more quadratic, given the fact the English and Portuguese were the other colonial players.
A 2009 historical study by Kate Marsh reveals a persistent and long-standing representation of India in the French collective imagination, beginning with the enlightenment philosophers and continuing through the high colonial period of the 19th century. Marsh’s work is a lot more resonating with this paper as France did not view the relationship with India as that of a typical colonizer-colonized one, but more of a means for the French to (re)imagine themselves outside of Africa, in opposition specifically to the British.
The evidence provided by Marsh includes analysis of letters, press articles and novels that underscore a certain French nostalgia of a “Lost India” or “L’Inde perdue”. This image helps us better understand the SIE pull factors apart from the future projections of life in France.
How can France represent itself in India if not in relation to this loss and desire to regain a foothold, influence, a second chance? How can those self-organizing their expatriation to France not be subject to some form of discursive representation of France in opposition to the other, oppressive colonial power needing to be ousted by the people?
India for France is something to be longed for after being ‘lost’ to the British after the Seven Years’ War according to Marsh. Her study brings forth a mythological, liberating mother France capable of liberating the Indians from their British oppressors, noting that “the French may have lost territorial control on the subcontinent but they had not lost Indian goodwill” (p. 84).
Holding on to this goodwill, cultural organizations of France such as the Alliance Française have continued to promote the French language and culture on a wide scale. Additional
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efforts to attain similar goals are being made by the French embassy, its cultural attaché in India, and through organizations promoting French education such as Campus France.
A review of bilateral relations indicates an intensification of Indo-French alliances across multiple areas of cooperation 3(military, economic, industrial, educational) and a sense of heightened French presence in the major activity centers of India. A viewing of French promotional videos, demonstrating the promotional activities of the Alliance Française in India, reveals not only a strong positioning of ‘product France’ on the Indian market, but also a deliberate attempt to commodify a number of cliché images of France and the French in the apparent race to the Indians’ heart. Here is an advertisement from the AF de Bombay and de Pune shedding light on its promotional activities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_dJuDexhuo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxLqoBVodBo 11 of our 30 respondents attended the AF in their respective cities before coming over to France.
3 http://www.ambinde.fr/economic-‐and-‐commerce/india-‐france-‐relations/india-‐france-‐bilateral-‐agreements-‐commercial-‐related
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Post interview analysis and valuation: a final summary. After having conducted 30 semi-directed interviews with the Indian SIEs, three of the most eloquent interviewees were short-listed. It is important to note that these 3 short-listed interviewees pertained to three different sectors of the economy viz: MNC, Education and Leisure.
The main purpose of this exercise was to ascertain the accuracy of the inferences drawn by us and to add additional information that might have gone unnoticed in the first interview. These respondents were shown “mind maps” which are diagrammatic representations of all the data accumulated from their first interview to get their feedback on the same and make any changes, if so required.
Two of these three interviewees were male, thereby avoiding a complete gender bias.
The following is an excerpt of the first male respondent pertaining to the Education and Research sector.
Main factor to come to France: “The main reason that I found interesting in coming to France was related to learning the language. I was quite curious about it and that curiosity helped me to learn it a bit faster.”
This curiosity to come to France to blend in with the language and the culture throws light on the fruits reaped by France on account of the promotions carried out its cultural organizations and France’s very own concept of L’Inde Perdue.
Sense of self: “Sense of self, was very important to me when I came here and I became a lot more comfortable with the person that I am. I think it is a never-ending process actually, introspecting and learning that way. But that sense of self was a big driver, a very important thing. I would like to underline that because it was so confusing when I left. There were so many variables that were unknown, and there were huge amount of risks. To be honest with you I do not identify myself to be either Western or Eastern. Thanks to my travels, I have a very high level of animosity toward territoriality.”
The ambivalent stand on part of this male respondent is majorly on account of the extent of his travels all over the globe. His flexible nature has further helped him imbibe different aspects of the countries that he has visited.
Ambitious nature: “Life opportunities, I am extremely ambitious, which is why I do not like to confine myself to one geographical area or culture. I find that I am quite malleable per se, so whichever environment I am in I will adapt to it. I have a very fixed objective when I go toward that, everything else is just background noise.”
Here, the respondent places heavy emphasis on activating the aspect of having an ambitious nature, which in turn is his drive.
Let’s now move on to the second male respondent from the leisure industry.
Main factor to come to France
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“I changed the location to France as I had got married in India in 2006 and my wife got a placement in France and then we had a baby. So, I want to think about the future of the child and therefore I want to stay here. She can now learn different languages and once she has learnt the fundamental things, then we could expose her to the Indian culture as well such as the Vedic studies.”
The reason stated here is not so much to experience a different culture as in the previous case, but more of a spousal and family obligation. In this case, the female spouse had a permanent job in France and hence, the male respondent had to move to France to cater to his family duties. It is also important to note that before coming to France the respondent did not have a job opportunity and took the risk of coming to France without having anything concrete in hand.
Sense of self:
“I have a very strong Indian identity which is influenced by Sanskrit. It is about the values that I experience, my dress code, my presentation, voluntary service and taking care of people. That frankly is our culture. At the same time, we are very clever when we want to make money as well. We never only think about service. Service is a part of us.”
The respondent maintains a strong Indian identity, more so on account of the sector in which he operates. His proximity to the Indian Vedas and Ayurveda, have actually played a significant role in shaping his core Indian identity.
Ambitious nature:
“I am always taking risks. I never go on a safe terrain. Adventure is a part of my life. Some people are on the cusp of dying, and I do not want them to die. I do all that I can using Ayurveda, Yoga and psychology.”
This respondent cites an example when he saved the life of a cancer patient who was on the verge of dying within 3 months. He treated her with Ayurveda treatments and the patient lived on.
The third respondent pertains to the sector of MNCs and is a female respondent. Let us now look at her insights.
Main factor to come to France:
“You do not like living alone, especially if you are married. It was getting extremely difficult to not be together for indefinite periods. There comes a time when decide to make changes in life and look at it from a different perspective and say ok, it isn’t too bad to make another start and take it as a bit of challenge. It is for the relationship.”
The respondent here refers to the fact that she is married to an Indian SIE who has opted to pursue a PhD in France. In order to keep her marriage alive, she was in a way, obliged to come to France. The important factor here is that both the spouses are Indian SIEs, a case that is different from the one experienced with the second male respondent whose wife was European.
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Sense of self:
“I think that it’s the reality. You have to accept it the way it is. You try to straddle two worlds and do not belong to either.”
This was the answer that the respondent’s response about her identity; whether she falls in the “other category” of being neither Indian nor European. Since she hasn’t lived in Europe for a very long time, she finds it too short a time range to address the subject of self-identity.
“You do end up with a lot of time on your hand. You do wonder what to do with it. You are forced to sort of sit back and embrace the concept of work-life balance. You suddenly find yourself wondering, “What the hell!””
Here the respondent dwells on the excessive time that she has on account of working in Europe as opposed to working in India. She has a better work-life balance here, which gives her additional time to hone her skills and indulge in self-retrospection.
The drive or sense of ambition in this case, does not come into play, as this female SIE is a competent and experienced executive, who was forced to move to France for personal reasons. Hence, this particular example is more a case of obligation that the ambitious drive normally associated with the Indian SIEs.
Successful methodology: implementation and analysis Thanks to the nature of the methodology chosen, I was able to reassure and encourage my respondents to talk freely and express themselves. Although, some of these respondents were rather shy of having themselves recorded. The majority of them were content with the exclusivity given to them.
I also am an Indian SIE myself and I could therefore resonate greatly with the reasons as to why more Indians like me are heading abroad with the intention of having a long-term commitment to their chosen nation. Hence, I was very careful as to not let my personal perceptions influence the conclusions of this paper.
I have attempted to maintain a neutral stand throughout and I have let my respondents speak for themselves. Moreover, my resonance with their point of views only encouraged them to further open up to me. Fortunately, I was able to conduct productive interviews, thanks to which I have been able to collect a wide range of information. Such rich, first-hand and in-depth data could not have been collected, had I not conducted these interviews; for there is only so much data that can be collected from secondary sources.
Neutrality and accuracy of content is what I have strived to achieve in this paper in order to provide an unbiased and collective voice that echoes the sentiments of the entire sample population.
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