India-New Zealand grant for SMIB researcher
A grant from the India New Zealand Education Council will enable senior lecturer Dr Revti Raman to conduct research that will provide practical advice on doing business in India.
Dr Revti Raman from the School of Marketing and International Business
A grant from the India New Zealand Education Council (INZEC) will enable Dr Revti Raman, a senior lecturer in the School of Marketing and International Business, to conduct research that will provide practical advice on doing business in India.
Dr Raman has received $56,500 to collaborate with Dr Balwinder Singh from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, for the 18-month joint research project.
They will investigate the main institutional challenges businesses and organisations face while operating in New Zealand or India and how these changes can be effectively overcome.
"Trade with India has doubled in the last five years in New Zealand, so it’s important to be aware of this emerging market," says Dr Raman.
"While New Zealand and India are both democratic systems with colonial backgrounds, there are significant differences, including regulations, justice systems, not to mention cultural and language differences, which pose challenges to anyone doing business in these two countries.
"Success depends upon understanding these differences and then being able to manage them effectively. We will be looking at non-market strategies to help minimise these gaps."
In the course of their research, Dr Raman and Dr Singh will interview business people in both countries. As well as academic papers, they plan to publish a small, non-academic book for practitioners.
"It's satisfying to be doing research that people in the field can use, and also exciting to think this research could be replicated with other emerging economies," says Dr Raman.
Dr Raman’s application was one of seven proposals selected from more than 60 applications.