CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

BY – RITU MISHRA

DEFINITION AND CONCEPT OF CULTURE

According to weber ,” A system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living.”

CULTURE CONSIST OF SPECIFIC LEARNED NORMS BASED ON ATTITUDES,VALUES & BELIEFS, ALL OF WHICH EXIST IN EVERY SOCIETY..

CULTURE IS as ART, BELIEFS, MORALS,LAW, CUSTOM, NORMS , HIERARCHIES, ROLES knowledge ETC..

BUSINESS CULTURE

BUSINESS CULTURE REPRESENTS NORMS,VALUES & BELIEFS THAT PERTAIN TO ALL ASPECTS OF DOING BUSINESS IN PARTICULAR ENVIRONMENT .

BUSINESS CULTURES TELLS THE CORRECT , ACCETABLE wAY TO CONDUCT BUSINESS IN A SOCIETY .

WHAT TO WEAR A MEETING,WHEN & HOW TO USE SHAKE HANDS OR EMBRACE.

COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

VALUES NORMS SOCIETY ATTITUDES LANGUAGE RELIGION AESTHETICS EDUCATION TRADITION

VALUES ATTITUDE EDUCATION

AESTHETICS

LANGUAGE

NORMS SOCIETY RELIGION

CUSTOMS & MANNERS

CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE LEARNED SHARED SYMBOLIC PATTERNED INTEGRATED A WAY OF LIFE RELATIVE DYNAMIC UNIVERSAL

LEVELS OF CULTURE

THE INTERNATIONAL MANAGER NEEDS TO BE AWARE OF THE THREE LEVELS OF CULTURE THAT INFLUENCE OVERSEAS OPERATIONS

THESE INCLUDES NATIONAL CULTURE & THE OCCUPATIONAL & ORGANISATION CULTURE.

A .NATIONAL CULTUREB. BUSINESS CULTUREC. OCCUPATIONAL & ORGANISATIONAL

CULTURE

CULTURAL TRAITS MASCULINE & FEMININE UNIVERSALISM VS. PARICULARISM INDIVIDUALISM VS. COMMUNITARISM NEUTRAL VS. EMOTIONAL

FORMAL VS. INFORMAL

FORMAL - STATUS DIFFERENCES ARE LARGE AND VALUED AND FORMALITY IS USED TO SHOW RESPECT. FOR EXAMPLE INDIA,EGYPT, CHINA,FRANCE ETC.

INFORMAL- STATUS DIFFERENCES ARE NOT VALUED AND INFORMAL BEHAVIOUR IS NOT CONSIDERED DISRESPECTFUL.FOR EXAMPLE USA , CANADA , AND AUSTRALIA .

FACTORS OF CULTURE ATTITUDE OF PEOPLE ATTITUDE OF WEALTH MARRIAGE EDUCATION RELIGION ETHICS AESTHETICS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FAMILY LIFESTYLE

EPRG APPROACH

ETHNOCENTRIC ORIENTATION THE BELIEF WHICH CONSIDERS

ONE’S OWN CULTURE AS SUPERIOR TO OTHERS . THE BELIEF THAT THE BUSINESS STRATEGY WHICH HAS WORKED IN THE HOME COUNTRY WOULD ALSO BE SUITABLE IN ALIEN CULTURES

POLYCENTRIC ORIENTATION

IT IS BASED ON THE BELIEF THAT SUBSTANTIAL EXIST AMONG VARIOUS COUNTRIES . THEREFORE , A SINGLE BUSINEE STRATEGY CANNOT BE EFFECTIVE ACROSS THE WORLD AND CUSTOMIZED THE BUSINEE STRATEGIES NEED TO BE ADAPTED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES .

REGIOCENTRIC ORIENTATION

A FIRM TREATS THE REGION AS A UNIFORM CULTURAL SEGMENT AND ADOPTS A SIMILAR BUSINESS STRATEGY WITHIN THE REGION BUT NOT ACROSS THE REGION .

FOR EXAMPLE MC DONALD’S STRATEGY IS NOT TO SERVE BEAF BASED PRODUCTS IN INDIA , BUT SERVES BEEF BASED PRODUCTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES.

GEOCENTRIC ORIENTATION

THE APPROACH CONSIDERS THE WHOLE WORLD AS A SINGLE MARKET AND ATTEMPTS TO FORMULATE INTEGRATED BUSINEE STARTEGIES. A GEOCENTRIC FIRM ATTEMPTS TO IDENTIFY CULTURE SIMILARITIES ACROSS COUNTRIES AND FORMULATES A GLOBALLY UNIFORM BUSINESS STRATEGY

FOR EXAMPLE – THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

GLOBAL BUSINESS ARE THE REPOSITORIES OF MULTI- CULTURES

MULTI- CULTURALISM MEANS THAT PEOPLE FROM MANY CULTURES & MANY COUNTRIES INTERACT REGULARLY

SCHENARIO IS HIGHLY COMPLEX WITH SEVERAL NATIONAL CULTURES & SUB- CULTURES INTERACTING REGULARLY

MANAGING MULTI-CULTURALISM IS ESSENTIAL FOR EACH INTERNATIONAL FIRMS

CHANGE KEY FACTORS COST BENEFIT OF CHANGE . PEOPLE ARE MORE WILLING TO

IMPLEMENT CHANGE WHEN THEY ARE INVOLVED IN THE DECISION TO CHANGE .

THE MORE CHANGE A UPSET VALUES AND MORE RESISTENCE .

MANAGERS SEEKING TO INTRODUCE CHANGE SHOULD FIRST CONVINCE THOSE WHO CAN INFLUENCE OTHERS .