IGNOU : MCOM : IBO 1 : UNIT 1 : Q - 4. Discuss important elements of culture and their impact on a firm's international business operations.

Ans.  Some of the important elements to understand a country's culture are: language, aesthetics, education, religions and superstitions, attitudes and values, material culture, social groups and organizations and business customs and practices.

Language:  Language is an important element of culture and it is through language that most of the communications take place. An international marketer should have a thorough understanding of the language of the market - particularly the semantic differentials and idiomatic nuances which are essential characteristics of all languages of the world. Dictionary translation could be quite different from the idiomatic interpretation of a language. When literal translations are made of brand names or advertising messages from one language to another by people who know the language but not the culture, serious mistakes may occur. When General Motors of the United States literally translated its marketing phrase 'Body by Fisher' into Flemish language, it meant 'Corpse by Fisher'. Similarly, the phrase "Come alive with Pepsi" faced problems when it was translated into German advertisements as "Come out of grave" or in Chinese as "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave". When the American car called 'Nova' was introduced in Puerto Rico, sales were poor until the company realized that the word Nova was pronounced as 'Nova' - which literally meant in Spanish "does not go". Sales were better when the name was changed to 'Carbie'.

Aesthetics: Aesthetics pertain to a culture's sense of beauty and good taste, and is expressed in arts, drama, music, folklore, dance and the like, Aesthetics are of special interest to the international business executives for these govern the norms of beauty in a society and are helpful in correctly interpreting meanings of various methods of artistic expressions, colors, shapes, forms and symbols in a particular culture. Colors, for instance, mean different things to different people. The color of mourning is black in the United States, but it is white in the Far East. Green is restless colour to Americans, but it is disliked by people in Malaysia where it connotes illness and death. Symbols also need to be interpreted correctly, Seven, for instance, signifies good luck in the United States but just opposite in Singapore, Ghana Kenya. Use of number four should be avoided in Japan because it is pronounced as 'shi' which in Japanese means death. Sensitivity to the aesthetics of a society and their symbolic expressions can greatly help in avoiding socially embarrassing situations and correctly designing the products and messages.

Education: Education is generally understood as formal schooling. But it is better to adopt a broader perspective and define education as any process, formal or informal, through which one learns skills, ideas and attitudes. Education is important as it affects not only the education levels but also the development of mental faculties and various skills, In general, educated people have been found to be more sophisticated, discriminating and receptive to new products and ideas. Availability of educated manpower like skilled labour, technicians and professional is also dependent on the country's education level. Media to be used by a company for promoting its products an$ services are also dependent on education level prevailing in the country. The conventional forms of printed communications, for instance, do not work in countries where literacy rates are low.

Religions and Superstitions: Religions are a major determinant of moral and ethical values and influence people's attitudes, habits and outlook on life which are reflected in their work habits and consumption patterns. Dr. Ernest Dichter observed: "In puritanical cultures, it is customary to think of cleanliness as being next to godliness. But in Catholic and Latin American countries, to fool too much with one's body to overindulge in bathing or toiletries, has the opposite meaning. It is that type behaviour which is considered immoral and improper".

Attitudes and Values: Besides religions and superstitions, one must be cognizant of attitudes, values and beliefs prevalent in a society. These attitudes and values may relate to consumption level, material possessions, risk taking and change. 'What is important and desirable' differs from society to society and is largely governed by the attitudes and values existing in a society. Americans in general are more receptive to change and risk taking, but people in many societies are averse to change and risk taking. They prefer doing what is traditional and safe. New products are not accepted unless these have the approval of local chiefs or religious leaders.

Material Culture: According to Ball and McCulloch, material culture refers to all manmade objects and its study is concerned with how man makes things and who makes what and why. While the question 'how7 relates to technology, other questions 'who', 'what' and 'why' are part of economics.

Technology includes the ways and means applied in making of material goods. It is technical know-how in possession of the people of a society. Choice of technology as its repercussions of the size of investment, scale of operations as well as type and number of workers to be employed. Technology transfer has been a highly controversial issue in the past. Because of supply of obsolete or inappropriate technology, many developing countries have laid down stringent rules and regulations concerning technology import$ and payments. Since transfer of new technology is often riddled with workers' resistance to change and public criticisms, multinational corporations are advised to have suitable action plans to counter such opposition.

Social Croups and Organizations: A study of social groups and organizations is important as it determines how people relate to one another and organize their activities. The size and cohesiveness of the family, role of men and women in society, and positions of different social classes differ from country to country. Social groups and organizations Should the pattern of living and interpersonal relationships of people in a society.

Business Customs and Practices: A familiarity with business customs and practices prevalent in different countries is a must to avoid business blunders. An international business manager must have necessary knowledge about how business is conducted and what importance business people in a foreign country attach to work, time, formality, change and achievement. American managers, for instance, are by nature highly work oriented and attach upmost importance to speed and punctuality in business dealings.

A person dealing with people from different cultures should be well aware of differences in the number and nature of stages involved in business negotiations and formalities to be observed in concluding business contracts. While in countries like the United States it is necessary to have final agreement in writing, this practice is not much appreciated in many West Asian countries where oral agreement alone is considered more than sufficient.