Strategies for Japanese Companies in India

Despite growing appreciation for the potential of the Indian market, competitors often experience greater success penetrating it than do Japanese companies. This paper addresses possible reasons for Japanese reticence in addition to strategies that Japanese companies have started and would do well to continue to adopt. Among these are: 1) large-scale initial investment, 2) joint ventures, 3) central decision making, 4) adaptation of products to the Indian market, 5) large-scale advertisement campaigns, 6) alternative corporate culture models, and 7) human resource relations. In order to make suitable comparisons, the cases of Korean companies are often applied. Nevertheless, the long-term future of Japanese corporate interests in India may not remain at a disadvantage given the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Japan and India, which only took effect in August 2011, and the considerable demand for infrastructure in India; an area where Japanese expertise might surpass that of South Korea.