Unit 4 Business Environment - Investigate the behaviour of organisations and the market environment
Cultural environment
What is the impact of culture on organisations?
What do we mean by "culture"?
Changing products to meet changing cultural standards and needs.
What is Culture?
Definition of culture?
- the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action.
- the total range of activities and ideas of a people.
- the artistic and social pursuits, expression, and tastes valued by a society or class.
The New Collins Dictionary, Collins, London, 1990.
Cultural Aspects
There are various aspects of Culture
- Religion
- Arts
- Diet
- Role of Family
- Indigenous Population
- Language
Religion
The official religion of the UK is Protestant (Anglican), with the Queen being the head of the Church of England. Scotland has its own Presbyterian Church of Scotland, whose head is the Moderator of the General Assembly. Roman Catholic and Nonconformist traditions are strong in Great Britain.
Arts
The arts can refer to pictures and paintings, music, theatre, sculpture, dance, opera, film, even in some respects television.
A dominant part of English culture is Shakespeare: Macbeth; King Lear; Much Ado About Nothing; Henry IV; Romeo & Juliet to name but a few...
Diet
"You are what you eat", diet refers to the types of food generally eaten on a regular basis. The UK diet is high in saturated fats like butter and lard, whereas the Mediterranean diet is based on "healthy" olive oil. The British Diet Food has never been one of the UK's strongest points: black pudding; faggots; tripe; haggis; chitterlings, steak and kidney pudding; Yorkshire Puddings, custard and the good old British banger...
Role of Family
What is family? In many European countries (especially those with a strong Roman Catholic tradition) family is very important. In the UK, two out of five marriages end in divorce. Single parent families are on the increase. Families are getting smaller.
Indigenous Population
80% of the population are English, 9% are Scottish, 5% are Welsh and 3% are Northern Irish.
Language
The official language is English, but there are sizeable communities in Wales who speak Welsh, and in western Scotland and the Hebrides Gaelic is still spoken. There are large ethnic communities in many of the larger cities, notably from the Indian and Asian continents.
Impact of European Branding.
Walls (or is it) Ice Cream Case Study
Dalgety ~ Felix Cat Food
