Assessing the effectiveness of MBO is a complex task. Let’s briefly review a growing body of literature on the relationship between goals and performance. If factors such as a person’s ability and acceptance of goals are held constant, more difficult goals lead to higher performance. Although individuals with difficult goals achieve them far less often than those who have easy goals, they, nevertheless perform at a consistently higher level.
Moreover studies consistently support the finding that specific difficult to achieve goals produce a higher level of output than do no goals or generalized goals such as do your best. Feedback also favorably affects performance. Feedback lets a person know whether his or her level of effort is sufficient or needs to be increased. It can induce a person to raise his or her goal level after attaining a previous goal and indicate ways to improve performance.
The results cited here are all consistent with MBO’s emphasis on specific goals and feedback. MBO implies, rather explicitly states that goals must be perceived as feasible. Research on goal setting indicates that MBO is most effective if the goals are difficult enough to require some stretching.
But what about participating? MBO strongly advocates that goals be set participatively. Does the research demonstrate that participatively set goals led to higher performance than those assigned by a manager? Somewhat surprisingly, the research comparing participatively set goals with assigned goals has not shown any strong or constant relationship to performance. When goal difficulty has been held constant, assigned goals frequently do as well as participatively determined goals, contrary to MBO ideology. Therefore, it is not possible to argue for the superiority of participation as do MBO proponents. One major benefits from participation, however is that appears to induce individuals to set more difficult goals. Thus, participation may have a positive effect on performance by increasing one’s goal aspiration level.
Studies of actual MBO programs confirm that MBO effectively increase employee performance and organizational productivity. One of the more critical components of this effectiveness is top management commitment to the MBO process. When top managers had a high commitment to MBO and were personally involved in its implementation, productivity gains were higher than if this commitment was lacking.
How do you set employee objectives?
Employee should have a clear understanding of what they’re attempting to accomplish. Furthermore, as a manager you have the responsibility for seeing that this task is achieved by helping your employees set work goals. Although these two statements appear to be common sense, it’s often a little more complex. Setting objectives is a skill that every manager needs to perfect. You can facilitate this process by following these guidelines:
Identifying an employee’s key job tasks:
Goal setting begins by defining what you want your employees to accomplish. The best source for this information is each employee’s job description.
Establish specific and challenging goals for each key task: Identify the level of performance expected of each employee specify the target for the employee to hit. Specify the deadlines for each gal. Putting deadlines on each goal reduces ambiguity. Deadlines however should not be set arbitrarily. Rather they need to be realistic given the tasks to be completed.
Allow the employee to actively participate: when employees participate in goal setting they are more likely to accept the goals. However, it must be sincere participation; that is employees must perceive that you are truly seeking heir input not just going through the motions.
Prioritize goals: when you give someone more than one goal, it is important to rank the goal in order of importance. Prioritizing encourages the employee to take action and expend effort on each goal in proportion to its importance. Rate goals for difficulty and importance. Goal setting should not encourage people to choose easy goals. When goals are rated, individuals can be given credit for trying difficult goals even if they don’t fully achieve them.
Build in feedback mechanisms to assess goal progress; Feedback lets employees know whether their level of effort is sufficient to attain the goal. Feedback should be both self generated and supervisor generated. In either case, feedback should be frequent and recurrent.
Link rewards to goal attainment: It’s natural for employees to ask what’s in it for me? Linking rewards to the achievement of goals will help answer that question.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Dynamics of Global Population Trends
Current population, rural/urban population shifts, rates of growth age levels, and population control help determine today’s demand for various categories of goods. Although not the only determinant, the existence of sheer numbers of people is significant in appraising potential consumer markets. Changes in the composition ad distribution of population among the world’s countries will profoundly affect future demand.
Recent estimates place world population at more than 6 billion people, and this is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050. Further, 98 percent of the projected growth for 2050 will occur in less developed regions. Exhibits show that 84 % of the population will be concentrated in less developed regions by 2025 and, if growth rates continue, 86 % by 2050. The International labor Organization estimates that 1.2 billion jobs must be created worldwide by 2025 to accommodate these new entrants. Further most of the new jobs will need to be created in urban areas where most of the population will reside.
Controlling Population Growth:
Faced with the ominous consequences of the population explosion it would seem logical for countries to take appropriate steps to reduce growth to manageable rates, but procreation is one of the most culturally sensitive uncontrollable factor. Economics self esteem religion, politics ad education all play a critical role in attitudes about family size.
The prerequisites to population control are adequate incomes, higher literacy levels, education for women, universal access the health care, family planning, improved nutrition, and perhaps most important, a change in basic cultural beliefs regarding he importance of large families. Unfortunately, minimum progress in providing improved living conditions and changing beliefs has occurred. India serves as a good example of what is happening in much of the world. India’s population was once stable but with improved health conditions lading to greater longevity and lower infant mortality its population will exceed that of China by 2050 and the two will account for about 50 percent of the world’s inhabitants. The government’s attempts to institute change are hampered by a variety of factors, including political ineptitude and slow change in cultural norms. Nevertheless the government continues to pass laws with the intended purpose of limiting the number of births. The most recent attempt is a law that bars those with more than two children from election to the national Parliament and state assemblies. This would mean that many now in office could not seek reelection based on family size.
Perhaps the most important deterrent to population control is cultural attitudes about the importance of large families. In many cultures, the prestige of man, whether alive or dead, depends on the number of his progeny, and a family’s only wealth is its children. Such feelings are strong, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi found out how strong when she attempted mass sterilization of males which reportedly was the main cause of her defeat in a subsequent election. Additionally many religious discourage or ban family planning and thus serve as a deterrent to control. Nigeria has a strong Muslim tradition in the North and a strong Roman Catholic tradition in the east, and both faiths favor large families. Most traditional religious in Africa encourage large families in fact the principal deity for many is the goddess of land and fertility.
Family planning and all that it entails is by far the most universal means governments use to control birthrates but some economists believe that decline in the fertility arte is a function of economic prosperity and will come only with economists development. Ample anecdotal evidence suggests that fertility rates decline as economies proper. For example, before Spain’s economy began its rapid growth in the 1980s families had six or more children; now Spain has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, an average 1.24 children per woman. Similar patterns have followed in other European countries as economies have prospered.
Recent estimates place world population at more than 6 billion people, and this is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050. Further, 98 percent of the projected growth for 2050 will occur in less developed regions. Exhibits show that 84 % of the population will be concentrated in less developed regions by 2025 and, if growth rates continue, 86 % by 2050. The International labor Organization estimates that 1.2 billion jobs must be created worldwide by 2025 to accommodate these new entrants. Further most of the new jobs will need to be created in urban areas where most of the population will reside.
Controlling Population Growth:
Faced with the ominous consequences of the population explosion it would seem logical for countries to take appropriate steps to reduce growth to manageable rates, but procreation is one of the most culturally sensitive uncontrollable factor. Economics self esteem religion, politics ad education all play a critical role in attitudes about family size.
The prerequisites to population control are adequate incomes, higher literacy levels, education for women, universal access the health care, family planning, improved nutrition, and perhaps most important, a change in basic cultural beliefs regarding he importance of large families. Unfortunately, minimum progress in providing improved living conditions and changing beliefs has occurred. India serves as a good example of what is happening in much of the world. India’s population was once stable but with improved health conditions lading to greater longevity and lower infant mortality its population will exceed that of China by 2050 and the two will account for about 50 percent of the world’s inhabitants. The government’s attempts to institute change are hampered by a variety of factors, including political ineptitude and slow change in cultural norms. Nevertheless the government continues to pass laws with the intended purpose of limiting the number of births. The most recent attempt is a law that bars those with more than two children from election to the national Parliament and state assemblies. This would mean that many now in office could not seek reelection based on family size.
Perhaps the most important deterrent to population control is cultural attitudes about the importance of large families. In many cultures, the prestige of man, whether alive or dead, depends on the number of his progeny, and a family’s only wealth is its children. Such feelings are strong, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi found out how strong when she attempted mass sterilization of males which reportedly was the main cause of her defeat in a subsequent election. Additionally many religious discourage or ban family planning and thus serve as a deterrent to control. Nigeria has a strong Muslim tradition in the North and a strong Roman Catholic tradition in the east, and both faiths favor large families. Most traditional religious in Africa encourage large families in fact the principal deity for many is the goddess of land and fertility.
Family planning and all that it entails is by far the most universal means governments use to control birthrates but some economists believe that decline in the fertility arte is a function of economic prosperity and will come only with economists development. Ample anecdotal evidence suggests that fertility rates decline as economies proper. For example, before Spain’s economy began its rapid growth in the 1980s families had six or more children; now Spain has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, an average 1.24 children per woman. Similar patterns have followed in other European countries as economies have prospered.
Improve your overall skills
To prosper in the current job market, postgraduates must be able to work hard and manage expectations, while harnessing their skills sets.
Each year thousands of graduates leave India to pursue masters’ courses overseas. They carry with them the hope that after they complete their education they will have the opportunity to work abroad and build their skills, their bank balances and their resumes. This year however, many have been disappointed.
Forced to return home in the downturn they have found themselves absorbed in a domestic job market that was, at least until recently, experiencing its own hiring freeze. What’s more, joining the returnees, were master’s graduates from previous years, who had managed to secure employment broad, but filed to either have their contracts renewed, or asked to take a sabbatical until the economic situation improved.
This seems to a rather challenging situation, yet one of the most important things you have to do if you are to find a job, is to remain positive while working hard at every angle. SN from Bangalore, who is currently pursuing a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the US says, it is hard, but on the other hand, if you give a hundred per cent to your job search, you can definitely land up with a job. In this situation you need to put that extra zing into grabbing every opportunity you get. You’ve got to be persistent and more flexible in terms of relocating and traveling. You need to open up more areas in your research like networking volunteering or even attending conferences, just in order to be able to meet people that could in turn lead to a potential employer. And you need to keep abreast with the current affairs of your interest.
As far as Indian job market is concerned, the number of postings for masters’ graduates is really picking up. For improving your chances of getting a job when you return is to have good contacts with people working in different fields, improve your socializing skills, and increase your networking. All this exposure and knowledge will really give you the confidence n courage to face and solve all sorts of problems, which is the main requirement of companies in any field.
Anyone studying abroad to build their networks, agrees the executive search agency Stanton Chase International in Bangalore. Join specialized groups, become more active with your institution an alumni. Ensure that summer jobs or internships have relevance to the overall career focus have. Stay connected to trends and economic indictors in your own country as well. There was a time when an international degree had great value in the job market. Now, it may be good, but not as dramatic as before.
What if you yourself returning to India to look for a job? In such a difficult market, it is essential that you stand by your conviction that the experience you have had overseas is valuable. Sometimes returning graduates do get discouraged when they haven’t got a job and have been back in India for two or three months, but you shouldn’t give up. You have to know that you have something special, something that so many students in India my not have.
Multinationals for example want to employ people with international experience because the understanding of different cultural working practices is an invaluable skill. Studying and working abroad, even if only part time gives you an edge over your compatriots. When you have international experience you understand how important it is to evidence decisions or show leadership and initiatives in your job. It is obvious that a non-Indian post-graduates degree brings several benefits to employers. There is the exposure to world class laboratories and other facilities, for example. Experience also helps you think innovatively decision making.
Keeping faith in the quality of your experience and what it can bring to Indian employers is important, but it is also important to articulate that experience in a way that helps people understand what you can do for them. For example, people who are unfamiliar with the shorter UK master’s program might wonder how much you could have learned in a year. It is important to emphasize how intensive a period of learning it was. You also need to articulate your understanding of how another country’s working practices can benefit the employer. Unless they are actively looking or someone with a non-Indian degree, they will not necessarily work this out for themselves.
Some Indian students are under the impression that Indian companies are going to be very receptive to anyone with an international degree adds even with well regarded degree such as one from the UK, you are going to need certain attitude. You need to bring yourself out. You need to bring yourself out. You need to show how valuable you will be to employers by drawing attention to your skills and experiences both on your CV and in the interview Indian CVs can often be too plain.
Each year thousands of graduates leave India to pursue masters’ courses overseas. They carry with them the hope that after they complete their education they will have the opportunity to work abroad and build their skills, their bank balances and their resumes. This year however, many have been disappointed.
Forced to return home in the downturn they have found themselves absorbed in a domestic job market that was, at least until recently, experiencing its own hiring freeze. What’s more, joining the returnees, were master’s graduates from previous years, who had managed to secure employment broad, but filed to either have their contracts renewed, or asked to take a sabbatical until the economic situation improved.
This seems to a rather challenging situation, yet one of the most important things you have to do if you are to find a job, is to remain positive while working hard at every angle. SN from Bangalore, who is currently pursuing a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the US says, it is hard, but on the other hand, if you give a hundred per cent to your job search, you can definitely land up with a job. In this situation you need to put that extra zing into grabbing every opportunity you get. You’ve got to be persistent and more flexible in terms of relocating and traveling. You need to open up more areas in your research like networking volunteering or even attending conferences, just in order to be able to meet people that could in turn lead to a potential employer. And you need to keep abreast with the current affairs of your interest.
As far as Indian job market is concerned, the number of postings for masters’ graduates is really picking up. For improving your chances of getting a job when you return is to have good contacts with people working in different fields, improve your socializing skills, and increase your networking. All this exposure and knowledge will really give you the confidence n courage to face and solve all sorts of problems, which is the main requirement of companies in any field.
Anyone studying abroad to build their networks, agrees the executive search agency Stanton Chase International in Bangalore. Join specialized groups, become more active with your institution an alumni. Ensure that summer jobs or internships have relevance to the overall career focus have. Stay connected to trends and economic indictors in your own country as well. There was a time when an international degree had great value in the job market. Now, it may be good, but not as dramatic as before.
What if you yourself returning to India to look for a job? In such a difficult market, it is essential that you stand by your conviction that the experience you have had overseas is valuable. Sometimes returning graduates do get discouraged when they haven’t got a job and have been back in India for two or three months, but you shouldn’t give up. You have to know that you have something special, something that so many students in India my not have.
Multinationals for example want to employ people with international experience because the understanding of different cultural working practices is an invaluable skill. Studying and working abroad, even if only part time gives you an edge over your compatriots. When you have international experience you understand how important it is to evidence decisions or show leadership and initiatives in your job. It is obvious that a non-Indian post-graduates degree brings several benefits to employers. There is the exposure to world class laboratories and other facilities, for example. Experience also helps you think innovatively decision making.
Keeping faith in the quality of your experience and what it can bring to Indian employers is important, but it is also important to articulate that experience in a way that helps people understand what you can do for them. For example, people who are unfamiliar with the shorter UK master’s program might wonder how much you could have learned in a year. It is important to emphasize how intensive a period of learning it was. You also need to articulate your understanding of how another country’s working practices can benefit the employer. Unless they are actively looking or someone with a non-Indian degree, they will not necessarily work this out for themselves.
Some Indian students are under the impression that Indian companies are going to be very receptive to anyone with an international degree adds even with well regarded degree such as one from the UK, you are going to need certain attitude. You need to bring yourself out. You need to bring yourself out. You need to show how valuable you will be to employers by drawing attention to your skills and experiences both on your CV and in the interview Indian CVs can often be too plain.
Rural and Urban Migration
Migration from rural to urban areas is largely a result of a desire for greater access to sources of education, health care and improved job opportunities. In the early 1800s less than 3.5 percent of the world’s people were living in cities of 20,000 or more and less than 2 percent in cities of 100,000 or more today more than 40 percent of the world’s people are urbanites, and the trend is acceleration. Once in the city, perhaps three out of four migrants achieve some economic gains. The family income of a manual worker in urban Brazil, for example is almost five times that of a farm laborer in a rural area.
By 2030, estimates indicate that more than 61 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas and at least 27 cities will have populations of 10 million or more, 23 of which will be in the less developed regions. Tokyo has already overtaken Mexico City as the largest city on Earth, with a population of 26 million, a jump of almost 8 million since 1990.
Although migrants experience some relative improvement in their living standards, intense urban growth without investment in services eventually leads to serious problems. Slums populated with unskilled workers living hand to mouth put excessive pressure on sanitation system, water supplies and other social services. At some points, the disadvantages of unregulated urban growth begin to outweigh the advantages for all concerned.
Consider the conditions that exist in Mexico City today. Besides smog, garbage and pollution brought about by the increased population, Mexico City faces a severe water shortage. Local water suppli0es are nearly exhausted and in some cases unhealthy. Water consumption from all sources is about 16,000 gallons per second, but the underground aquifers are producing only 2,640 gallons per second. Water comes for hundreds of miles away and has to be pumped up to an elevation of 7,444 feet to reach Mexico City. This is a grim picture of one of the most beautiful and sophisticated cities in Latin America. Such problems are not unique to Mexico; throughout the developing world, poor sanitation and inadequate water supplies are consequences of runaway population growth. An estimated 1.1 billion people are currently without access to clean drinking water and 2.8 billion have access to sanitation services. Estimates are that 40 percent of the world’s population 2.5 billion people will be without clean water if more is not invested in water resources. Prospects for improvements are not encouraging because most of the world’s urban growth will take place in the already economically strained developing countries.
Population Decline and Aging:
While the developing world faces a rapidly growing population, the industrialized world’s population is in decline and rapidly aging. Birthrates in Western Europe and Japan have been decreasing since the early or mid 1960s more women are closing are choosing careers instead of children, and many working couples are electing o remain childless. As a result of these and other contemporary factors, population growth in many countries has dropped below the rate necessary to maintain present levels. Just to keep the population from falling a nation needs a fertility rate of about 2.1 children per woman. Not one major country has sufficient internal population growth to maintain itself, and this trend is expected to continue for the next 50 years. Europe’s population could decline by as much as 88 million (from 375 million to 287 million) people if present tr6ends continue to 2015.
At the same time that population growth is declining in the industrialized world, there are more aging people, today than ever before. Global life expectancy has grown more in the last 50 years than over the previous 5,000 years. Until the industrial Revolution, no more than 2 or 3 percent of the total population was over the age of 65. Today in the developed world, the over age 65 group will amount to 14 percent and by 2030 this group will reach 25 percent in some 30 different countries.
By 2030, estimates indicate that more than 61 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas and at least 27 cities will have populations of 10 million or more, 23 of which will be in the less developed regions. Tokyo has already overtaken Mexico City as the largest city on Earth, with a population of 26 million, a jump of almost 8 million since 1990.
Although migrants experience some relative improvement in their living standards, intense urban growth without investment in services eventually leads to serious problems. Slums populated with unskilled workers living hand to mouth put excessive pressure on sanitation system, water supplies and other social services. At some points, the disadvantages of unregulated urban growth begin to outweigh the advantages for all concerned.
Consider the conditions that exist in Mexico City today. Besides smog, garbage and pollution brought about by the increased population, Mexico City faces a severe water shortage. Local water suppli0es are nearly exhausted and in some cases unhealthy. Water consumption from all sources is about 16,000 gallons per second, but the underground aquifers are producing only 2,640 gallons per second. Water comes for hundreds of miles away and has to be pumped up to an elevation of 7,444 feet to reach Mexico City. This is a grim picture of one of the most beautiful and sophisticated cities in Latin America. Such problems are not unique to Mexico; throughout the developing world, poor sanitation and inadequate water supplies are consequences of runaway population growth. An estimated 1.1 billion people are currently without access to clean drinking water and 2.8 billion have access to sanitation services. Estimates are that 40 percent of the world’s population 2.5 billion people will be without clean water if more is not invested in water resources. Prospects for improvements are not encouraging because most of the world’s urban growth will take place in the already economically strained developing countries.
Population Decline and Aging:
While the developing world faces a rapidly growing population, the industrialized world’s population is in decline and rapidly aging. Birthrates in Western Europe and Japan have been decreasing since the early or mid 1960s more women are closing are choosing careers instead of children, and many working couples are electing o remain childless. As a result of these and other contemporary factors, population growth in many countries has dropped below the rate necessary to maintain present levels. Just to keep the population from falling a nation needs a fertility rate of about 2.1 children per woman. Not one major country has sufficient internal population growth to maintain itself, and this trend is expected to continue for the next 50 years. Europe’s population could decline by as much as 88 million (from 375 million to 287 million) people if present tr6ends continue to 2015.
At the same time that population growth is declining in the industrialized world, there are more aging people, today than ever before. Global life expectancy has grown more in the last 50 years than over the previous 5,000 years. Until the industrial Revolution, no more than 2 or 3 percent of the total population was over the age of 65. Today in the developed world, the over age 65 group will amount to 14 percent and by 2030 this group will reach 25 percent in some 30 different countries.
The manner in which people consume
The manner in which people consume, the priority of needs and the wants they attempts to satisfy, and the manner in which they satisfy them are functions of their culture that temper, mold, and dictate their style of living. Culture is the human made part of human environment – the sum total of knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of society.
Markets constantly change; they are not static but evolve, expand and contract in response to marketing effort, economic conditions, and other cultural influences. Markets and market behavior are part of a country’s culture. One cannot truly understand how markets evolve or how they react to a marketer’s effort without appreciating that markets are a result of culture. Markets are the result of the three way interaction of a marketer’s efforts, economic conditions and all other elements of the culture demands of the market, but they also are acting as agents of change whenever the product or idea being marketed is innovative. Whatever the degree of acceptance in whatever level of culture, the use of something new is the beginning of cultural change, and marketer becomes a change agent.
A discussion of the broad concept of culture as the foundation for international marketing is presented in this chapter. Business culture in Global Marketing discusses culture and how it influences business practice and the behaviors and thinking of managers.
This article’s purpose is to heighten the reader’s sensitivity to the dynamics of culture. It is neither a treatise on cultural information about a particular country nor a thorough marketing science or epidemiological study of the various topics. Rather, it is designed to emphasize the importance if cultural differences to marketers and the need for study of each country’s culture(s) and all its origin and elements and to point out some relevant aspects on which to focus.
Culture’s Pervasive Impact:
Culture affects every of our lives, very day, from birth to death, and everything in between. It affects how we spend money and how we consume in general. It even affects how we sleep. For example, we are told that Spaniards sleep less than other European and Japanese children often sleep with their parents. You can clearly see culture operating in the birthrates tables. When you look across the data from the three countries, the gradual decline beginning 1960s is evident. As countries move, from agricultural to industrial to service economy birth rate declines. Immediate causes may be government policies and birth control technologies, but a global change in values is also occurring. Almost everywhere smaller families are becoming favored. This cultural change now leads experts to predict that the planet’s population will, actually begin to decline after 2050 unless major breakthroughs in longevity intervene as some predict.
Please notice the little peaks in 1976 and 1988 in the Singapore data. The same pattern can be seen in birthrate data from Taiwan. Those extra births are not a matter of random fluctuation. In Chinese cultures being born in the Year of the Dragon (12 animals – dogs, rats, rabbits, pigs etc – correspond to specific years in the calendar) is considered good luck. Such birthrate spikes have implications for sellers of diapers, toys, schools, colleges, and so forth in successive years in Singapore. However, superstitious have an even stronger influence on the birthrates in Japan. A one year 20 percent drop in Japanese fertility rates in 1966 was caused by a belief that women born in the Year of the Fire Horse, which occurs every 60 years will lead unhappy lives and perhaps murder their husbands. This sudden and substantial decline in fertility, which has occurred historically every 60 years since Japan started keeping birth records, reflects abstinence, abortions, and birth certificate fudging. This superstition has resulted in the stigmatization of women born, in 1966 and has had a large impact on market potential for a wide variety of consumer goods and services in Japan. It will be interesting to see how technological innovations and culture will interact in Japan in 2026 the next Year of the Fire Horse.
Markets constantly change; they are not static but evolve, expand and contract in response to marketing effort, economic conditions, and other cultural influences. Markets and market behavior are part of a country’s culture. One cannot truly understand how markets evolve or how they react to a marketer’s effort without appreciating that markets are a result of culture. Markets are the result of the three way interaction of a marketer’s efforts, economic conditions and all other elements of the culture demands of the market, but they also are acting as agents of change whenever the product or idea being marketed is innovative. Whatever the degree of acceptance in whatever level of culture, the use of something new is the beginning of cultural change, and marketer becomes a change agent.
A discussion of the broad concept of culture as the foundation for international marketing is presented in this chapter. Business culture in Global Marketing discusses culture and how it influences business practice and the behaviors and thinking of managers.
This article’s purpose is to heighten the reader’s sensitivity to the dynamics of culture. It is neither a treatise on cultural information about a particular country nor a thorough marketing science or epidemiological study of the various topics. Rather, it is designed to emphasize the importance if cultural differences to marketers and the need for study of each country’s culture(s) and all its origin and elements and to point out some relevant aspects on which to focus.
Culture’s Pervasive Impact:
Culture affects every of our lives, very day, from birth to death, and everything in between. It affects how we spend money and how we consume in general. It even affects how we sleep. For example, we are told that Spaniards sleep less than other European and Japanese children often sleep with their parents. You can clearly see culture operating in the birthrates tables. When you look across the data from the three countries, the gradual decline beginning 1960s is evident. As countries move, from agricultural to industrial to service economy birth rate declines. Immediate causes may be government policies and birth control technologies, but a global change in values is also occurring. Almost everywhere smaller families are becoming favored. This cultural change now leads experts to predict that the planet’s population will, actually begin to decline after 2050 unless major breakthroughs in longevity intervene as some predict.
Please notice the little peaks in 1976 and 1988 in the Singapore data. The same pattern can be seen in birthrate data from Taiwan. Those extra births are not a matter of random fluctuation. In Chinese cultures being born in the Year of the Dragon (12 animals – dogs, rats, rabbits, pigs etc – correspond to specific years in the calendar) is considered good luck. Such birthrate spikes have implications for sellers of diapers, toys, schools, colleges, and so forth in successive years in Singapore. However, superstitious have an even stronger influence on the birthrates in Japan. A one year 20 percent drop in Japanese fertility rates in 1966 was caused by a belief that women born in the Year of the Fire Horse, which occurs every 60 years will lead unhappy lives and perhaps murder their husbands. This sudden and substantial decline in fertility, which has occurred historically every 60 years since Japan started keeping birth records, reflects abstinence, abortions, and birth certificate fudging. This superstition has resulted in the stigmatization of women born, in 1966 and has had a large impact on market potential for a wide variety of consumer goods and services in Japan. It will be interesting to see how technological innovations and culture will interact in Japan in 2026 the next Year of the Fire Horse.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The manner in which people consume
The manner in which people consume, the priority of needs and the wants they attempts to satisfy, and the manner in which they satisfy them are functions of their culture that temper, mold, and dictate their style of living. Culture is the human made part of human environment – the sum total of knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of society.
Markets constantly change; they are not static but evolve, expand and contract in response to marketing effort, economic conditions, and other cultural influences. Markets and market behavior are part of a country’s culture. One cannot truly understand how markets evolve or how they react to a marketer’s effort without appreciating that markets are a result of culture. Markets are the result of the three way interaction of a marketer’s efforts, economic conditions and all other elements of the culture demands of the market, but they also are acting as agents of change whenever the product or idea being marketed is innovative. Whatever the degree of acceptance in whatever level of culture, the use of something new is the beginning of cultural change, and marketer becomes a change agent.
A discussion of the broad concept of culture as the foundation for international marketing is presented in this chapter. Business culture in Global Marketing discusses culture and how it influences business practice and the behaviors and thinking of managers.
This article’s purpose is to heighten the reader’s sensitivity to the dynamics of culture. It is neither a treatise on cultural information about a particular country nor a thorough marketing science or epidemiological study of the various topics. Rather, it is designed to emphasize the importance if cultural differences to marketers and the need for study of each country’s culture(s) and all its origin and elements and to point out some relevant aspects on which to focus.
Culture’s Pervasive Impact:
Culture affects every of our lives, very day, from birth to death, and everything in between. It affects how we spend money and how we consume in general. It even affects how we sleep. For example, we are told that Spaniards sleep less than other European and Japanese children often sleep with their parents. You can clearly see culture operating in the birthrates tables. When you look across the data from the three countries, the gradual decline beginning 1960s is evident. As countries move, from agricultural to industrial to service economy birth rate declines. Immediate causes may be government policies and birth control technologies, but a global change in values is also occurring. Almost everywhere smaller families are becoming favored. This cultural change now leads experts to predict that the planet’s population will, actually begin to decline after 2050 unless major breakthroughs in longevity intervene as some predict.
Please notice the little peaks in 1976 and 1988 in the Singapore data. The same pattern can be seen in birthrate data from Taiwan. Those extra births are not a matter of random fluctuation. In Chinese cultures being born in the Year of the Dragon (12 animals – dogs, rats, rabbits, pigs etc – correspond to specific years in the calendar) is considered good luck. Such birthrate spikes have implications for sellers of diapers, toys, schools, colleges, and so forth in successive years in Singapore. However, superstitious have an even stronger influence on the birthrates in Japan. A one year 20 percent drop in Japanese fertility rates in 1966 was caused by a belief that women born in the Year of the Fire Horse, which occurs every 60 years will lead unhappy lives and perhaps murder their husbands. This sudden and substantial decline in fertility, which has occurred historically every 60 years since Japan started keeping birth records, reflects abstinence, abortions, and birth certificate fudging. This superstition has resulted in the stigmatization of women born, in 1966 and has had a large impact on market potential for a wide variety of consumer goods and services in Japan. It will be interesting to see how technological innovations and culture will interact in Japan in 2026 the next Year of the Fire Horse.
Markets constantly change; they are not static but evolve, expand and contract in response to marketing effort, economic conditions, and other cultural influences. Markets and market behavior are part of a country’s culture. One cannot truly understand how markets evolve or how they react to a marketer’s effort without appreciating that markets are a result of culture. Markets are the result of the three way interaction of a marketer’s efforts, economic conditions and all other elements of the culture demands of the market, but they also are acting as agents of change whenever the product or idea being marketed is innovative. Whatever the degree of acceptance in whatever level of culture, the use of something new is the beginning of cultural change, and marketer becomes a change agent.
A discussion of the broad concept of culture as the foundation for international marketing is presented in this chapter. Business culture in Global Marketing discusses culture and how it influences business practice and the behaviors and thinking of managers.
This article’s purpose is to heighten the reader’s sensitivity to the dynamics of culture. It is neither a treatise on cultural information about a particular country nor a thorough marketing science or epidemiological study of the various topics. Rather, it is designed to emphasize the importance if cultural differences to marketers and the need for study of each country’s culture(s) and all its origin and elements and to point out some relevant aspects on which to focus.
Culture’s Pervasive Impact:
Culture affects every of our lives, very day, from birth to death, and everything in between. It affects how we spend money and how we consume in general. It even affects how we sleep. For example, we are told that Spaniards sleep less than other European and Japanese children often sleep with their parents. You can clearly see culture operating in the birthrates tables. When you look across the data from the three countries, the gradual decline beginning 1960s is evident. As countries move, from agricultural to industrial to service economy birth rate declines. Immediate causes may be government policies and birth control technologies, but a global change in values is also occurring. Almost everywhere smaller families are becoming favored. This cultural change now leads experts to predict that the planet’s population will, actually begin to decline after 2050 unless major breakthroughs in longevity intervene as some predict.
Please notice the little peaks in 1976 and 1988 in the Singapore data. The same pattern can be seen in birthrate data from Taiwan. Those extra births are not a matter of random fluctuation. In Chinese cultures being born in the Year of the Dragon (12 animals – dogs, rats, rabbits, pigs etc – correspond to specific years in the calendar) is considered good luck. Such birthrate spikes have implications for sellers of diapers, toys, schools, colleges, and so forth in successive years in Singapore. However, superstitious have an even stronger influence on the birthrates in Japan. A one year 20 percent drop in Japanese fertility rates in 1966 was caused by a belief that women born in the Year of the Fire Horse, which occurs every 60 years will lead unhappy lives and perhaps murder their husbands. This sudden and substantial decline in fertility, which has occurred historically every 60 years since Japan started keeping birth records, reflects abstinence, abortions, and birth certificate fudging. This superstition has resulted in the stigmatization of women born, in 1966 and has had a large impact on market potential for a wide variety of consumer goods and services in Japan. It will be interesting to see how technological innovations and culture will interact in Japan in 2026 the next Year of the Fire Horse.
LOV (Lists of values :) Segments
Self respect is the all American value in that it was elected by the largest number of Americans and it has the least distinctive endorsers. People from all age and income groups selected this value as most important. About 21.1 % of Americans selected it in 1976, 23% in 1986.
Security is a deficit value, endorsed by people who lack economic and psychological security. People who endorse it tend to report anxiety, trouble sleeping, dizziness, and shortness of breath. In terms of media preferences they like 20 / 20 and Love Boat by 20.6% of Americans in 1976, 16.5% in 1986.
Warm relationships with others is an excess value, endorsed by people especially women, who have a lot of friends and who are friendly. Midwesterners rate this value highly. Endorsers include divorced men, Lutherans, frequent churchgoers, housewives and clerical workers. People here experience nightmares but have good social support networks and families. The percentage has risen from 16.2% to 19.9%.
Likewise people who endorse sense of accomplishment have accomplished a lot. These people tend to be successful middle aged man. They often have good jobs and high incomes. They tend to be well educated managers and professionals. They may be Jewish or Methodist, but they often do not go to synagogue or church. These people like conspicuous consumption but dislike any television watching that interferes with accomplishment, especially Love boat and Three’s Company. About 11.4% endorsed this value earlier, but more recently endorsement grew to 15.9%. The percentage is higher in the northeast.
People mostly young urban professionals — who endorse self-fulfillment are relatively well fulfilled economically, educationally, and emotionally. They are healthy and self confident. They resent excessive demands from their families that distract from self fulfillment. They like movies more than television. Overall 9.6% of Americans subscribed to this value earlier, but the rate fell more recently to 6.5%. The percentage is higher in the Pacific states.
Being well respected is selected by the Rodney Danger fields of the world. They are often over 50 and have little occupational prestige, yet they love their jobs. This value is endorsed by farmers, craftsmen, operators, divorced women, and retired people. They have low income and lack formal education. It is interesting to contrast self respect which one can achieve alone, with being well respected which requires the cooperation of others. People who values self respect are much better adjusted, according to our measures. Psychologically people who value being well respected tend to be external depressed unhappy, pessimistic and unhealthy. For fun they like to bowl The 1976 and 1986 percentages are, respectively, 8.8% and 5.9%.
Sense of belonging also requires the help of others. Like warm relationships with others, it is a social value selected by women. However, it is less reciprocal and seems to result in greater dependency. It is a home and family oriented value particularly popular in the mountain states. Endorsers tend to be housewives and clerical workers. Although they tend to have only a high school education they tend to be middle income. They are happy in family roles, although physically they experience dizziness, anxiety, nervousness and headaches. They go to church weekly, usually as Presbyterians, Lutherans, or Catholics. They like to read TV Guide and Reader’s Digest. The endorsement rate was 7.9% and has fallen to 5.1%.
You might think that fun and enjoyment in life would isolate the hedonists in America but the cliché that best describes these people is Stop and smell the roses . Young people who appreciate life especially like this value. They are often unemployed or work in sales or labor, but they are optimistic and well adjusted. They dislike family roles, religion and children however. They do like sports and entertainments and they read Playboy, rolling stone and Cosmopolitan. About 4.5% of Americans endorsed this value in 1976, and the percentage has risen to 7.2%. The rise has been especially dramatic among young males.
Security is a deficit value, endorsed by people who lack economic and psychological security. People who endorse it tend to report anxiety, trouble sleeping, dizziness, and shortness of breath. In terms of media preferences they like 20 / 20 and Love Boat by 20.6% of Americans in 1976, 16.5% in 1986.
Warm relationships with others is an excess value, endorsed by people especially women, who have a lot of friends and who are friendly. Midwesterners rate this value highly. Endorsers include divorced men, Lutherans, frequent churchgoers, housewives and clerical workers. People here experience nightmares but have good social support networks and families. The percentage has risen from 16.2% to 19.9%.
Likewise people who endorse sense of accomplishment have accomplished a lot. These people tend to be successful middle aged man. They often have good jobs and high incomes. They tend to be well educated managers and professionals. They may be Jewish or Methodist, but they often do not go to synagogue or church. These people like conspicuous consumption but dislike any television watching that interferes with accomplishment, especially Love boat and Three’s Company. About 11.4% endorsed this value earlier, but more recently endorsement grew to 15.9%. The percentage is higher in the northeast.
People mostly young urban professionals — who endorse self-fulfillment are relatively well fulfilled economically, educationally, and emotionally. They are healthy and self confident. They resent excessive demands from their families that distract from self fulfillment. They like movies more than television. Overall 9.6% of Americans subscribed to this value earlier, but the rate fell more recently to 6.5%. The percentage is higher in the Pacific states.
Being well respected is selected by the Rodney Danger fields of the world. They are often over 50 and have little occupational prestige, yet they love their jobs. This value is endorsed by farmers, craftsmen, operators, divorced women, and retired people. They have low income and lack formal education. It is interesting to contrast self respect which one can achieve alone, with being well respected which requires the cooperation of others. People who values self respect are much better adjusted, according to our measures. Psychologically people who value being well respected tend to be external depressed unhappy, pessimistic and unhealthy. For fun they like to bowl The 1976 and 1986 percentages are, respectively, 8.8% and 5.9%.
Sense of belonging also requires the help of others. Like warm relationships with others, it is a social value selected by women. However, it is less reciprocal and seems to result in greater dependency. It is a home and family oriented value particularly popular in the mountain states. Endorsers tend to be housewives and clerical workers. Although they tend to have only a high school education they tend to be middle income. They are happy in family roles, although physically they experience dizziness, anxiety, nervousness and headaches. They go to church weekly, usually as Presbyterians, Lutherans, or Catholics. They like to read TV Guide and Reader’s Digest. The endorsement rate was 7.9% and has fallen to 5.1%.
You might think that fun and enjoyment in life would isolate the hedonists in America but the cliché that best describes these people is Stop and smell the roses . Young people who appreciate life especially like this value. They are often unemployed or work in sales or labor, but they are optimistic and well adjusted. They dislike family roles, religion and children however. They do like sports and entertainments and they read Playboy, rolling stone and Cosmopolitan. About 4.5% of Americans endorsed this value in 1976, and the percentage has risen to 7.2%. The rise has been especially dramatic among young males.
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