ABSTRACT

India offers an interesting case study of business people who have operated in two diametrically opposed economic systems; first a state controlled, autarchic, inward looking, non-competitive economy and second, a relatively free, outward looking, competitive, market type of economy which aims at integrating itself into the world economy. In the rest of the world, India's reputation could be summed up in the words: “Goods from India cannot be good”, a reputation which continues to this day and has painfully and gradually to be lived down. Ethical companies in India would generally be very sensitive to the public opinion approach. They value their good name so much that they would not like to do anything that might sully their reputation in the eyes of the public. Before setting business standards, top managers have to internalize ethics, so that ethics become a part of the blood stream.