English Culture and Business Organizations

Introduction

This essay is intended to demonstrate how the business climate of English organizations is influenced by their societal culture, political environment and economic context. The relationships between these parameters are of course interactive and very complex. The idea here is that the political and economic factors interact with societal culture, and societal culture causes the business climate and approach to management.

The first section summary discusses the representative societal culture characteristics which are attributed to the English. The second section elaborates on those characteristics which are more likely to be relevant to business activities and business organizations. The third and fourth sections discuss England’s political and economic systems. The last section details how the England climate is shaped by these several influences.

Culture describes the many ways in which human beings express themselves for the purposes of uniting with others, forming a group, defining an identity, and even for distinguishing themselves as unique.

Cultural expression is highly sensual in that human beings often create activities, practices, symbols, and so on that can be easily consumed by our senses. For example, culturally distinct forms of dance or physical movement attract our senses of touch and sight; whereas culturally specific foods seek to activate our sense of taste and smell.

Although “culture” is not necessary for the survival of the human species, notions of culture and cultural identities are present in almost every human society on earth. As the world moves closer together through increased globalization, migration, and technological advancement human beings are beginning to question the role (and reach) of culture within all aspects of human existence.

Cap.1 SOCIETAL CULTURE

England- the country

England is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Wales, Scotland) and Northern Ireland, an island nation to the west of the continental mainland of Europe. England is predominantly a lowland country and has a generally mild and temperate climate.

Britain emerged into recorded history with the arrival of the Celts in the British Isles. If was occupied by the Romans in the first century AD and am ordered civilization was established under their rule for about three hundred years. The Romans withdrew completely from Britain by the fifth century to be followed by a long period of increasing disorder caused by raids-mainly Angle, Saxon and Jute-on the island from northern Europe .In the following two centuries, the raiders established settlements and a number of small kingdoms were created. In the ninth century, further settlers arrived from Europe and the Vikings from Scandinavia pillaged the east coast and established settlements there. The last successful invasion of England took place in the eleventh century, when Normans, from the coast of Northern France took complete control and imposed a full feudal system.

Immigration from Europe over the centuries has led to the establishment of Irish and Jewish communities in many of the larger cities. In the latter part of the twentieth century, immigrations from the South Asian countries and the Caribbean also formed distinctive urban communities. This chapter deals only with the English among the various peoples of Britain because it is their cultural characteristics and their political system which predominate and have the greatest influence on business performance. Nevertheless, Thee United Kingdom is a multicultural society and in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and those parts of England where Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities predominate- or in companies elsewhere in the UK ,whose entrepreneurial bases originate from them-the values of these communities fuse whit those of the English to create nuances in business style and practice, which can be significant.