Culture Is An Integrated System Of Learned Behavior Patterns

Culture is an observable, powerful force in any organization. “Made up of its members’ shared values, beliefs, symbols, and behaviors, culture guides individual decisions and actions at the unconscious level. As a result, it can have a potent effect on a company’s well-being and success” (One Page, n.d.).

Culture is connected to the knowledge , beliefs, customs, and habits, acquired by the members of the society. The impact of culture depends upon on which religion of the world a firm is active. To illustrate further we can see a case study called CULTURAL CONFUSION: AN ACCENTURE MANAGER IN INDIA or HINDU RELIGION AND ITS IMPACT ON BUSINESS from international management book page 36 and page 20. (Ahlstrom, Bruton, 2010).

Culture is defined as set of customs, beliefs, and arts that differentiate one group of people from other. Humans have constantly traded goods across inordinate distances. Therefore, understanding cultural rules of conduct is a foundation for effective intercultural communication. Learning the culture of business confederates and recognizing what is believed to be rude can help avoid unintentional errors.

“Culture is the intersection of people and life itself. It's how we deal with life, love, death, birth, disappointment... all of that is expressed in culture” once said by the actor Wendell Pierce. (Brainy Quote.com). Each person is shaped rapidly throughout their daily lives from the things and people of their surroundings. There are many things that can help shape someone’s perspective, though culture is a relatively big factor in shaping the way he/she views the world and the people within because it is the platform of which family, opinions, and and people in your everyday life shape your perspective.

The continuous growth in global business interactions and partnerships constitute the necessity for business partners to understand the cultural differences in society. This growth has led to increased competition and customer expectations which drives the need for innovation from a variety of human resources (Saray, Patache, Ceran (2017). The importance of understanding the international business culture and how to properly communicate is extremely crucial to form a strong relationship. The driving force behind human behavior is culture (Moran, Abramson, and Moran, 2014, pp.11). Behaviors, attitudes, productivity, and morals are all driven by culture (Moran, Abramson, and Moran, 2014, pp.11). The ability to recognize the cultural differences, emphasize employees’ roles, drive empowerment and make the necessary accommodations is a key measure to achieving strategic goals (Saray, Patace, Ceran (2017).

Culture of an individual is the way that decides he/she behaves. The consumer choice and their behaviour is much more related to the

Culture is an important factor that should be considered in today’s market. In fact, many adult Americans are starting to embrace cultural diversity. Culture helps in shaping one’s perspective on the world including his

1- Based on the definition of Ricky W. Griffin, Michael W. Pustay in their book international business a managerial perspective in chapter four they defined culture in saying, culture is the collection of attitudes, beliefs, values, customs, and behaviors that distinguish one society from another. A society’s culture decides the rules that govern how firms operate in the society. many characteristics of culture are worth noting for their relevance to international business.

From this course, I learned plenty of international marketing principles and knew that international environments are quite different from countries to countries. Each market you enter is different, and what works in one country or region will not work in another. As technology creates leaps in communication and transportation, the world continues to feel smaller and smaller. It is not that hard for companies and consumers to conduct business in almost any country around the world thanks to advances in international trade, and no doubt, the world is tending to be more international, diverse and muti-cultural in multiple ways. In most factors that influenced international marketing, culture has a great impact on it. A marketer always has to study about the local culture in-depth before offering a product to them, and I think that well- understanding of a country’s culture is really essential for international marketing.

The impact of national cultures on marketing practices has been such that it brought about the creation of an academic field, with as a lead-researcher, Geert. Hofstede, on whose writings I have based my analysis.

According to West & Turner (2014), cultural studies is essentially concerned with how elite groups such as the media exercise their power over subordinated groups and is rooted in two fundamental claims; culture pervades and invades all facets of human behavior, and people are part of a hierarchical structure of power (pp. 441). Marketing groups examine very closely the behaviors that many of the people in their target demographic are engaged in and why. Marketing relies on social

How we judge others depend greatly on our own cultural norms. A person’s culture plays an important part of how we view other people, how we conduct business, how we view our own behaviors and style, the way we use language and how we solve problems, challenges and conflicts. The most importantly the way we developed new relationships.

     Cultures are varying among different parts of the globe. People with different cultures have different characteristics and viewpoints on the subjects due to diverse understanding and method of learning. During the past few decades, the international trade grows in a very rapid rate due to the advantages that it provides; “increased sales, operational efficiencies, exposure to new technologies and broader consumer choices” (Heslin). Therefore, when considering the culture aspect to current business world, it is crucial for business to understand the culture aspect because of the tremendous growth of international business as well as utilize the international market to its maximum

The data suggested in the cultural analysis includes information that helps the marketer make market-planning decisions. However, its application extends beyond product and market analysis to being an important source of

Thus, the terms culture and society are somewhat interchangeable. Characteristics of culture: Culture is narrow. It prescribes that kinds of behavior considered acceptable in the society. The prescriptive characteristic of culture simplifies a consumer's decision-making process by limiting product choices to those, which are socially acceptable. These same characteristics create problems for those products not in tune with the consumer's cultural beliefs. Culture is socially shared. Culture cannot exist by itself. Members of a society must share it. Thus acting to reinforce culture's perspective nature. Culture is learned. Culture is not inherited genetically; it must be learned and acquired. Socialization or enculturation occurs when a person absorbs or learns the culture in which he or she is raised. Culture facilitates communication. One useful function provided by culture is to facilitate communication. Culture usually imposes common habits of though and feeling among people. Thus, within a given group culture makes it easier for people to communicate with one another. But culture may also block communication across groups because of a lack of shared common culture values. This is one reason why a standardized advertisement may have difficulty communicating with consumers in foreign countries. How marketing efforts interact with a culture determines the success or failure of a