Explain the concept of culture and its main elements

Explain the concept of culture and its main elements.

Culture is of great significance to business and is a very critical component of business environment. Proper understanding of the cultural dimensions is very important for making important business decisions relating to product development, promotional efforts, human resource management, management of the social and political environment, etc. Explain the concept of culture and its main elements

The concept of culture and its main elements. A company which sets out to do business in lnfamiliar cultural environment may encounter several problems if proper home work is not done. Many multinational corporates agree that "cultural differences are the most significant and troublesome variables encountered by any multinational company. The failure of managers to comprehend fully these disparities has led to most international business blunders."

There are varying definitions of culture. Culture, in its broadest definition, refers to that part of the total repertoire of human action (and its product) which is socially, as opposed to genetically, transmitted. A very popular definition is that of E.B. Tylor which reads "Culture of civilization is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society". Explain the concept of culture and its main elements

Explain the concept of culture and its main elements.

As Geert Hofstede, a noted Dutch writer and academic, has put it, "culture is the software of mind-the social programing that runs the way we think, act and perceive ourselves and others". In other words, your brain is simply the hardware that runs the cultural programming. The implication is that culture is not innate. It is a learned behaviour and hence can be changed. Explain the concept of culture and its main elements.

On the basis of the various detinitions of culture, Francis Merill formulates the concept of culture as follows. Culture, he says

· is characteristically the human product of social interaction;

· provides socially acceptable patterns for meeting biological and social needs;

· is cumulative, for it is handed down from generation to generation in a given society;

· is meaningful to human beings because of its symbolic quality;

· is learned by each person in the course of his development in a particular society; is, therefore, a basic determinant of personality;

· and depends for its existence upon the continued functioning of society but is independent of any individual or group.

Culture consists of both material culture and non-material culture. Explain the concept of culture and its main elements. Material culture involves man-made things (eg. automobile, television, telephone, etc.) and man-made alternations in the environment, Non-material culture includes such factors as language, ideals, benefits, values, music, etc. Explain the concept of culture and its main elements

Elements of Culture

Culture, the sum total societal behaviour, includes at least three elements, namely, knowledge and beliefs, ideals and preferences,

Knowledge and Beliefs :

The knowledge and beliefs refer to a people's prevailing notions of reality. The concept of culture and its main elementsThey include myths and metaphysical beliefs as well as scientific realities. As Rose remarks, "one of the features of culture in general, that is of special sociological interest, is shared quality of a belief system. Explain the concept of culture and its main elements

People who share a given culture tend to take a hostile attitude towards those within their midst who cannot, or will not, accept conventional definitions of fact".

People in every society have basic convictions that certain modes of conduct or goals are desirable. These are also known as values.

Value system represents a set of values with priority ordering based on their relative importance. It prompts individuals and groups to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong, what ought to be, what ought not to be. Values thus provide standards or benchmarks by which individuals may be guided in their choices, decisions, conduct, and behaviour.

Ideals :

Ideals refer to the societal norms which define what is expected, customary, right or proper in a given situation. Norms are enforced by sanctions, i.e., by rewarding the right behaviour and punishing the wrong behaviour.

Folkways and mores are important aspects of every culture. Folkways are norms of proper behaviour (like the proper way to greet a Triend) that are informally enforced. But lnores are norms of obligatory bel~aviour considered vital to the welfare of the group.

Preference :

Preferences refer to society's definitions of those things in life which are attractive or unattractive as objects of desire. The concept of culture and its main elements. Preferences may differ between cultures. Interestingly enough, the judgments of the ideal or the proper do not always correspond to our judgments of the pleasant or enjoyable. An example in point is the temptations (not proper but desirable). "All the things really like to do are immoral, illegal, or fattening," said Alexander Woollcott. Explain the concept of culture and its main elements

The impact of socio-cultural dimensions upon the business could be understood in many ways. In the era of globalisation, The concept of culture and its main elements. the companies are crossing the limits of boundaries and going to the other parts of the world.

Now the need for understanding and appreciating cultural differences across various countries is essential. Work motivation, profit motivation, business goals, negotiating styles, attitudes towards the development of business relationships, gift-giving customs, geetings, significance of body gestures, meaning of colours and numbers, and the like vary from country to country.

Explain the concept of culture and its main elements.

Demographic environment

Demographic environment differs from country to country and also from place to place within the same countly or region. It may also change significantly over time. A complete understanding of the demographic features of a market is very necessary for designing the appropriate business strategies.

Many multinationals have entered India and China during the last few years considering the sheer size of population in these countries. A country where the population growth rate is high, children constitute a large section of population resulting in more demand for baby products.

Whereas, in countries having low population growth rate with higher life expectancy, the elderly people constitute the larger section of population and the nature of demand for products and the consumption pattern is going to be very different. Explain the concept of culture and its main elements

Explain the concept of culture and its main elements. Similarly, the increase in the size of population with middle and high-income group has resulted in increased demand for consumer goods, both durable and non-durable, as in the case of India where demand for automobiles, branded ready-made garments, electroilic products, home appliances, etc. lias increased manifold. A business firm which reads the demographic changes accurately and monitors them continuously will find opportunities knocking at its doorsteps. This applies to both quantitative and qualitative aspects of demographic environment.

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