Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change, Volume2, Number 1

The International Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change (OTSC) is timely in its appearance in that there is now a general awareness in both societies and organisations that change is endemic. In the 1980s, the Business guru, Tom Peters, wrote a book in which he examined the nature of enterprise excellence, and he listed the top ten companies ranked according to their profitability. He later realised that it was more adaptability than profitability but that was important. This, perhaps coupled with positive and proactive perspective, can come under the heading of the learning/intelligent organisation. The two are connected, but while learning organisations are more associated with knowledge management, intelligent organisations are more concerned with viability and draw on cybernetics and systems. These subject areas are close to the interests of this Journal. The Journal looks to research on the shaping of organisational theory - through more traditional areas like human resource development and management systems - that has led to some interesting changes in recent years. Organisational theory has at its base the sociological ideas that concern the interests of societies. Interestingly, as the subject has developed, ideas are now being fed back into sociology that have impact upon the way we see societies. The distinction between societies and organisations is now expressible in terms of scale and focus or level. The population of an entire nation state might see culture at a macroscopic level just as the population of an organisation might see the same at a microscopic level. In this way, societies can be seen as macroscopic organisations and common principles can be applied: the Journal encourages such a perspective.

in This Comparative Study Of Cultural Adaptation By Multinationals Operating In India, Sinha (psychology And Management Studies, Assert Institute Of Management Studies, India) Compares Five Multinationals Carrying With Them Cultural Imprints From Anglo-american, Scandinavian, And Pacific Rim Cultural Zones, Examining Systemic Features Such As Structures And Practices, The Role Of The Top Leadership In Cultivating Organizational Culture, And The Reflection Of The Culture In The Beliefs And Values Of Managers. He Then Seeks To Identify The Imprints Of Home Cultures And Their Interfaces With The Indian Culture. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, Or

The economic reforms that began in the early 1990s brought many large multinational companies to India. A major challenge for these corporations was to manage the interface of global corporate culture and India′s powerful, traditional and widely varying cultural practices. Examining the Indian operations of five multinational organizations from three different cultural zones, this comparative analysis shows that each company brought to India its unique cultural imprint, while at the same time realizing the need to adapt management practices to the local setting. "Pursuant to the opening up of the Indian economy, numerous multinational corporations have set up shop in India. Among the various challenges they face is managing the interface of a global (or domestic) corporate culture with the deep-scaled and widely varying cultural practices prevalent in India." This volume was written in 1983 when there was little physical evidence for the existence of black holes. Recent discoveries have only served to reinforce the elegant theory developed here.