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Culture plays a significant role in how time is perceived by a community:
• It’s extremely important for a westerner to be ‘on time’ while people in the Middle-East & South Asia are comfortable being ‘in time’, a relaxed 5-10 minute window., Westerners view their work day as one composed of 30-minute slots while Easterners, with the exception of Japan, have a holistic approach towards time.
• Westerners like to schedule multiple business meetings during their work day, viewing these as transactional in nature. Asians prefer fewer but longer meetings, using them ‘to know’ their business partners as building trust is extremely important, especially in the initial rounds of discussions and negotiations.
• In eastern societies, including India, people of higher rank may make those of lower rank/ vendors wait for them, subtly displaying their authority and power in the business relationship, whereas in Western cultures this is considered rude and unprofessional.
• Eastern cultures are increasingly aping the western perception of time. This is due to the fact that cultures where punctuality is non-negotiable are clearly more economically advanced than those where time is flexible.
In India today, we are at an interesting crossroad. On one hand most multinational and progressive Indian firms are already operating on the western pattern where punctuality is critical while several Indian companies (both big and small) continue to retain the eastern perception of time. My view — know your client’s culture before you do business with them.
