LOGO
Business Environment
UNIT-I
Components of BE:
Socio-Cultural Environment
Course Coordinator: Dr. Saboohi Nasim
FMS&R, AMU
Global
Environment
Natural
Environment
Internal
Environment
External
Environmen t
Unit –I (Syllabus)
❖Nature, Characteristics & Objectives of Business
❖Nature & Elements of Business Environment
▪ Technological Environment
▪ Socio-cultural Environment
▪ Political-legal Environment
▪ Demographic & Natural Environment
▪ Economic Environment
Socio-cultural
Environment
Ecological view of business in a system relationship with society??
• Business is an integral part (sub-system) of the (total) social system.
• The social system influences business, which in turn, is affected by the business.
Keith Davis & Robert L. Blomstorm
(Business, Society and Environment, 1971)
• Values: set of beliefs that drives the activities of business.
• Viability : is the drive to live, grow, and achieve all that a living system is capable of becoming. Business is a viable vigorous institution in society…not just a passive receiver/reactor .
• Public Visibility : refers to the extent that an organization’s activities are known to persons outside the organization. Different from public image (what people think), public visibility subjects business activities to public examination, discussion, and judgment.
Keith Davis & Robert L. Blomstorm
Characteristics of Business as Social Institution…3Vs
• Culture and society are intricately related; Society consists of people who share a common culture.
• Culture refers to “….complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”
(E B Taylor)
• Culture is the “…software of the mind—the social programming that runs the way we think, act and percieve ourselves and others.”
(Geert Hofstede)Culture is a socially learned behaviour and can change .
Society Vs. Culture
• Social and Cultural factors which are beyond the control of an organization
• Social factors: Influence exercised by social institutions and social systems like family, caste system, marriage, religion, social groups etc
• Cultural factors: include value systems, people’s attitude to work, customs, traditions, education, language, tastes and preferences, etc..
Socio-Cultural Environment?
Social Institutions and Social systems…
• Family:
change in size and structure of family unit has an impact on purchase decisions (joint vs nuclear); family life cycle…..etc• Marriage:
as an institution has undergone changes (social contract, legality, glamour, consumerism..)….. direct implications for various industries-apparel, jewellery, real state, insurance, automobile etc……..Mukesh Ambani’s daughter wedding cost ??• Religion:
belief systems (faith), morals, ethics….; Have huge implications for businesses (Food, apparel, real state, liquor, toy industry ….)Social Factors
• Social Groups:
unions, trade associations, civil society organizations, environmentalist groups, other pressure groups (physically challenged/differently abled etc.. Mirakle couriers- Mumbai-Dhruv Lakra; Microsign –Gujarat etc)• Caste System:
social stratification..SC/ST (implications for recruitment -reservations), social responsibility for the exploited…(Tatas, HLL.. Recent amendment in SC/ST Act 2020??), Impact of education…
• Role of Women:
increasingly recognized socially as well as by the businesses….greater participation in workforce, flexi timings, work from home…etc…(Gender Gap Index 2019??)….empowerment of women by businesses –Project shakti by HULSocial Factors…
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Characteristics of Culture
• Learned: Culture is not inherited…acquired by learning and experience
• Shared: People as members of a group, organization and society share culture
• Trans-Generational: passed on from one generation to another
• Symbolic: based on human capacity to symbolize or use one thing to represent another
• Adaptive: based on human capacity to change or
adapt
Levels of Culture
National culture
Business culture
Organizational culture Occupational culture
• Beliefs & superstitions: increasing importance of astrology and numerology in India… auspicious days, numbers, colors etc….impact on business??
• People’s attitude towards work: work
commitment, work-life balance, worker-mgt. relationship….
work culture
• Customs & Traditions: greetings/handshakes, attitude towards guests, weaker sections (women, children, elders, physically challenged, poor….etc), customs and rituals…
Cultural Factors?
• Language: means of communication…critical implications for marketing, packaging, HR etc.
• India is multi linguistic. (18 officially recognized languages and the census of India identifies 1652 more.); Marketing becomes costlier and more complex due to this huge diversity
• Tastes and preferences: dynamic in nature, fashion, aesthetics,..etc
• Education: level of education, quality of
education…RTE, education of children…Adopt a school program by Alig society??? AAP’s model??
Cultural Factors…
The Irony!
Video
Child labor
Child Labor in India??
The plight of CHOTU
A Documentary by
Munazzah Arif
Do watch
Infinite Vision: The Story of Aravind Eye Hospital
Author Pavithra Mehta tells the story of her grand-uncle Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, and his journey to becoming the founder of the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India