Doing Business in India: The Pestel Framework

The book focuses on the different aspects of business in India required to be taken care of by any businessperson, especially a foreigner, willing to do business in India. India is known for ＂unity in diversity.＂ The country being a very old civilization, and of continental size with great diversity, often remains a mystery for most of the foreign investors and businesspersons who get very easily attracted to it because of the humongous market and its potential. The book goes deep into the various important aspects of business in India which essentially hold the key to success of a business venture. A good understanding of the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal aspects (the PESTEL framework) of the business environment in the country holds a businessperson in good stead in comparison with others who have little or no idea of the big picture. The book discusses these aspects with pertinent examples to make understanding their interplay easy. Any person unfamiliar with India as a country will get a good idea of different aspects of the country through the PESTEL framework and will be able to understand the true meaning of unity in diversity. Also, it makes it possible for someone well versed with the system of business in India to appreciate the finer aspects.

The book is divided into three modules. The first module provides an overview of business in India, scope and potential for growth, opportunities, and some good success stories. The second module goes into the details of the PESTEL framework and discusses each arm at length. The combined study of numerous factors, which has been divided into different heads for better understanding, brings out many stories giving a fantastic learning experience. A closer look at how things are changing and what can be anticipated arguably is the most important part of the book, providing pointers to remain connected with day-to-day happenings. The third module goes into the practical aspects of doing business and deals with investment, establishing and running a business in India. Altogether, the book is a complete package to facilitate ease of business in the country and will be of interest to practitioners, policy makers and researchers working in this field.

A Harvard Law School graduate, Anurag K. Agarwal has been the first recipient of the prestigious Marti Mannariah Gurunath Outstanding Teacher Award at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). As faculty at IIMA, his teaching, consulting, and research interests include business leadership, negotiation, strategy and law, infrastructure and PPPs, contracts and arbitration, intellectual property, and related issues.