What is examining consumer motivations?

How would the Indian public perceive a foreigner being the CEO of an Indian consumer web company?

• If given the (generic) choice between two equally qualified candidates for the position of the CEO at an Indian consumer web company, whereas the only difference is that one candidate is an Indian and the other candidate is foreigner of western origin, how would the Indian public perceive a foreigner if such becomes the CEO of said company? Would a foreigner in such a position be appreciated or rather be regarded with scepticism? What doubts could arise with respect to a foreigner-CEO's motivations and intensions, and in what way could it reflect on the company itself?

• Answer:

  Since you asked about the perception of Indian public, I would start with a broader set of Indians as my answer base, and then go to the specific target groups that may matter more. It is very important to understand and evaluate the psyche of the average Indian, in order to get deeper into this question and answers thereof. Generally ,there would be only two possible perceptions of such or a similar situation - and both are diametrically opposite to each other, lying on the two extremes, viz. Totally hating such an appointment, considering it anti-national, detrimental to the national pride and growth and even perhaps conspiratorial, OR Praising such an appointment with a perception that s/he is 'naturally' more qualified than 'any Indian' to hold the position and would do a better job due to various reasons Now, both the above reactions, more often than not, have their roots in ill or even uninformed ways in which people are educated about various socio-economic issues within the country, not the best of which is the news media, especially television. However, since the incumbent in question would be heading a web company to be specific (even though it may deal in consumer products), most of Indian public won't even have an inkling of what's going on there, let alone having a strong opinion about it. This would hold true in the current scenario, irrespective of the size of the company or its scope of operations - mainly because such companies (e-commerce companies, online service providers et al) are only beginning to touch the glass ceiling in India when it comes to viral brand recognition, mass following in most social and income levels and polarizing consumer choices. It would be a completely different story had the question been for a well known and established industrial house or a similar public company that people recognize on a day to day basis, irrespective of whether its products/services are directly consumed by them. In such a case, the above reactions would certainly surface, and unfortunately the qualification of the candidate in addition to any possible good work being done by him/her may be overwhelmed by the prejudices already existing. Now coming to the more specific target group which I think is relevant to care about for a consumer web company when it comes to the appointment of a CEO, are the existing and potential consumers of its products/services. I assume that such a user group in India has a higher awareness level than the average Indian, and would tend to be more rational and better informed for having an opinion, if at all, about appointment of a foreign CEO. Still, they are most, if not only, concerned about the quality they get for what they have paid, and as long as their satisfaction levels do not go down, they couldn't care less about the origin of the CEO. At least I, and most of my friends, as consumers won't. Of course, if the business decision being taken start to become radically different than what used to be, and don't fall in line with the generally accepted practices, then the consumers may start questioning the appointment of a foreign CEO. IMO, the most important groups of people, that a potential CEO of a foreign origin should think about in India, are the employees of the company, other partner companies, government & business institutions and trade bodies. Even though India has a huge English speaking population, and English is an accepted medium of communication in most offices, culturally, Indian business scenario couldn't be much further away from what exists in Western countries. The CEO must be extremely accepting of and adept at acclimatization to an alien work culture (not necessarily in a positive or negative way), business practices with partners, negotiations and dealings with government institutions and trade bodies etc. After all, its the work that will define the CEO, and these are the people, the CEO will work with most. The 2 contrasting points mentioned above, may also affect the opinions of these groups of people, which then becomes an issue to deal with, as you cannot ignore the lack of support/appreciation as it directly affects your day to day business. Things like hiring processes, appraisal mechanisms, reporting structures, status meetings, product release workflow, documentation practices might need to get used to, as not having a thorough grasp of what's running your business, can only negatively impact your image.