How Companies Might Take Parts of Cultural Identity into Account to Decide What Services to Create - Literature review Example

HOW COMPANIES MIGHT TAKE COMPONENTS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY (VOCATION, CLASS & GEOGRAPHY ) ACCOUNT IN DECIDING WHAT KIND OF PRODUCTS/SERVICES TO CREATE Student Name: Registration Number: Lecturer Introduction Culture is seen as asocial aspects of human contact, including the give and take of socialization, whereby the social activity is demonstrated in a variety of festivities and life- celebrating events. According to Varner and Beamer (2005) culture as been defined as the consistent, learned, shared view of a group of people about life’s concerns that lines what is important, furnishes attitudes about what things are appropriate, and dictates behavior. Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a certain group. To create and launch any new product today requires a lot of great people who have different skills and abilities to innovate products which are outstanding to the clients. The marketing team should ensure that the product has potential of being bought, the financial team should analyze the costs expenditure, the engineers should assess the design of the product which should fit into the customers’ tastes and preferences and the manufacturers should describe the quantity to be manufactured. Overall the lawyers should ensure that the product is protected from imitators. Quite a lot of coordination is emphasized in product or service development. Product life cycle differs as a result of the demand of different products. For instance products are adopted fast in Japan and the United States and thus the same market potential may exist in other countries. (Matt, 2011) Gert Hofstede, who was a Ditch researcher, identified four dimensions which brought about cultural differences (Perner, 2011). These were individualism, masculinity, power distance and uncertainty avoidance. Power distance relates to the distance based in rank, individualism directly examines the individual responsibility while masculinity involves competition surrounding the business. A number of studies have been carried out with the aim of distinguishing the different components of cultural identity under vocation for example occupational field, profession category, employing organization and subunit of Organization. (Jameson, 2007) Kuhn (2002) demonstrated that individuals who work in subunits for a lengthy period of time often develop strong relationships in relation to the cultural identity, values and norms of their organization people who are in the law profession adhere to a particular oath because of their profession which requires great integrity and confidentiality. Engineers can develop offices specifically for legal practitioners, for example in 2008, there were eight legal aid commissions, nine government solicitor offices and nine public prosecutor offices in Australia. Berry (2000) found that students who were in management that dealt with values in business relations which diminished nationality businesses. Whichever approach a business person may use to target the wow professions has no limit because people change their attitudes and behaviors regularly (Moriarty, 2011). Vocational fields such as agriculture and social work acts as a cultural identity because they work together in the same field which encourages traditions and different attitudes. Agriculture alone in U.S accounts for 4% of the country’s GDP and Venezuela exports tropical fruits and fish. U.S firms exports approximately agricultural products worth $ 967 million. Companies can thus manufacture products that are cost effective and export them to developing countries (Infoplease, 2011) Class is a group of people who share common values, behavior, and attitudes. These type of these cultural groups cut across national and ethnic lines. sources of wealth vary, the rich and the poor don’t rhyme together. The rich share cultural values and behavior alone and the middle class and poor does the same. Members of the social elite, adopt certain cultural attitudes and traditions. Educational class has values that cut across national and ethnic lines There are normally different classes of people such as economic, social and educational. Cultural factors usually affect the product development or service development as a result of the different backgrounds of the cultural attitudes. We have Companies that target celebrities, Institutions of higher learning or universities and wealthy class. The majority of celebrities are concerned with very expensive products and they have adapted to a culture that binds them together. A company may envision targeting a specific class of individuals by infiltrating a market that has yet to benefit from the new products. (Jameson, 2007) Celebrities enjoy products such as perfumes, designer shoes, fleet of sleek cars and designer outfits. For example Chanel No. 5 Cologne by Nicole Kidman which is from the top ten perfumes of celebrities. The number of universities has also been on the increase and this clearly shows that the number of educational students is on the increase. Thus companies strategizing to target the educational class have an opportunity for growth and product development. The U.S department of education statistics records that there are currently more than 7, 000 higher education institutions with more than 15 million students in the U.S. (Track, 2011) Geography is another component of cultural identity. It creates cultural groups in terms of nationality, regional differences within countries which affect behavior, attitudes and values of large groups of people. The geographical area depends on the number of population and boundaries within a region or state in creation of cultural identity. The density of population depends on the area covered for instance, rural, small towns, urban and semi- urban areas. The more an area is densely populated the more a product has the capability of being launched to increase the market and increase profitability. The distribution of products also depends entirely on the number of people in preparation of logistics and distribution channels. Companies are thus motivated to invest in such an area to create a product that fits into the customer’s specifications. The nationality of the people will go a long way to increase the cultural attitudes and practices which determine the kind of products or services to be developed. As of 2009, 1st July the number of black residents in the U.S was approximately 13.6% of the total population which is more than half a million within a year. (Infoplease, 2011) It is apparent that the kind of services demanded by the black Americans may to some extent differ from other races. Culture is viewed as very important because it is learned and not born with. It is comprehensive in the essence that all parts fit together as one and it’s manifested in areas of acceptable behavior with boundaries such as walking round naked. (Perner, 2011) In conclusion, companies can evaluate the different cultural identities that promote product development with minimal cost expenditures. For instances the class of individuals is an area that can be used well to cultivate a long term relationship with customers. The customer is always right and with the rapid increase in telecommunication technology, people have become more diverse and adventures with innovation. The Business executives should invest in innovation and research and development to alleviate production of obsolete products and services. Culture entirely is a major dependant on product development in terms of procedure and etiquette followed because some cultures have formed more rigid procedures than other countries. In The U.S we know that people who work hard and get ahead in terms of life expectations which are a belief that people want to be associated. References Berry M. (2000). Business vs Cultural frames of reference in group decision making. Journal of Business Communication 37(3). 264-292. Infoplease, (2011). African Americans by the Numbers. Information Please Database, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Jameson, D.A. (2007). Reconceptualizing cultural identity and its role in intercultural Business Communication. Journal of Business Communication. 44(3), 210 – 225. Kuhn T. (2002). Reengineering Identity; A case study of multiplicity duality in organizational Identification. Management Communication Quarterly. 16(1), 5- 38. Matt J. (2011). 12 steps of creating a professional web design. Retrieved September 5, 2011, from http://www.chromaticsites.com/blog/12-steps-to-creating-a-professional-web- design/ Moriarty V. (2011). Wow professions: add depth and earning potential. Retrieved September 5, 2011, from http://ezinearticles.com/6504691 Perner L. (2011). International marketing. Retrieved September 5, 2011, from http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/international_marketing.html Track B. (2011). Background on Higher Education in the U.S. A comprehensive guide to United States colleges and universities. Future MELD: LLC. Read More