Title: Being a 'modern Indian' in an offshore centre in Bangalore: cross-cultural contextualisation of organisational identification

Authors: Martine Cardel Gertsen; Mette Zølner

Addresses: Department of Intercultural Communication and Management, Copenhagen Business School, Porcelænshaven 18A, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark ' Department of Intercultural Communication and Management, Copenhagen Business School, Porcelænshaven 18A, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

Abstract: This article explores how the socio-cultural contexts of a subsidiary shape the organisational identification articulated by its local employees (HCNs). This is relevant as companies globalise with greater socio-cultural distances between organisational units and their employees as a consequence. The analysis is based upon the study of an off-shore service centre in Bangalore that performs financial services for an MNC headquartered in Denmark. The identification with the MNC and its corporate culture expressed by local employees is conveyed as being connected to external self-enhancement (belonging to an esteemed organisation) as well as internal self-enhancement (feeling important within the organisation). The corporate culture is made sense of in the local Indian context and shaped by their particular characteristics as members of Bangalore's international workforce. We argue that understanding and enhancing organisational identification requires careful consideration of the socio-cultural contexts as well as backgrounds of individuals and professional groups.

Keywords: Bangalore; contextualisation; corporate culture; corporate values; cross-cultural management; identity interplay; international management; interpretive approach; India; nurturant leadership; offshoring; organisational identification; self-enhancement; sensemaking; organisational culture; local employees; financial services; MNCs; multinational corporations; Denmark.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2014.059582

European Journal of International Management, 2014 Vol.8 No.2, pp.179 - 204

Published online: 14 Oct 2014 *

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