Cultural Factor of Business Environment
by Culture refers to the behaviour, attitude, way of living, belief, faith, law and custom of people in a country. It; could be immediately understood that these aspects would differ from country to country and also in different regions of the same country. It is always said mat the culture determines the people’s preferences, which directly determines the success or failure of business. Hence, cultural, environment has a direct impact on business.
Culture refers to the behaviour, attitude, way of living, belief, faith, law and custom of people in a country. It; could be immediately understood that these aspects would differ from country to country and also in different regions of the same country. It is always said mat the culture determines the people’s preferences, which directly determines the success or failure of business. Hence, cultural, environment has a direct impact on business. A number of examples could be cited to prove this.
In olden days, eating in hotels was considered unhygienic and majority of the people never used to accept food from outside. But today, even the orthodox/ people freely take their requirements from fast food restaurant. This change has come about, because of the changing culture in the society. For instance, with the presence of a large of multi national corporations, the executives working in such organizations are very well paid that they rarely find time to spend on food. Such executives prefer working lunch rather than lunch. So provision of such working lunch should not take time and if food is made available readily without any time loss, then the executives would be able to save their time. Further when executives leave home very early, it is impossible for them to prepare some food and get for their lunch. So when their working lunch requirement is met nearby by their work Spot in am ambient atmosphere it would be welcome. This has given a fillip to the growth of Fast food restaurants. In this manner, certain new cultural practices are transmitted to the society. Similarly, regarding the requirement of clothes, people are slowly switching on to ready made garments of different varieties and design. Sensing this, several international brands in ready garments are entering the market. This is how the business adapts itself to the cultural environment in a country. Business also conducts research continuously for the purpose of innovating and inventing new products and uses for the existing products. It is through this process that several consumer durable products like wet grinder, mixer, washing machine, geysers, etc., have been introduced in the market. Having created them, the business impress upon the people to use them as time saving devices.
Hence, cultural environment can create business opportunities. Any organization which is able to sense the business opportunity and capitalize it, would be able to succeed and grow. But it should be noted that changes in culture do not affect every part of the country or people in the same way or at the same time. It is possible to observe certain^ regions/people lag in adopting a particular culture. This is what is referred to as ‘cultural lag.’ For example, even to day in rural areas, certain practices like untouchability is found, though it is a crime. Such cultural lag is found mainly because of illiteracy, ignorance, conservatism, sentimental factors, political factors and vested interests. Business should be aware of this while addressing the requirements of people in different regions and nations. One more aspect of cultural is the change. While some of the changes are accepted very fast the others are resisted. While in some families divorce is accepted as a common feature, in others, divorce is viewed very seriously and extreme efforts are taken to pacify the parties in conflict. Another important example is the women’s employment. While in olden days women were destined to domestic works, today women entrepreneur lead several fields. Attitude towards work is yet another area when Indian culture lags much behind the Western and Japanese culture.
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