Title: Entrepreneurship, corporate governance, and Indian business elites

Authors: Ajit Nayak, Mairi Maclean, Charles Harvey, Robert Chia

Addresses: Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK. ' Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK. ' Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Sir William Duncan Building, 130 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0GC, Scotland, UK. ' University of Aberdeen Business School, Edward Wright Building, Dunbar Street, Aberdeen AB24 3QY, Scotland, UK

Abstract: Despite the rhetoric of borderless transnational corporations driven by the homogenising trends in globalisation, nation states and national identities continue to play an important role in structuring national managerial mentalities and dispositions. In this paper, we examine the entrepreneurial spirit of Indian industrialists and the emerging importance of corporate governance for globalising Indian businesses. We argue that corporate governance regimes and the entrepreneurialism exhibited within a national context are, to a considerable degree, self referring, being supported and informed by pre-existing social structures, norms and practices. We explore the corporate lives and careers of the directors of the SENSEX (top 30) companies from a practice perspective, and show that corporate governance and entrepreneurialism emerge as mediating symbolic forms embedding national values, institutional practices, and individual dispositions. The data and arguments presented in this paper stem from a larger, ongoing study into entrepreneurship, corporate governance, and Indian business elites; our preliminary analysis suggests a complex web of connections between these social elements.

Keywords: corporate governance; entrepreneurship; Indian business elites; India; entrepreneurial spirit; globalisation; culture; business management; company directors; national values; institutional practices; individual dispositions; social structures; social norms; social practices.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2007.014468

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2007 Vol.1 No.1/2, pp.9 - 27

Published online: 10 Jul 2007 *

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