CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

JOE ALLWYN RAJA.J

09PBA137

What is culture?
Culture is the collection of values, beliefs, behaviors,
customs, and attitudes that distinguish one society from
another. A societys culture determines the rules that
govern how firms operate in the society.
Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere,
meaning "to cultivate")

Culture is divided into two aspects

Physical aspects
Objects
Actions
Mental aspects
Thoughts
Beliefs
Values
Inventions
Rules

Culture which is a very intriguing

and complex factor is also a critical
component of business environment

Proper understanding of the cultural

dimensions is very important for
promotion, business negotiations,
HRM, Management and political
environment

Cultural differences are the most

significant and troublesome
variables encountered by the
multinational company.

TWO MAJOR SEGMENTS

OF CULTURE
1. NON-MATERIAL CULTURE are
intangible objects
such as VALUES, LANGUAGE and
BELIEFS
2. MATERIAL CULTURE are physical
objects and
items and artefacts such as
MACHINES, BOOKS,
MONEY and CLOTHING.

Elements of Culture
Culture, the sum total of societal behaviors includes
three elements
Knowledge and
beliefs
Ideals

Preferences

Culture

 Belief
It involves stories and myths whose interpretation can give people
insight into how the should feel or behave
Ideals
Refers to the societal norms which defined what is expected
customary, right or proper in a given situation

Preferences
Societys definition of those things in life which are attractive or
unattractive as objects as desire

Organization of
Culture
It refers to the social structure and the integration of
traits, complexes and patterns that make up the cultural
system
Culture traits, complexes and patterns helps to
understand the organization of a culture.
A trait is a unit of observation
A complex is a system of interrelated traits that function
together as a unit
A number of complexes in turn come together to form a
cultural pattern

Cultural Factors
Thailand
Hong Kong
Kenya
Korea
Japan
Africa
Denmark

Its Not the Gift That Counts,

but How You Present It
Japan
Europe
Arab world
Latin world
China

Cultural Adaptation
Cultural Adaptation refers to the
manner in which a social system or
an individual fits into the physical or
social environment
Adaptation is essential for survival
Cultural Adaptation can be viewed in
a very wide context
Energy Policy
Relevant at individual level

Cultural Shock
Environmental changes sometimes produce cultural
shock- a feeling of confusion,insecurity and anxiety
caused by strangeness of the new environment

Cultural Transmission
Cultural transmission is the process of passing on
culturally relevant knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
values from person to person or from culture to culture.

Cultural Conformity
Individuals in a culture tend either to conform to the
cultural norms or to deviate from them

Cultural stereotypes
To stereotype is to formulate a standardized image of a
group that assigns a number of characteristics to a
group that helps to simplify what would otherwise be
a very complex task of identification

Religion

Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the

cause, nature, and purpose of life and the
universe, especially when considered as the
creation of a supernatural agency, or human
beings relation to that which they regard as
holy, s
Many religions have narratives, symbols,
traditions and sacred histories that are
intended to give meaning to life. They tend to
derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a
preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the
cosmos and human nature sacred, spiritual,
or divine.
The word religion is sometimes used
interchangeably with faith or belief system,

Ethonodomination
A situation where an ethnic group occupies a majority
position in a channel of distribution with respect to the
ownership and control of physical and financial
resources or through the manipulation of social
environment

Languages

10 TEN FIRST LANGUAGES

1 in 6 people speak Mandarin (1

billion)

English: 380 million

Spanish: 266 million
Bengali: 189 million
Hindi: 182 million
Portuguese: 170
Russian: 170
Japanese: 125
German 98
Chinese (Wu): 77

feedback

Good eye contact and body language

Nice pictures and videos
Wonderful performance
Good coverage of topics
Good control over the audience