Yogita Abichandani
The University of Georgia
Sustainability implementation practices in an Indian MNC

yogita@uga.edu

Yogita Abichandani, is a final year Phd student at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA, College of Education, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy. She has completed her Masters in Education from the University of Georgia specializing in Human Resource Development. She is currently working on her research proposal of understanding the sustainability implementation practices in Indian MNC. Her earlier research was about cotton farmer suicides in India and the role of CSR in it and she has presented at conferences such as the Academy of HRD and Adult Education and Research Conference. Her research interests lie in the intersection of sustainability and human resource development. Prior to moving to USA, she has earned double Masters in Human Resource Development and Personnel Management and was teaching HRD and OB to final year MBA Students in India for 2 years. She has also worked in MNC as a Training Manager in India for 3 years. In near future she aspires to work in an academic position in a university.

Sustainability implementation practices in an Indian MNC

This extended abstract offers research insight for constructing new theoretical and practical constructs in the organizational culture and HRD practices of a 21st century, world class MNC, based in rural India. While, this research proposal grounds itself in the Western concepts of corporate sustainability and organizational culture, the research attempts to bring forward the significance of family run business culture in the post globalization era and what western organizations may possibly learn from this organization where the founders vision of setting up the processing plant in a barren rural area has transformed the local environmental landscape and community for good. It also attempts to clarify the linkage between HRD practices and organizational culture in the context of a homegrown Indian MNC with global presence in today's competitive marketplace. The preliminary implications of this study point towards the significance of democratic organizational culture and founders visions as primary drivers of sustainability realization.