Social values, customers, fashions, and practices are large determinants of business environment. Western societies are modern so they are liberal. They take new products and wear trendy dresses, but in a Muslim society these dresses will have no market.
Thus, the producers should have clear view of social customs, tastes and fashion and have to design their product-mix accordingly. Helene Cartis introduced black shampoo for the women in Thailand who liked to make their hair glossier. Indian boys and girls now demand jeans which were not demanded by them previously. Now Indian society is more open they demand wine, beer, and fashionable items more.
Consumerism has emerged as a new “Mantra” in India. Indian companies and multinationals are trying to use the opportunity unleashed by recent liberalisation process in this country. There is now special programme on “VALENTINE DAY” which is observed all over the country.
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Social customs, social values determine the cultural base of a country. The businessmen cannot ignore the social reality. The massive arrangement of various consumables in festive season like Durga Puja or Diwali shows that socio-cultural practice and value plays a large part in deciding existing demand level of the country.
Social environment depends on social system to a significant extent. By social system we mean interdependent relationships between so-called economic and non-economic factors. The latter include attitudes towards life, work and authority, public and private bureaucratic, legal and administrative structures; patterns of kinship and religion; cultural traditions, system of land tenure; the authority and integrity of government agencies, the degree of popular participation in development decision and activities and the flexibility or rigidity of economic and social classes.
These factors vary widely from one region of the world to another, from one cultural setting to other. At the international level, we must also consider the organisation rules, conduct of global economy, how they were formulated, who controls them and who are beneficiary from them. This is especially true today with the spread of market economies and rapid globalization of trade, finance, technology and labour migration.
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Prof Michael P. Todaro observes that values, attitudes and institutions play crucial role in determining the development process. The social and cultural aspects have a great influence on the realities of economic and business environment.
“Culture shows complex mixture of assumptions, behaviours, stories, myths, metaphors and other ideas that fit together to define what it means to be a member of a particular society.” The business organization has to take care of all those elements which are generated from the culture.