Literature from America and Europe have contributed immensely to the arena of management studies. This research uses Western and Eastern literature to lay down a balanced platform for a literature study on India. Using an Indian perspective and the available literature on national culture and organisational culture as a base, this literature study will evaluate how the strong cultural background of Indian employees working for international hotel chains situated in India differs from the organisational culture of these international companies. As globalisation engulfs the world, management gurus and academicians increasingly focus on the significance of the workforce as an important asset for a company’s competitive advantage. This focus is all the more complex for Multinational Companies (MNCs) in consideration of the management of employees in host countries like India, which is well known for its cultural diversity, spirituality, caste system and booming economy over the last decade. Recognising different cultural settings and appreciating differences in cultural norms is often the key to management success.

This literature study focuses on the growing hospitality industry in India, revealing different aspects of employee attitudes (such as, teamwork, rewards systems and loyalty) towards the organisation. The study tries to answer, how international organisations cope in a country with a completely different cultural background and how does this affect the attitudes of employees working for multinational organisations that have a different organisational culture in comparison to their national culture? To make the literature study more comprehensive the study is divided into explanatory categories such as (1) Indian culture both ancient and present (2) the birth and evolution of the Indian workforce (3) the Indian economy and the effects of globalisation (4) the hospitality industry in India (5) relevant literature on culture and organisational culture (6) developing a cultural profile of India and its people with the help of the Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck framework, at the same time considering the work of Geert Hofstede on cultural dimensions and (7) finally how these strong cultural practices can affect the functioning of international organisations situated in India. It was found that if international organisations want to succeed in India, they would have to develop an understanding of the Indian medley of culture, tradition, caste system and the fast growing economy.