How are the HR practices of MNEs affected by status systems and religious practices in certain cultures? Illustrate your answer with specific examples

What will be an ideal response?

Religion affects the business environment in other important ways. Often religions impose constraints on the roles of individuals in society. For example, the caste system of Hinduism traditionally has restricted the jobs individuals may perform, thereby affecting the labor market and foreclosing business opportunities. Countries dominated by strict adherents to Islam, such as Saudi Arabia, limit job opportunities for women, in the belief that their contact with adult males should be restricted to relatives. In India, status is affected by one's caste. The caste system divides society into various groups including Brahmins (priests and intellectuals), Kshatriyas (soldiers and political leaders), Vaishyas (businesspeople), Sudras (farmers and workers), and untouchables, who perform the dirtiest and most unpleasant jobs. The power of the caste system in rural areas is slowly eroding due to government affirmative action policies and the growing scarcity of high-skilled employees needed by India's high-tech industries. Infosys, for example, has been forced to broaden its recruiting efforts to 700 colleges, many of which are located in semirural areas where lower-caste individuals often live, in order to acquire the talented workers it requires. A decade ago, the high-tech firm could meet its hiring needs by recruiting at 50 Indian universities, most of which were located in urban areas.