Business Organizations and Their Cultural Environment

Business Organizations and their Cultural Environment

Every business organization is in business to make some form of profit. Some businesses may operate as not for profit organization but the fact of the matter is that they have to make some form of surplus from their operations in order to keep on with their operations. Businesses no matter what their goals are do not operate in isolation. There is an environment that every business organization is subjected to and whether an organization succeeds or not will depend on how well the organizations adapts to its working environment. The different types of environments that business organizations are usually subjected to are: economic environment, legal environment, regulatory environment, political environment and lastly cultural environment. Each and every type of business organization is very important to business organization such that in most if not all business decisions the environmental aspect plays a very important role. For instance all businesses must adhere to the legal requirements of the countries or regions that they operates in failure to which may lead to closure or heavy fines by the host government. This paper is a detailed analysis of the how business organizations relate to their cultural environment[1].

Culture can be looked at as the customs, attitudes and beliefs that are held by a particular group of people. In the context of a business organization a group of people will be taken to denote a particular set of people that can be a target market for a business organization. Again because we are concerned about how culture could affect business organization the paper is also going to look at culture within the context of the internal business environment. That is how the culture of the people who are within the organization can affect the organization either positively or negatively[2].

Culture is a very important factor when it comes to determining a person’s occupation. For instance there are some parts of the world that are known for having produced significantly more members of a particular occupation compared to other parts. This therefore implies that the culture in which we grow in may determine whether we are going to be successful business people or not. According to research it is well known that entrepreneurship which is a key driver in the business world could be motivated by the culture in which one is subjected to during their childhood. Recently there have been clashes between natives in South Africa and immigrants who have been very successful in business. The question that arises is how newcomers could possibly beat natives in business in their own land. The main difference between these natives and the immigrants is culture. They were brought up in different cultures and thus they ends up adopting different approaches in managing their businesses. The results of these differences causes success among a particular group and the other one ends up frustrated. In the last few decades the Chinese have made very significant achievement in the world of business compared to other nations. For so long China was considered a giant country that was inactive in terms of the world’s affairs. This perception has changed recently as the China can be considered to have gone through a paradigm shift in its culture. A culture that enhances business activities in China has been adopted. Most if not all of the policies that have been adopted by the Chinese government seems to be geared towards changing the society perceptions towards accepting new methods of livelihood that is in line with business. For instance this government has been building cities in lands that belonged to local Chinese farmers. At first this move was very unpopular but with time the people of China seems to be adjusting their culture to be in line with what their government visions about its people is.

Despite the fact that some cultural practices impacts positively on businesses there are others that discourages business enterprises. For instance religion as an aspect of culture could impact negatively on businesses. There are religious practices that prohibit the consumption of certain commodities. In Muslim majority countries operating a business that sells pork could led to serious losses because Islam religion prohibit the consumption of pork. In India the cow is considered a sacred animal and thus you cannot kill or eat its meat. For this reason the Hindu culture does not support business organizations that sell or uses beef products. There are other religious practices that discourage extravagance or what can is seen as wastefulness in the eyes of these religious practices. In this case people will be encouraged to buy only what is necessary for their basic lives. As it is well known that businesses thrive in regions where there is a culture of consumerism, these cultural practices are therefore detrimental to the success of business organization[3].

There are some cultural practices that are known to be opposed to modernity. For instance there are communities all over the world that tends to be opposed to consumption of modern items. In these communities those who live a conservative life are applauded while those who live modern lives are seen as people who have strayed. For instance In Africa there are groups people who call themselves African traditionalist who opposes any western commodity or view. In the US and all over Europe there are communities who seem to be opposed to modernity. These sets of people would like to live traditional lives where most of the items that they use in their daily lives are acquired through natural means and not through industrial processes. In other words these people do not want to consume products that are sold in shops markets or malls[4].

In regions where people are always opposed to consumerism businesses do not do well. For instance in African countries where people hold misconceptions against consumption against products that are made by companies that appear western to them businesses do not thrive. These regions have been left behind by other regions that have embraced new methods of production and therefore consume modern commodities. In places where modernity is frowned to the only business that operates are small shops that sell commodities that are very basic in life. In areas that have embraced modernity businesses have made a very significant progress leading to modern interdependent societies.

For quite some time religious practices has been used as a yardstick to measure what is right and what is wrong in most societies. There are societies or groups of people are