Free Essay

Sociocultural Aspects of Business

In:

Submitted By sec1
Words 514
Pages 3
1. Perform research (minimum of 2 sources in APA format).
2. Identify the country cluster (as identified in the text) for both your Domestic and Global environments; choose different clusters.
3. Include sociocultural factors that may help and hinder the company and its operations in 2 different cluster countries.
4. Evaluate their successes and/or failures.
5. Minimum 4 complete paragraphs; a paragraph is a minimum of 100 words.

Clustering countries together based on their cultural values can bring an understanding of the similarities and differences across cultures. The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) study took sixty-two societies and grouped them into ten clusters based on the overall similarities using nine value orientations (Thomas & Inkson, 2009). Each country cluster share factors such as common language, religion, economic system and political boundaries. The United States which is the domestic environment for Proctor & Gamble (P&G) is part of the Anglo cluster with countries such as Canada, England, and Ireland, and China is part of the Confucian Asia cluster with countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

One of the sociocultural factors that could hinder P&G in their global environment is language. The packaging and labeling of their products or promotional materials need to be properly translated to avoid confusion. Proper translation of promotional material should be done carefully so that the meaning is not lost or distorted (“ExportHelp”, n.d.). In China there are many provinces with different dialects, making translation even more difficult.

According to “ExportHelp” (n.d.), “The material culture of a particular market will affect the nature and extent of demand for a product” (para 2). When P&G launched Pampers diapers in China, it initially failed. P&G thought that if they made the product cheap enough, the Chinese parents would by them, so they made lower quality versions of U.S. and European disposable diapers. Chinese families did not have a tradition for using disposable diapers but instead used what was called kaidangku, which is a colorful open-crotch pants that allowed children to squat and relieve themselves in open areas. After P&G started understanding the Chinese customer better, they added extra softness to the diaper, made it feel less plastic, and increased the absorption capacity. They also produced advertising campaigns promoting the benefits of the disposable diapers such as babies sleeping longer by wearing them (Riley, 2013). When companies make sure that they understand the other cultures that they will either be working in or making products for, they will realize success. The market for disposable diapers grew strong in China and P&G quickly took market leadership (Riley, 2013).

“ExportHelp”, (n.d.). The sociocultural environment. Retrieved from http://www.exporthelp.co.za/modules/1_considering_exporting/env_sociocultural.html

Riley, J. (2013). How did P&G reach the top in China? [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://beta.tutor2u.net/business/blog/how-did-pg-reach-the-top-in-china

Thomas, D., & Inkson, K. (2009) Cultural intelligence: Living and working globally. Williston, Vermont: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Cultural Crossvergence

...Introduction Cross cultural studies has great impact especially to business managers. National culture or core culture that developed the individual before it is influenced by other factors in the environment and society is subject to change depending on how strong the influences would be. However for the individual to fit in, they have to embrace the new found culture or a new culture might have evolved combining the core values and the current society’s value. Literature Review In Kelley, MacNab and Worthle (2006) paper, they have studied that when two or more diverse cultures are combined together, depending on how strong the county’s core national culture, three things may occur – culture convergence, divergence or crossvergence. Their study of US, Hongkong and Taiwan for years had gave them results on how culture can change. Like for example is in terms of uncertainty avoidance and power distance between Hongkong and Taiwan. It was found that Hongkong increases its uncertainty avoidance than Taiwan and the reason for this could be because Hongkong was turn over from UK to China. US known to be the first individualist country from previous studies appears to becoming collectivist and the power distance increases from their study of US banking industry. This one has been attributed to the lay offs happened in banking industry when the study was conducted. The authors remarked that Culture can change due to influences like globalization, economic and technological change...

Words: 931 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Chemical

...Strategic Management and Business Policy, 14e (Wheelen) Chapter 4 Environmental Scanning and Industry Analysis 1) Environmental scanning is the monitoring, evaluating, and disseminating of information from the external environment to key people within the corporation. Answer: TRUE Difficulty: Easy Chapter Objective: Recognize aspects of an organization’s environment that can influence its long-term decisions 2) A corporation uses environmental scanning to avoid strategic surprise. Answer: TRUE Difficulty: Moderate Chapter Objective: Recognize aspects of an organization’s environment that can influence its long-term decisions AACSB: Analytical Thinking 3) Political-legal forces regulate the values, mores, and customs of society. Answer: FALSE Difficulty: Easy Chapter Objective: Recognize aspects of an organization’s environment that can influence its long-term decisions 4) The societal environment includes the economic, technological, political-legal, and sociocultural forces. Answer: TRUE Difficulty: Moderate Chapter Objective: Recognize aspects of an organization’s environment that can influence its long-term decisions 5) Industry analysis was popularized by Michael Porter. Answer: TRUE Difficulty: Moderate Chapter Objective: Recognize aspects of an organization’s environment that can influence its long-term decisions 6) In dynamic environments, the CEO's focus is on forces in the societal environment. Answer: FALSE Difficulty:...

Words: 6834 - Pages: 28

Premium Essay

Anthropology Assignments

...Q1) As an anthropologist, you find out about the existence of a group of humans in the amazon rainforest that have never been contacted. How would you the four subfields of anthropology to investigate this human community? Ans: The Amazon rainforest also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 square kilometres (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 5,500,000 square kilometres (2,100,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. States or departments in four nations contain "Amazonas" in their names. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with an estimated 390 billion individual trees divided into 16,000 species. Q2) How do anthropologists utilize the scientific method in their studies? What are the limitations of the scientific method in anthropological studies? Ans: The scientific method is described as "a method of investigation involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or...

Words: 2392 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Pest Analysis on the Nhi Project

...Introduction Business/organizations are influenced by various external factors and these influences greatly determine weather that particular business can be successful and function well in society. These influences can be viewed as the general environment. However, what really is General environment? The General Environment is the layer of the external factors or events that affects an Organization. This environment consists of the International, Technological, Sociocultural, Economic and legal-Political trends. The international Dimension is an aspect of the external environment that represents events originating in foreign countries, as well as opportunities for local companies in other countries. We live in a technological advances world. In that case, the technological dimension of the general environment allows the scientific and technological advancement in the industry and society at large. Following next in line is Sociocultural. It represents the demographic characteristics, norms, customs and values of the population within which the organization operates. Whereas, the Economic Dimension is refers to the overall economic health of the country or region in which the organization operates in the general environment. Lastly, there is the Legal-Political Dimension of the general environment that includes federal and local government regulations and political activities designed to influence company behavior. However, In the British Virgin Islands, the Government is undertaking...

Words: 707 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Introduction to Business Management

...BUS 2043 BUSINESS MANAGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS NO. | CONTENTS | PAGES | 1. | 1.0 Introduction of business management | 3 | 2. | 2.0 Background of the company 2.1 Type of company 2.2 Company structure 2.3 Products and services | 4-9 | 3. | 3.1 Organizational Environments and Cultures 3.1.1 General Environment 3.1.1.1 Economy 3.1.1.2 Technological Component 3.1.1.3 Sociocultural Component 3.1.1.4 Political Component3.2 Ethics and Social Responsibility3.3 Organizational Strategy 3.3.1 Five Industry Forces3.4 Designing Adaptive Organizations 3.4.1 Departmentalization | 10-18 | 4. | 4.0 Describe how the organization implements the selected topic in its operations.4.1 Organizational Environments and Cultures 4.1.1 General Environment 4.1.1.1 Economy 4.1.1.2 Technological Component 4.1.1.3 Sociocultural Component 4.1.1.4 Political Component4.2 Ethics and Social Responsibility4.3 Organizational Strategy 4.3.1 Five Industry Forces4.4 Designing Adaptive Organizations 4.4.1 Departmentalization | 19-25 | 5. | 5.0 Conclusion5.1 Summary of the analysis | 26 | 6. | 6.0 List of References | 27-28 | 1.0 Introduction As everyone knows that it is not easy to start up a Business and also manage a Business well because started up a Business need to go through a lot of challenges from different...

Words: 6799 - Pages: 28

Premium Essay

Timken Wk6 Socio Economic Environment

...Socio-cultural Environment American Public University Robert J. Robinson Introduction In this paper I will address the following issues posed by the Week 6 assignment:   Identify Domestic and Global Environments (countries) that are in opposing cultural clusters (as identified in International business: theory and practice) identify which cluster(s) your two countries fit.   Identify the socio-cultural parts of each country as related to business for your company. You will need to examine these with the aid of Geert Hofstede (see resources).   Identify and discuss the various sociocultural aspects of each country. Do they differ? How? What are the similarities? How would these factors affect your company’s business in your Domestic and Global Environments (countries)? Background The Timken Company (Timken) is an industrial technology company. The company carries out development, production and sales of mechanical components and high-performance steel. They offer engineered high-friction bearings, alloy steels and lubricants.  Identify Domestic and Global Environments (countries) that are in opposing cultural clusters (as identified in International business: theory and practice) identify which cluster(s) your two countries fit. Domestically, Timken (United States) is in North American culture cluster - by this I mean that Canada, the United States and Mexico have the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which would combine the three countries...

Words: 844 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Nestle

...dedicated man began experimenting with nutritious food supplements to overcome the problem. In 1867, he was approached to help an ailing premature infant who was unable to accept his mother's milk or any of the conventional substitutes. The infant began to take the milk food supplement he had developed, and a life was saved. The product, called Farine Lactée Nestlé, was soon marketed throughout much of Europe, and a new brand name began to take on life. In 1905, the Nestlé Company merged with the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company, the first condensed milk factory which opened in Switzerland in 1866. Nestlé entered into the milk chocolate business in 1904 when Peter & Kohler Swiss General Chocolate Company produced milk chocolate under the Nestlé trademark. The chocolate company later joined the Nestlé group in 1929. While the original business was based on milk and dietetic foods for children, the new Nestlé grew and diversified its range of products, through acquisitions and mergers with the better known brands of the time. For example: The manufacturing of LACTOGEN began in 1921, and in the same year, a beverage containing wheat flour was marketed under the brand name MILO. In 1938, NESCAFÉ, the world's first instant coffee was introduced. Logo of Nestle The earliest Nestle logo was unveiled in 1868 by Henri Nestle, originating from the phrase “little nest”, the actual meaning of his name in his native German language. After his retirement in 1875, the memorable nest emblem...

Words: 1206 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Market Plano

...research into their product range and markets and report back to him on the findings. Due to the lack of their marketing expertise they requested a report to include any ideas and suggestions as to how the research can help the company expand its sales in the future. Scottish lemonade ltd also require me as a marketing consultant to help them develop their existing products, expand into future markets and advise on the creation of new product ranges for the company. A discussion that illustrates the interdependence of key marketing activities in the development of a marketing programme. When developing any marketing programme one of the first things a marketer must do is good market research. This involves collecting information on all aspects of a business’s environment. This involves information on existing and prospective customer’s needs, wishes, desires and wants. As well as any other characteristics that could help identify your target market such as the age, sex, religion, location and buying behaviour of your customers. Research into suppliers, intermediaries and competitors is also relevant as it can give your company an advantage over similar companies. The better the quality of market research, the easier and more effective a marketing strategy. The reason market research is done is basically to identify who your customers are (both present and future) and what their needs and desires are so you can best fulfil them. Once the market research has been done and...

Words: 955 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Albert Einstein

...German-born American theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein, often regarded as the father of modern physics, had exceptional intellectual ability and unprecedented insight. Many believed him to be one of the most influential people in both science and mathematics, and quite possibly the most famous scientist of the 20th century (Severance, 1999). As cited by Fingon and Fingon, Einstein was well known for being a brilliant physicist and abstract thinker, applying his creativity and imagination in his scientific thought process (Parker, 2003). He received the 1921 Nobel Prize for his contribution to the study of physics, namely his special (1905) and general (1916) theories of relativity. The name “Einstein” is often thought of as being synonymous with the word genius. Einstein was not always thought of as a genius, however. His unique intellectual abilities as a young boy created challenges for him in his everyday home and school life, but his sense of wonder paired with persistence and determination led him to be the successful prodigy people know him as today. Abraham Maslow’s humanistic approach of self-actualization provides significant explanation for Einstein’s behaviors and achievements throughout his life. Heredity and environment played vital roles in Einstein’s psychological development. Einstein’s parents and teachers observed his early childhood developmental delays and had doubts regarding his intelligence. His parents worried about his intellectual development...

Words: 1251 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Work

...The PEST Analysis It is important that an organization considers its environment before beginning the marketing process. In fact, environmental analysis should be continuous and feed all aspects of planning. The organization’s marketing environment is made up of: 1. The internal environment e.g. staff (or internal customers), office technology, wages and finance, etc. 2. The micro-environment e.g. our external customers, agents and distributors, suppliers, our competitors, etc. 3. The macro-environment e.g. Political (and legal) forces, Economic forces, Sociocultural forces, and Technological forces. These are known as PEST factors. PEST Political Factors The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. You must consider issues such as: * How stable is the political environment? * Will government policy influence laws that regulate or tax your business? * What is the government’s position on marketing ethics? * What is the government’s policy on the economy? * Does the government have a view on culture and religion? * Is the government involved in trading agreements such as EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, or others? * Political stability * Risk of military invasion * Legal framework for contract enforcement * Intellectual property protection * Trade regulations & tariffs * Favored trading partners * Anti-trust laws * Pricing regulations * Taxation...

Words: 625 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Marketing

...can have a magnificent impact on a person’s healthy, This analysis will make the business owner of the business Gino Nutriona. The situation analysis will provide accurate information that he needs to understand before he starts his small business. Situation analysis will cover most of the marketing strategies like economic forces, sociocultural forces, and political forces, legal forces and environmental forces; they all play a major role in business and as a business manager Gino to needs to understand them to be successful. Industry overview it is a complex, global group of diverse businesses that supply food. A lot of fast food businesses in Australia are introducing healthier meals due to a push from those customers that enjoy eating healthy. “Healthy-eating campaigns, such as the ACT government's Towards Zero Growth initiative, have been formed to tackle the crisis and cut down on obesity. They've got their work cut out for them when they consider Australian Bureau of Statistics data that shows more than half of all Australians are still overweight or obese, up to 61.2 per cent in 2008 compared with 56.3 per cent in 1995.” (by Ben Westcott from Canberra time) Political Forces A lot of businesses organisations are influenced by political forces. The healthy happy foody cafe will start as a small organisation therefore it won’t be engaged in politics as much as compared to big business organisation that does global marketing. In saying that marketers must consider the...

Words: 1239 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Pest

...continuous and feed all aspects of planning. The organization's marketing environment is made up of: 1. The internal environment e.g. staff (or internal customers), office technology, wages and finance, etc. 2. The micro-environment e.g. our external customers, agents and distributors, suppliers, our competitors, etc. 3. The macro-environment e.g. Political (and legal) forces, Economic forces, Sociocultural forces, and Technological forces. These are known as PEST factors. Political Factors. The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. You must consider issues such as: 1.How stable is the political environment? 2.Will government policy influence laws that regulate or tax your business? 3.What is the government's position on marketing ethics? 4. What is the government's policy on the economy? 5. Does the government have a view on culture and religion? 6. Is the government involved in trading agreements such as EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, or others? Economic Factors. Marketers need to consider the state of a trading economy in the short and long-terms. This is especially true when planning for international marketing. You need to look at: 1. Interest rates. 2. The level of inflation Employment level per capita. 3. Long-term prospects for the economy Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, and so on. Sociocultural Factors. The social and cultural influences on business vary from country...

Words: 867 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Management

...economic activity but also extends to political, cultural, environmental and security issues and relates to the increasing interconnectivity of countries and communities. Since Zimbabwe is not surviving in isolation it is therefore to a greater extent not immune from the focus of globalization. Zimbabwe is affected by globalization in the following areas which include economic, sociocultural, information and communication technology, tourism, sports and education .However partially Zimbabwe is immune from the focus of globalization due to indigenization, empowerment and the Zim Asset law. Definition of terms Globalization Al-Rodhan et al (2006) defines globalization as the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture. Economic globalization Joshi et al (2009) defines economic globalization as the increasing economic interdependence of economies across the world through a rapid increase in cross- border movement of goods, services, technology and capital. Sociocultural globalization James, Paul (2006) defines sociocultural globalization as the transmission of ideas, means and...

Words: 2346 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Sdi Macro Environmental Analysis

...aware of the issue in the current business environment. A common tool for conducting a macro environment analysis is the PESTEL framework, which include factors from the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal aspects in the business environment. The ultimate purpose of this analysis is to create a strategy that will leverage as many of these external factors as possible to the company’s favor. The political factors of the PESTEL analysis include the current stability of the government, social welfare policies imposed upon companies, trade tariffs or regulations that restrict international business and tax policies on corporate profits. This information is quite important to businesses, as extremely difficult political situations often result in lower profits and a more inflexible business environment. A macro environment analysis may focus heavily on the political factors in countries with difficult business environments. The group of external factors for this analysis comes from the economic factors within a country. Companies are unable to control issues like the income of buyers in the market, available credit offered by banks, unemployment, interest rates and inflation found in the economic market. These factors can also affect the company, lowering purchasing power from currency, available credit and inflation, which makes it more difficult for the company to conduct normal business operations. The sociocultural dimensions of the environment consist...

Words: 1466 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

The Missing Link in the Loop of Movies, Destination Image and Tourist Behavior

...Social Distance The Missing Link in the Loop of Movies, Destination Image, and Tourist Behavior? Journal of Travel Research Volume 47 Number 4 May 2009 494-507 © 2009 SAGE Publications 10.1177/0047287508326534 http://jtr.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com Asli D. A. Tasci The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Visual information, especially delivered through movies, is believed to have an influence on destination image and consumer behavior. Based on the theory that knowledge about an object might cause feelings toward the object, visual information through movies can be assumed to affect not only destination image but also social distance between groups and, thus, to affect tourist behavior regarding the destination. With a quasi-experimental design, this study investigates if there is a relationship between visual information from movies and consumer-behavior variables, including destination image, destination desirability, visit intention, and social distance, taking Turkey as a case in point and a promotional movie as the stimuli. Results provide partial support for potential impact of movies on the consumer-behavior variables included in this study. Implications and future research suggestions are provided. Keywords: A destination image; visual information; social distance; stereotypical image; Turkey mong the several factors that impact destination image, the influential role of information provided by the visual media, such as movies, has been empirically...

Words: 10268 - Pages: 42