How workplace names reveal cultural hierarchies

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How workplace names reveal cultural hierarchies

In a boardroom in Bengaluru, two realities collide when a newly transferred American manager cheerfully introduces himself as ‘Dave’ to his Indian team. The uncomfortable silence that follows illustrates a profound cultural misalignment. Across India, where juniors habitually address seniors as ‘Sir’ or with respectful suffixes like ‘Ji’ in the north, ‘Anna’ in Tamil Nadu or ‘Da’ in Bengal, such casual self-introduction inadvertently disrupts es…