Power and authority
How leaders interpret responsibility, hierarchy, and influence, and what that means for working together.
Book in progress
US-India Business Culture: An Insider's Playbook
A book by Dr. Rashmi Kapse and Suren Kapse on how culture shapes trust, leadership, and the everyday decisions that connect businesses across the US and India.
For leaders, teams, and partners working across the US and India.
The book in one paragraph
Understanding business culture across the US and India
US-India Business Culture: An Insider's Playbook explores how leaders build trust, interpret authority, and make decisions across the US and India. Drawing on AptCulture's advisory work and interviews with 40+ leaders, Dr. Rashmi Kapse and Suren Kapse examine the everyday misunderstandings that affect ownership, alignment, and collaboration, and offer practical ways to work through them.
Themes in the book
Trust, authority, and decisions across cultures
Trust and credibility
How trust is built through everyday interactions, and why the same behavior can be understood differently.
Decisions and alignment
How teams discuss risk, make room for disagreement, and reach a shared understanding of what happens next.
Inside the book
From understanding culture to working together
Five parts connect the changing US-India relationship with the situations leaders encounter in their work.
Part I
The shift no one is naming
How the growing relationship between the US and India is changing the way companies and leaders work together.
Part II
The five leadership misreads
Why ownership, alignment, speed, care, and inclusion can mean different things to people working across cultures.
Part III
The corridor decoder
A closer look at how a leader's actions are understood by colleagues, partners, and teams.
Part IV
Where this shows up in business
What these patterns mean for sales, global capability centers, partnerships, and acquisitions.
Part V
Winning the corridor
How leaders earn trust, share responsibility, and make decisions together across borders.
Who it is for
For leaders working across the US and India
Written for people leading teams, partnerships, and business decisions across the two countries.
CXOs and founders leading teams, business growth, partnerships, or acquisitions across the US and India.
Publishers and editors interested in a business book shaped by advisory experience and conversations with leaders.
CHROs, COOs, and L&D leaders supporting collaboration, leadership development, and organizational change.
Senior managers and GCC leaders working through questions of trust, responsibility, and shared decisions.
Meet the authors
The experience behind the book
Dr. Rashmi Kapse
Dr. Rashmi Kapse is an intercultural leadership expert and ICF-PCC certified executive and business coach. She brings over two decades of experience across the US, India, the UK, Europe, and APAC to the book.
She has coached 500+ leaders and designed leadership journeys for 5,000+ global leaders. Her contribution explores how culture shapes the way people build trust, exercise authority, and work together.
Suren Kapse
Suren Kapse is a strategy consultant, executive coach, and global business leader with 30+ years of experience in business development, management consulting, and work across borders.
His experience spans international partnerships, global teams, and C-suite leadership. He brings a practical business perspective to the book: how leaders turn shared intentions into decisions, responsibilities, and results.
Speaking & events
Invite the authors
Bring the book's ideas into a conversation with your leaders. Dr. Rashmi Kapse and Suren Kapse speak at leadership offsites, business events, and publisher conversations through keynotes, fireside discussions, and team working sessions.
Invite the authorsNavigating the US-India business corridor
How cultural misunderstandings affect leadership
Leadership and collaboration in global capability centers
Culture in mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships
Building trust and making decisions across borders
From book to practice