Indian work organisations are subjected to both traditional Indian and western cultural influences. Because of its historicity and oral tradition, the former leads to primary while the latter to secondary modes of expressing values. The choice of either of the modes or their combinations depends on a context which is postulated to have three components: desh (ecology), kal (time), and patra (persons). Many of the seemingly contradictory and inconsistent organisational behaviour and managerial practices can be meaningfully explained by employ ing this cultural framework of two modes of expressing values and three components of a context. Indians' heightened sensitivity to a context and the tendency to balance extreme and inconsistent ideas and actions are likely to enable Indian work organisations to meet the challenges of the increasingly competitive business environment.
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