IntroductionIndia is one of the oldest and largest countries in the world. After gaining independence from Britain in 1947, India became the world's largest democracy, with a thriving economy and diverse cultural differences. India has gradually become more attractive to foreign investors in various parts of the world due to its low costs and huge English-speaking workforce. India has the second largest English-speaking population in the world. India is currently the tenth largest and fastest growing economy in the world. There are a multitude of reasons why U.S. trade organizations would want to do business with India. However, it is imperative to understand the country's various cultural differences before doing business in India. Without understanding the proper manners of communicating in a professional environment, it would be almost impossible to conduct business in a mutually beneficial manner. Cultural Considerations The American business environment is similar in many ways to Indian business practices. There are, however, some apparent differences in Indian business structure, corporate culture, negotiation styles and basic etiquette. In a country as rich and complex as India, the business environment is heavily influenced by culture. For example, roles and status are very important to Indians because their society is extremely hierarchical in nature. It is imperative that there is a boss and that his subordinates act in obedience to him. “Thus, businesses tend to be run by a very strong person (especially in ubiquitous family businesses) who will give direct instructions all the way up the chain of command” (WorldBusinessCulture.com). People are not questioning these instructions or their p...... middle of paper ......companies however by the end of the year; the Indian government intends to prevent individuals from using their personal emails at work. According to J. Satyanarayana, secretary of India's Department of Electronics and Information Technology, "The government will instead route all official communications through an email service provided by a government unit." » (Quote) Some other common forms of written communications in Indian businesses are business letters and memos. The guidelines used to write well-written business letters and memos in North America are also followed when creating these same documents in India. The writing style in India is slightly different due to linguistic crossover. Many documents written in the Indian workplace have simpler wording to avoid confusion and avoid using jargon that might not be easy to translate..