This topic describes what is international business, what is environment in international business, what is socio-cultural environment in business, what are the challenges faced by the international business in 2017.

1. Presented to
Dr. N. Sree Rajani madam

3. What is International Business?
 The exchange of
Goods and Services,
Resources,
Knowledge,
Skills, among individuals & businesses in two or
more countries.
 Transaction that are carried out across national
borders to satisfy the objectives of individuals and
organizations.

4. What is Environment in Business?
 The process by
which strategists
monitor the
economic,
governmental/legal,
market/competitive,
supplier/technologic
al, geographic and
social settings to
determine
opportunities and
threats to their
firms.

5. What is Socio-Cultural Environment
in International Business?
 A set of beliefs, customs, practices and behaviour that
exists within a population. International companies
often include an examination of the socio-cultural
environment prior to entering their target markets.

6.  Basically, socio-cultural factors are customs, lifestyles and
values that characterize a society.
 Cultural aspects include aesthetics, education, language,
law and politics, religion, social organizations, technology
and material culture, values and attitudes.
 Social factors include reference groups, family, role and
status in the society.

7.  The cost of ignoring the customs, traditions, taboos, tastes
and preferences etc. of people could be very high.
 The buying and consumptions habits of the people, their
language, beliefs and values, customs and traditions, tastes
and preferences, education are all factors that affect the
business.
 For a business to be successful, its strategy should be the
one that is appropriate in the socio-cultural environment.

8. Examples:
 In Thailand, Helene Curtis switched to black shampoo
because Thai women felt that it made theor hair look
glossier.
 Nestle, a Swiss multinational company, today brewa more
than forty varieties of instant coffee to satisfy different
national tastes

9.  Even when people of different cultures use the same basic
product, the mode of consumption, conditions of use,
purpose of use or the perceptions of the product attributes
may vary so much so that the product attributes method of
presentation, positioning or method of promoting the
product may have to be varied to suit the characteristics of
different markets.

10. Examples:
 The two most important foreign markets for Indian shrimp are
the U.S and Japan. The product attributes for the success of the
product in these two markets differ. In the U.S market, correct
weight and bacteriological factors are more important rather
than eye appeal, colour, uniformity of size and arrangement of
shrimp which are very important in Japan.

11.  Similarly, the mode of consumption of Tuna, another
seafood export from India, differs between the U.S and
European countries.
 Tuna fish sandwiches, an American favourite which
accounts for about 80% of American Tuna consumption,
have little appeal in high tuna consumption, whereas
Europeans eat it right from the can.
 A very interesting example is that of the Vicks Vaporub, the
popular pain balm, which is used as a mosquito repellent in
some of the tropical areas.

12.  The differences in languages sometimes pose a serious
problem, even necessitating a change in the brand
name.

13. Examples:
 Preett was perhaps, a good brand name in India, but it did
not suit in the overseas market, and hence it was
appropriate to adopt ‘Prestige’ for the overseas markets.
 Chevrolet’s brand name ‘Nova’ in Spanish means “it doesn’t
go”.

14.  In Japanese, General Motors- :Body By Fisher”
translates as corpse by Fisher”.
 Again in Japanese, 3M’s slogan : “sticks like crazy”
translates as “sticks foolishly”.
 In some languages, Pepsi-Cola’s slogan “comes alive”
translates as “comes out of grave”.

15.  The values and beliefs associated with colour vary
significantly between different cultures.

16.  Examples:
 Blue, considered feminine and warm in Holland, is regarded as
masculine and cold in Sweden.
 Green is a favourite colour in the Muslim world; but in Malaysia, it is
associated with illness.
 White indicates death and mourning I China and Korea; but in some
countries, it expresses happiness and is the colour of the wedding dress
of the bride.
 Red is a popular colour in the communist countries; but many African
countries have a national distaste for red colour

17.  There are also a number of demographic factors, such as
the age, and sex composition of population, family size,
habitant, religion, etc., which influence the business.
 While dealing with the social environment, we must aslo
consider the social environment of the business which
encompasses its social responsibility and the alertness or
vigilance of the consumers and of society at large.

18.  Barker said that-
 Today, business is being asked to take responsibility for the quality of
life in our society.
 The expectations that business- in addition to its traditional
accountability for economic performance and results- will concern
itself with the health of the society, that it will come up with the cures
and ills that currently beset us and indeed will find ways of
anticipating and preventing future problems in these areas.

19.  Stem Points out that-
“more educated the society becomes, the
more interdependent it becomes, and the more
discretionary the use of its resources, the more
marketing will become enmeshed in social issues

20. Conclusion:
 Marketing personnel are at interface between
company and society. In this position, they have the
responsibility not merely for designing a competitive
marketing strategy, but for sensitizing business to the
social, as well as the product demand of the society’.