50 Part 1: Strategic Management Inputs
such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon, among others, “the effort in Europe to adopt the
world’s strongest data protection law has drawn the attention of dozens of lobbyists from
U.S. technology and advertising companies.”^61 Highly restrictive laws about consumer pri-
vacy could threaten how these firms conduct business in the European Union. Finally, in
a comprehensive sense, recent transformations from state-owned to private firms occur-
ring in multiple nations have substantial implications for the competitive landscapes in a
number of countries and across multiple industries.^622-3d The Sociocultural Segment
The sociocultural segment is concerned with a society’s attitudes and cultural values.
Because attitudes and values form the cornerstone of a society, they often drive demo-
graphic, economic, political/legal, and technological conditions and changes.
Individual societies’ attitudes and cultural orientations are anything but stable, mean-
ing that firms must carefully scan, monitor, forecast, and assess them to recognize and
study associated opportunities and threats. Successful firms must also have an awareness
of changes taking place in the societies and their associated cultures in which they are
competing. Indeed, societal and culture changes challenge firms to find ways to “adapt
to stay ahead of their competitors and stay relevant in the minds of their consumers.”^63
Research has shown that sociocultural factors influence the entry into new markets and
the development of new firms in a country.^64
Attitudes about and approaches to health care are being evaluated in nations and
regions throughout the world. For Europe, the European Commission has developed a
health care strategy for all of Europe that is oriented to preventing diseases while tackling
lifestyle factors influencing health such as nutrition, working conditions, and physical
activity. This Commission argues that promoting attitudes to take care of one’s health is
especially important in the context of an aging Europe as shown by the projection that
the proportion of people over 65 living in Europe will increase from 17 percent in 2010 to
almost 30 percent by 2060.^65 At issue for business firms is that attitudes and values about
health care can affect them; accordingly, they must carefully examine trends regarding
health care in order to anticipate the effects
on their operations.
As the U.S. labor force has grown in size, it
has become more diverse, with significantly
more women and minorities from a variety
of cultures entering the workplace. In 1993,
the total U.S. workforce was slightly less than
130 million; in 2005, it was slightly greater
than 148 million. It is predicted to grow to
more than 192 million by 2050.
However, the rate of growth in the U.S.
labor force has declined over the past two
decades largely as a result of slower growth
of the nation’s population and because of a
downward trend in the labor force partic-
ipation rate. More specifically, data show
that “after nearly five decades of steady
growth, the overall participation rate—
defined as the proportion of the civilian
non-institutional population in the labor
force—peaked at an annual average of
67.1 percent for each year from 1997 to 2000.The sociocultural segment
is concerned with a society’s
attitudes and cultural values.
Healthcare is becoming increasingly important as the proportion of
people older than 65 is growing larger in many nations throughout
the world.© Alexander Raths/Shutterstock.com