BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT PROJECT

Project report on the socio-cultural environment and the problems faced by a business organisation.

NAME

: GAURAV PARMAR

DIVISION: SY-A ROLL NO. : 2014 PRN NO. : 09020621081

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 19TH JULY 2010 SYMBIOSIS CENTER FOR MANAGEMENT STUDIES (UNDERGRADUATE) SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

NAME OF THE ORGANISATION: SADHVI FOODS PVT. LTD. (THE CHARCOAL PIT) CONTACT PERSON: MR. P.S ANAND (MANAGING DIRECTOR)

CONTACT DETAILS: 5, M.G.ROAD PUNE-411001 TEL.:-09822031730 E-Mail Id- palianand@yahoo.co.in

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK Mr. P. S. ANAND, MD, SADHVI FOODS PVT. LTD AND HIS DAUGHTER Ms. RUBEENA ANAND FOR THEIR COOPERATION AND PATIENCE AND AM GRATEFUL FOR THEIR GUIDANCE. I THANK THEM FOR MAKING THIS ENORMOUS TASK EASIER AND QUITE ENJOYABLE.

PROJECT REPORT

INTRODUCTION: SOCIO-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

Socio-cultural environment may be divided into: a) Social environment. b) Cultural and cross cultural environment. Social environment-It has been accepted that being a part and parcel of society, business does have social purpose so as to enjoy social acceptance .social environment of business consists of a whole variety cultures , beliefs, values, traditions, attitudes, institutions, stratifications, etc. There are several social movements which draw their form and content from the nature of social objectives and constraints. For example: trade union movement, consumers movement, etc. Business ethics get very much affected by these social movements. Business has to balance between the aspirations of various interest groups with its own achievements. Sociological environment is a complex

resulting form of operation of many forces-political, ecological, geographical, historical, etc. In social harmony, an end is achieved by different methods and means, and so social environment differs from place to place, from time to time. Cultural and cross cultural environment-Culture is understood as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs and other capabilities, and habits acquired by an individual as a member of a society. Thus, culture of a society is shared by its members and cultural ethos are passed on from generation to generation. There are sub-cultures within culture. When people with different cultural backgrounds promote, own and manage organisations, organisations themselves tend to acquire distinct cultures. Culture performs four functions: 1. Culture creates distinctions between one organisation and another. 2. Culture conveys a sense of identity for organisation members. 3. Culture facilitates the generation of commitment to something nobler that ones self interest. 4. Culture enhances social system stability. Culture becomes a liability where the shared values are not in agreement with those that will further effectness of the organisation. Cultural aspects which influence business are: In globalisation, it is essential to understand cultural differences across countries. From country to country there are differences in profit motivation, style of negotiations, business goals, etc. Culture determines goods and services. Attitude of people towards business is largely determined by their culture. Business systems are a product of beliefs and customs of the society in which they exist.

The spirit of collectivism and individualism is also important in culture. It is related to employee morale, inter and intra-union rivalry, etc. Ethics is also a very important factor in culture. It is a code of conduct. Ethics concerns morals and philosophy. It deals with the behaviour of individuals and the standards governing the interrelationship between individuals. Business justifies its involvement in cultural affairs because of the better quality of life in the community. Culture should attract better quality of citizens. Cultural opportunities may challenge youth to raise their achievement, drives and provide better outlets for their energies, and thereby reducing tendencies towards de linquency.

I interviewed with the owner of Sadhvi foods pvt. Ltd who also runs The Charcoal Pit, a restaurant at M.G.Road. They were established around 18 years back, in the year 1992. These served as a base for the catering and the food processing business which was established over the years has a sound clientele. The restaurant operates only at nights serving only Indian cuisine while the catering business offers a wide variety of cuisines ranging from Indian to Chinese to Continental to Thai, etc. The main priority, like that of any other hospitality organization, was creating a secure demand circle, which they succeeded in.

Socio-Cultural Problems Faced By The Organisation, Their Impact On The Organisation, Solution To The Problems And Impact Of The Solutions On The Organisation : A major problem faced by the organisation is that the employees dont stick to a particular job for a long time. Also known as job hopping, the employees

change their jobs pretty frequently. This is due to the lack of job security; employees dont really have an incentive to continue working in the company. They are constantly in search for more lucrative job opportunities. As todays generation works mainly for money they find it tough to get job satisfaction and take up better paying job offers instantly. This greatly hampers the smooth functioning of the organisation. Due to the ever changing employees there isnt any constant standard operating procedure. Also the organisation finds it extremely tough to focus on various other aspects as it is busy searching and recruiting new employees constantly. A lot of time and resources are wasted in training the new employees on such frequent basis. Proper employee orientation and efficient training can reduce this problem to a great extent. Employee orientation would inculcate a sense of loyalty in the employee. It would make him feel at ease and enjoy his work. Efficient training would also ensure that the employees are fed with professional values which will make them respect the company and value their contract. The company could also take measures to work towards the welfare of the employees. After all human resources are the most valuable resources for any business organisation. All these measure will greatly prevent the employees from changing jobs frequently and make them loyal to the company. Another problem frequently faced by the organisation is service related. It is impossible to please everyone and hence it is but obvious that some of the guests are often left displeased with the service provided by the organisation. This could be because of the guest not liking the quality of the food, the quantity, the hygiene standards maintained, etc. Poor coordination amongst the various departments, cross contamination, poor hygiene standards maintained by the waiters or by the kitchen staff, laziness on behalf of a few employees are just some of the reasons that could be the cause of the problem. Here lies the problem. The organisation may not know which department to hold responsible

for the incompetency. For example: - Should the food & beverage production department (the kitchen staff i.e. chefs. etc.) be held responsible or should the food & beverage service department (service staff i.e. waiters, etc) be held responsible for the hair in the soup. This could result in a blame game which may lead to internal conflicts such as inter departmental or interpersonal conflicts. These hamper the smooth functioning of the organisation and reflect poorly on the organisation. Again proper training to the employees could greatly mitigate this problem as it would help make the employees competent and inculcate team spirit and a good healthy bond between the employees. This would result in a competent workforce working in a healthy work environment and thereby giving excellent results. There are several other problems faced by the organisation. A prominent one amongst those is that of the competitors posing as guests who have suffered from food poisoning after dining at their restaurant. This is due to the poor business ethics of the competitors. This has tarnished the reputation of the organisation in the past. The restaurant in order to prevent this from taking place again and again has started keeping fortnightly food samples so that just in case some guest accuses them of providing their customers with poor quality food products they can provide the authorities with food samples which can be tested. All these problems hampered the smooth functioning of the organisation and were tackled with efficient and suitable solutions. This has resulted in increased profits, a happy and satisfied workforce and an excellent reputation for the organisation in the market.