Organizational Landscape in India: Historical Development, Multiplicity of Forms and Implications for Practice and Research

Since its independence in 1947, India has undertaken several different paths towards economic development and growth. These paths have evolved due to the unique internal political-economic context emanating from a history of colonization and the external pressures arising from global institutional and economic considerations. The need to accommodate domestic realities and external pressures led to the emergence of diverse organizational forms in India. Placing the contemporary organizational landscape within the historical political-economic context, we discuss the plurality of organizational forms that dominate the Indian economy, their evolution in the period after economic liberalization in 1991, and their attempts to catch-up and participate in global markets. Furthermore, using the four papers published in the special issue as a starting point, we discuss how the organizational landscape in India offers opportunities to contribute to practice and research, particularly in the domains of business groups, emerging market multinationals, and reverse innovation.