Socio-Cultural Environment

Socio-Cultural Environment
The social or cultural environment encompassing the religious aspects; language, customs, traditions & beliefs; tastes & preferences; social stratification; social institutions; buying & consumption habits, etc. are all very important factors for business. Many companies have to modify their products/promotion strategies to suit the tastes & preferences or other characteristics of the population of different countries.

Culture, which is a very intriguing & complex factor, is often a very critical component of business environment. Proper understanding of cultural dimensions is very important for product development, promotion, business negotiations, human resource management, management of social & political environment. Many multinationals agree that cultural differences are the most significant & troublesome variables encountered by them.

Meaning & Elements of Culture

Greet Hofstede, Culture is the software of mind. In other words, your brain is the hardware that runs the cultural programming. The implication is that culture is not innate and it is a learned behaviour & hence can be changed. Kluckhohn, Culture is the total life way of people.

Mitchell, cultures is a set of learned core values, beliefs, standards, knowledge, morals, laws and behaviour shared by individuals & societies that determines how an individual acts, feels, & views oneself and others. Culture consists of:
Material Culture: man-made things (automobile, TV, phones, etc.) & man-made alterations in the envt. Non-Material: language, ideals, beliefs, values, etc.

Elements of Culture
Knowledge & Beliefs: prevailing notions of reality including myths & metaphysical beliefs as well as scientific realities. Ideals: societal norms, which define what is expected, customary, right or proper in a given situation. Norms are enforced by sanction, i.e. by rewarding the right and punishing the wrong behaviour. Preferences: refers to societys definitions of those things in life which are attractive/unattractive as object of desire.

Cultural characteristics are very imp in formulating pragmatic business strategies because what is tasteful in one culture may be highly distasteful in another. For ex: In Italy, a US company failed to establish and market its cornprocessing plant as corn is considered as pig-food in Italy.

Cultural Traits
The understanding of cultural traits is very important for the companies serving global market.

Types
Low Context & High Context:
High Context: emphasizes value on intangible aspects (personal relation, religion, trust, etc.) in negotiation or business dealings. Low Context: Business dealings only on the basis of facts, figures & performance.

Masculine & Feminine Culture:

Masculine: appreciates aggressiveness & assertiveness while respecting the goals of material acquisition. Success is the function of individuals & society is made up of leaders & followers. Feminine: appreciates inter-personal relationship, puts quality of life before material acquisition. Emphasis on longterm relationship.

Monochronic & Polychronic Culture:

Monochronic: time is used for ordering ones life, setting priorities & doing task in sequential order one thing at a time. Polychronic: uses time to accomplish diverse goals simultaneously & to interact with as many individuals as possible.

Universalism & Particularism:

Universalism: