5. Соціально-культурне середовище

У кожної країни свої звичаї, свої правила, свої заборони, що визначає та впливає на стан зовнішньоекономічних відносин даної країни.

ЦИВІЛІЗАЦІЯ

• В найзагальнішому вигляді можна сказати, що такою сукупністю соціально-культурних факторів є цивілізаційні зміни.

• Сучасні соціологи найчастіше під цивілізацією мають на увазі сукупність унікальних економічних, соціальних, політичних, духовних, моральних, психологічних, ціннісних та інших структур, які відрізняють одні історичні спільноти людей від інших. Тобто, поняття "цивілізація" означає в першу чергу рівень соціального прогресу суспільства на певному історичному етапі його розвитку

Social environment – key moments

• Society

• Social class

• Characteristics of social class

• Group

• Family

• Functions of family

• Family life cycle

• Demographic issues

• Population growth and changing age structure

• Global environment policy and management issues

• Issues concerning the environment

• Managing the Environment.

SOCIAL CLASS

• When a firm operates in an international business environment, as an individual is bound by the society in which he lives, it needs to understand the importance of society.

• Social class is an important part of the society. In most western societies, these classes are classified as upper, middle and lower.

• The level of perception of each class and their frequency of buying goods differ from one country to another.

• Another important aspect of society is the group. The performance of groups differs in individualistic and collectivist societies.

FAMILY

• The family is an important part of the social environment. It is a primary group and influences the consumption and buying behavior of consumers.

• The traditional family life cycle has been changing owing to the differing lifestyles. So, marketers have to analyze these trends and bring in products that are suitable to these changing consumer segments.

• Also jobs and workplaces have to be designed according to the changing lifestyles.

Migration

• The nature of population has also been changing in many countries due to cross-border migration. In many countries because of migration, the population now consists of various races and classes. This is reflected in the workforce as well.

• There is also diversity in the workplace because of the changing age structure. All these have to be managed by organizations and they have to cater to the needs of these changing employees.

ENVIRONMENT

• The other important aspect that firms operating in international business environment have to consider is the effects of their products on the environment.

• Environmental laws may differ from one country to another. But firms should take it as a responsibility and work towards the wellbeing of the environment by manufacturing environmentally friendly products.

Cultural environment – key moments

• Hofstede's Model

• Power distance

• Masculinity Vs. Femininity

• Uncertainty avoidance

• Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Long-term Orientation

• Influence of Culture on Consumption

• Influence of Culture on Thinking Process

• Influence of Culture on Communication Process

• Non-verbal communication

• Managing Cross Cultural Differences

• Locating Relevant Cultural Information

• Time Sensitiveness

• Flexibility

• Ethnocentrism

• Culture Shock

UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURE

• Understanding the culture of a particular country and respecting its customs and traditions plays an important role in international business.

• There are various elements of culture, like customs and traditions, mannerisms, values and attitude, religion etc. that are of importance to international business. All these elements have to be thoroughly understood before entering new markets.

• The culture of the country influences the culture at the workplace

HOFSTEDE'S MODEL

• Hofstede's cultural dimensions help in understanding the various dimensions under which culture can be classified.

• They are power distance, individualism vs collectivism, masculinity vs femininity, uncertainty avoidance, individual vs collectivism and finally, long term orientation.

• Culture has a major influence on the consumption patterns. Marketers have to study clearly the acceptability of the product and its advertisements in a particular culture.

• Advertisers can achieve positive consumer responses by developing advertisements with culturally congruent appeal.

THINKING PROCESS

• Culture also has an influence on the thinking process.

• According to Maletzke the major paradigms for thinking that can have an influence on culture are logic and pre-logic, inductive and deductive, abstract and concrete and alphabetical and an-alphabetical thinking.

• All these concepts of thinking are interconnected

COMMUNICATION

• Communication is an important part of any business. Especially in international business, any mistake in communicating will prove costly for a firm.

• Apart from taking care while advertising, which is an important part of any business, firms have to be careful when negotiating business deals and using non-verbal communication.

• The various forms of non-verbal communication are kinesics, proxemics, appearance, posture, eye contact, paralanguage, symbolism etc.