Culture and its Implications in Business Activities

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
WORKING IN REAL ESTATE
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SOCIOLOGY
Introduction
Sociology of culture comprises of the connotations regarding cultural symbols. The
essential elements, which governs the culture are social organization, customs, traditions,
religion, language, arts, literature, governmental forms, economic systems, artefacts and
social institutions. Beliefs regarding cultural coding is bounded with alterations. One of a
crucial aspect of culture is the resistance towards accepting changes. This is because of the
roots, to which the people cling. Sticking to the cultural values is a natural phenomenon
(Hofstede, 1984). Culture is subdivided into small and large arguments. The thesis statement
of the essay is to analyse the strengths, weaknesses and implications of culture in executing
the business activities. Small cultures is an abstract analysis of the cohesive behaviours
possessed by the people in a group. On the contrary, large or high cultures comprises of the
objects and values, which are derived from the collective notions regarding artefacts and their
weightage. The essay first looks at the large cultural arguments and then pre-sets the focus on
to the small cultural arguments.
Discussion
Large culture arguments
Large culture arguments consists of the cultural objects, which depicts the aesthetic
values possessed by the people. For example, intellectual works and masterpieces, which
reflects the historical and philosophical values. According to the popular notions of Hofstede,
(1994), large cultures relates to the culture of the aristocrats, who perceive society as the
assemblage of knowledge and tradition. If the example of Ming dynasty painting is
considered, Cheng Hongshou is depicted with the guqin, which is the cultural symbol of the
scholarly gentlemen. These aristocrats possess the power to transcend the social construct of
the caste system. On the other hand, low culture reflects the population, which are less

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educated. Typical example can be cited of barbarians and the Philistines. In this comparison,
the gap between the rich, aristocrats and the poor is further broadened.
Hofstede, (2001), literature is one of the mediums, which reflects the culture in an
efficient and effective manner. In case of the European history, high culture attains
commonality with humanities. Mathew Arnold needs to be praised for exposing the general
public to the term ‘high culture’ through his masterpiece, Culture and Anarchy in 1869. The
Preface is one of the other examples, which defines culture as the endeavour to deal with the
disinterest of the people. This is with due consideration to the perseverance and pursuit
towards accomplishment of the goals. Philosophical connotations in the definitions of high
and large cultures enhances the aesthetic value. Here, the contrasting terms are popular
culture, mass culture.
Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948) is considered to be one of the other
pieces, where T.S.Eliot displayed his views on the necessity of high culture in shaping the
social constructs. Holliday, (2010) mentions about Uses of Literacy (1957). Richard Hoggart
reflects the collaborative efforts invested by men and women towards becoming literate. This
was an initiative towards upgrading the social mobility. Reference can be cited of Harold
Bloom and F.R. Leavis, who defined the western culture in terms of the Western canon
literature. Media theorist Steve Johnson, who wrote about popular culture as the classics,
which on the verge of gaining autonomy over the culture. He highlighted the subtle
difference between mass culture and art. He is of the view that individual works of the mass
culture are ineffective as compared to broader cultural trends, which are considered to be the
etymological origin.
West culture bears the origin of classical world traditions of the intellectual and
aesthetic life (Hofstede, 2002). The domain considered in this is the Ancient Greece and

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Rome. The mode of language was preserved in an elevated style. Typical example of this is
the Attic dialect of the ancient Greece. In terms of education, high culture was reflected from
the awareness of the people about the Graeco-Roman arts and humanities, which contributed
in shaping of the European socio-cultural parameter. Aristocratic patronage was vital for
accommodating the new works in arts, music and literature. Much of the Greek literature was
Latin in origin, which was reflected from texts and books in ancient and modern languages.
As per the arguments of Jameson, (2007), high culture comprised of music, visual arts
and traditional forms reflecting the performing arts. The perceptions regarding decorative art
was exempted for considering the arguments related to the high and large culture. Training in
the disciplines was beneficial in terms of the exposing the people to a sophisticated high
culture. Aesthetic framework is used for planning the training programs in according to the
long term goals. This training acts assistance in terms of detecting the constraints towards
making practical application of the learnt skills towards executing the allocated tasks and
responsibilities. The origin of the Graeco Roman culture is concentrated on the traditional
values. Renaissance was the initiation point of widespread existence of the cultural
conditions.
Promotion of high culture is subjected to attacks on elitism. Mention can be made of
the efforts exposed by the bourgeoisie for the promotion of the high culture (McSweeney,
2002). Typical evidence of this lies in the initiatives towards inaugurating museums and
concert halls. In this context, reference can be cited of John Ruskin, Lord Reith, Leon
Trotsky and other communists, who created mass appeal through the productions in classical
art, music and literature. In terms of education, high culture was reflected from the
introduction of the cultural studies in the academics. This was with due consideration that the
traditional courses of liberal arts. Along with this, opera, ballets, orchestras was conducted
for exposing the public to the native culture.