Lecture 06

The socio-cultural
environment

Hamilton L. and Webster. P. (2015) chapter 6, Oxford University Press

also: Module D.L. Pack , unit 9, p.145 -160
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
These lectures on the socio-cultural
environment will enable you to:
• Explain the importance of the social and cultural
environment for business
• Understand and explain the major social and cultural
elements such as demography, urbanization, religion, and
language.
• Analyse the implications of various social and cultural
elements for business
• Compare and contrast the liberal and social democratic
social models.
 Summary

• Elements of culture

• Hofstede’s analysis

• Demography

• Social Structure
 Elements of culture:
Note: Cultural differences
• language can
provide business
• religion and moral values opportunities
e.g. cultural tourism
• values and attitudes
• manners and customs
• norms and rules of behaviour (sanctions)
• aesthetics, diet and dress
• education and other cultural institutions
• material elements
 Language
Chinese 1,146,755,000
There are 1 (Putonghua) (874,000,000)
approximately
2 Hindi/Urdu 366,000,000
6,700
different 3 English 341,000,000
languages!
4 Spanish 322,200,000
These are the 5 Arabic 280,000,000
most spoken.
(first language 6 Bengali 207,000,000
speakers) 7 Portuguese 176,000,000
8 Russian 167,000,000
Tai 83-100m
9 Japanese 125,000,000
(Thailand, Laos
and China) 10 German 121,000,000
11 Tai 83,000,000
12 Korean 78,000,000
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/most_spoken_languages.htm
Ethnic
groups and
languages
in China
 Religion
Christianity (2 billion)

Islam (1.2 billion)

Hinduism (828 million)

Buddhism (364 million)

Confucianism (6.3 or 200 million?) religion or philosophy?

Atheism (150 million)
No religion (775 million)
http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_coun.htm
 Values and attitudes
(N.B. Considered later under ethics and corporate social
responsibility)

Manners and customs

Many websites give advice on business etiquette and related matters.

e.g. http://www.culturecrossing.net/
 Aesthetics, diet and dress
Aesthetic values vary widely
Chinese, German or Italian opera.
British made English language films in the US.
Attitudes to the depiction of sex and violence in
films and advertising.
E.g. the Kite Runner film in Afghanistan

"The Chinese (Guandongese) eat everything

with four legs, except tables, and everything
that flies - except airplanes".
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/guangdong.html
 Education
Levels and forms of education vary widely
– Proportion of population with a primary, secondary or university
education
– More or less emphasis on technical, scientific or artistic
education

Important for the workforce and customer base

Low educational attainment figure for EU countries

http://www.poverty.org.uk

International data on educational attainment: updates and implications,

Robert J. Barro and Jong-Wha Lee
http://www.nber.org/papers/w15902.pdf
 Low educational attainment (EU)

http://www.poverty.org.uk
 Global literacy rate
- Global rate close to 90% (UNESCO, 2008)

- Germany, Britain & France 99%

- Southern Asian countries like India: 60%
- China 91.6% (Hong Kong 94%)
- Pakistan: around 50% (CIA)

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/edu_lit_tot_pop-education-literacy-
total-population
 Material elements

Economic infrastructure
Roads, communications, energy supplies and so on

Social infrastructure
Health, housing and education

Financial infrastructure
Banks, insurance and other financial institutions
 ACTIVITY
Assess the importance of each of the elements of culture
on your own organization or industry.
Consider each of them in relation to one of the following:
• Your country and a very different one that you
know about.
• Two cultures that exist within your own country.

Elements of culture:
Language
Religion
Values and attitudes
Manners and customs
Material elements
Aesthetics
Education
 Hofstede’s four (later five)
dimensions of culture

• Power-distance
• Individualism/collectivism
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Masculinity/femininity
• Long-Term Orientation
http://www.geert-hofstede.com/
 ACTIVITY

Think of three countries that you know

about.
How do you think they would score on each
of Hofstede’s dimensions?
 ACTIVITY 4

What cultural changes are currently

occurring in your own country?

How are they likely to affect businesses in

the future?
 Summary (so far)

• Elements of culture

• Hofstede’s analysis

• Demography

• Social Structure