Unit-IV

Socio Cultural

Social trends, fashion and culture are all examples of what we would call ‘social factors’.
These factors affect our attitudes, opinions, perception, cognition and interests, and can
impact how we regard a product or service. This, in turn, can influence a business’s sales and
strategy.

Social factors include:

 Population size and rate of growth

 Age distribution

 Wealth and income disparities

 Social mobility

 Job market mobility and attitude to work

 Health and education levels

Cultural factors include:

 Language

 Religion

 Values and attitudes

A business should make efforts to track social changes and align their products and services
with customers’ changing preferences. Not responding to social changes in the society can be
fatal. The failure of Blackberry illustrates this point. Led by Apple and Android devices,
smartphone users became more and more comfortable with touchscreen devices. BlackBerry
failed to adapt to these changes and stuck with the idea of a physical keyboard on their
devices.
 Socio Political and Economic

Women empowerment has been studied as an important medium to achieve

the goal of gender equality in recent times. Gender equality impacts not only
the women but the society as a whole 1 . Need for women empowerment got
felt strongly around 1970s with the issues such as feminization of extreme
poverty and disparities in politics, education and wealth getting raised 2 . In
2000, the millennium development goals furthered the campaign for women’s
rights in areas such as education, health and poverty. A number of agencies
including United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization are
currently working on the theme of women empowerment.

Socio Political and Economic Factors

Political factors - both big and small 'p' political forces and influences that may affect the
performance of, or the options open to the organisation

Economic influences - the nature of the competition faced by the organisation or its services,
and financial resources available within the economy

Sociological trends - demographic changes, trends in the way people live, work, and think

Technological innovations - new approaches to doing new and old things, and tackling new
and old problems; these do not necessarily involve technical equipment - they can be novel
ways of thinking or of organising.

Ecological factors - definition of the wider ecological system of which the organisation is a
part and consideration of how the organisation interacts with it

Legislative requirements - originally included under 'political', relevant legislation now

requires a heading of its own

Industry analysis - a review of the attractiveness of the industry of which the organisation
forms a part.

To be useful as an analysis tool, these environmental factors have to be linked to the

organisation's mission: which are helpful or which make it more difficult to accomplish that
mission.
 Savitri Bhai Phule

Savitribai Phule, the first female teacher of the first women’s school in India is a pioneer
figure. She relentlessly fought against the dominant caste system and worked towards the
upliftment of the marginalized.

She demanded dignity for all women, for which she, along with her husband Jyotirao Phule
worked their entire lives. The principles of humanity, equality, liberty and justice were of
utmost importance to her. During a time when women were mere objects, she ignited a spark
that led to equality in education – something which was impossible before.

Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy

Muthulakshmi Reddy (also spelled Reddi in some British Indian sources; 30 July 1886 – 22
July 1968) was an Indian medical practitioner, social reformer and Padma Bhushan award
recipient.

Muthulakshmi Reddy was appointed to the Madras Legislative Council in 1926. This
nomination marked the beginning of her lifelong effort to "correct the balance for women by
removing social abuses and working for equality in moral standards″. She was a women's
activist and social reformer.

She had a number of firsts to her name: the first female student to be admitted into a men's
college, the first woman House Surgeon in the Government Maternity and Ophthalmic
Hospital, the first woman Legislator in British India, the first Chairperson of the State Social
Welfare Advisory Board, the first woman Deputy President of the Legislative Council, and
the first Alderwoman of the Madras Corporation Avvai Home.

She was born to a Tamil Family. Her father was S. Narayanaswami Iyer, the Principal of
Maharaja's College. Her mother was Chandrammal, a Devadasi. Her father was ostracised
from his family because of his marriage to a Devadasi. She developed a close relationship
with the maternal side of her family, and this closeness made her very perceptive of the
Devadasi community and their issues. Narayanaswami Iyer broke the tradition and sent
Muthulakshmi to school. Her enthusiasm for learning was so great that Muthulakshmi's
teachers decided to instruct her in subjects beyond those approved by her father. At the onset
of puberty, she was obliged to leave school, but tutoring continued at home. Chandrammal
wanted to search for a bridegroom but Muthulakshmi had different aspirations.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (born 23 March 1953) is an Indian billionaire entrepreneur.[3] She is

the executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited,[4] a
biotechnology company based in Bangalore, India[5] and the former chairperson of Indian
Institute of Management, Bangalore.[6] In 2014, she was awarded the Othmer Gold Medal for
outstanding contributions to the progress of science and chemistry.[7][8][9][10][11] She is on
the Financial Times’ top 50 women in business list.[12] In 2019, she was listed as the 68th
most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[13] She was named EY World Entrepreneur Of
The Year 2020.[14] She is married to John Shaw.

Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana was the First spacewoman of India. It was the dream that many Indians dreamt of but
only Kalpana was able to fulfill it. She had various ambitions in minds from her childhood only.
Moreover, she always had an interest in aircraft, and because of that, she took aeronautical
engineering.

Life Story of Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana was born in Karnal which is a small town in Haryana. Furthermore, she went to a local
school to complete her primary studies. Kalpana was always a diligent student. Moreover, she
was good in her academics. After completing her schooling Kalpana went to college for
graduation. She took admission in Punjab University. She took admission in Aeronautical
engineering.

Most Noteworthy is that she was the only girl student in the entire batch. This signifies that she
always took a different path from others and was a leader. Furthermore, after completing her
graduation she went abroad for further studies.

Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal is the first-ever badminton player from India to clinch an Olympic medal. The
Indian shuttler created history when she won the bronze medal at the London 2012 Games.
The Haryana shuttler started turning heads very early on in her career when she won the
BWF World Junior Championships in 2008. The same year she made her first Olympics
appearance in Beijing, but it was only at London 2012 that she gained worldwide fame.
Born on 17th March 1990, Saina Nehwal started playing badminton at the age of eight after
her family moved from Haryana to Hyderabad. Her initiation into the game was primarily
because she didn’t know the local language well and she wanted to further the dream of her
mother, who was a state-level badminton player herself. The Indian shuttler successfully did
that by representing India at the highest level in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics.
En route to becoming the first Indian woman to reach the last eight of Olympic quarter-finals,
a young Saina Nehwal defeated the then world number five Wang Chen of Hong Kong
before losing to Indonesia's Maria Kristin Yulianti in the quarter-finals of Beijing 2008.

Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza is an Indian tennis star and one of the top doubles tennis players in the world.
She is the most successful Indian female tennis player. Mirza burst into the scene as a
prodigiously talented teenage tennis star and won several of tournaments in the Indian local
circuit before breaking into the big time when she won the Girls’ Doubles title at Wimbledon.
Mirza won a number of singles championships in the local circuit and also fared credibly in
the Grand Slam singles circuit but she could not make the sort of progress that she would
have liked. A wrist injury was also one of the reasons why her career went through a rough
phase but post that injury she started concentrating on doubles and mixed doubles
tournaments more than the singles events which led to her success in the Grand Slam
tournaments. She had a very fruitful partnership with fellow Indian tennis star Mahesh
Bhupathi in the mixed doubles and with Swiss great Martina Hingis at a later date. She is
regarded as one of the finest doubles players in the world and without doubts one of the finest
tennis players to have ever represented India.

Childhood & Early Life

Sania Mirza was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 15 November 1986 to Imran Mirza and his
wife Naseema Mirza. Her father was engaged in the construction business while her mother
was in printing business. She has a younger sister.

The family moved from Mumbai to Hyderabad not long after Sania Mirza’s birth and it was
in Hyderabad that she started learning lawn tennis from her father from the time she was only
six year old. Mirza attended Nasr School in Hyderabad.
Awards & Achievements

Mirza was awarded the Arjuna Award from the Government of India in 2004.

In 2006, Mirza was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. It is the 4th highest
civilian honour in India.

In 2015, she was honored with Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna Award and a year later she was
awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s 3rd highest civilian honour

Dipika Pallikal

Dipika Pallikal Karthik is an Indian squash player who became the first Indian to break into
the top 10 in the PSA Women's rankings. She achieved this feat in 2012. The previous year,
she had clinched three WISPA titles: the Orange County Open, the Dread Sports Series 2
event and the Crocodile Challenge Cup. She had also reached the quarterfinal of the World
Open, which gained her worldwide attention. With these results, she reached her career-best
ranking of 10 in December 2012. That year, she was honored by the government with the
'Arjuna Award'. 2014 was another important year in her career as she won the women's
doubles gold medal along with Joshna Chinappa at the Commonwealth Games, followed by a
bronze medal in women's singles at the Asian Games. She received the Padma Shri, the
fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2014. In 2016, she was part of the gold-medal-
winning Indian Women's team at the South Asian Games and the silver-medal-winning
Indian Women's team at the Asian Team Championship.

Mary Kom

Mary Kom is an Indian Olympic boxer who hails from the North-Eastern state of Manipur.
Mary Kom is a 5-time World Amateur Boxing Champion, and the only woman boxer to win
a medal in the six world championships apiece. In 2012. Mary became (and remains) the only
Indian woman boxer to qualify for the Summer Olympics when she competed in the London
Olympics. She went on to clinch the bronze medal in the 51 kg flyweight category.

P T Usha
PT Usha ( PT Usha full name: Payyoli Tevaraparampil Usha), at 57, is still one of the most
talked-about track and field athletes of India of all time. This legendary athlete has been a
constant in our G.K books for years. Not only she is a treasure, we Indians will always be
proud of but now as a coach, she is helping other aspiring athletes to take on her legacy and
shine bright like she did and still does. In fact, Jisna Mathew, a trainee at Usha’s Athletics
School, has been clinching medals, she recently won a Gold at the Asian Junior Athletics
Championship.

Highlights

 Usha has won 102 national /International medals and awards throughout her
illustrious career.
 She won 13 Gold medals in Asian Championships and a total of 33 International
medals.
 She received the prestigious Arjuna Award and Padma Shree in 1984 for showing
outstanding performance in sports.
 A year later in 1985, she was adjudged as the best women athlete at the Jakarta
Asian Athlete meet.
 To add to her glory, In 1986 at the Seoul Asian Games, the Indian Olympic
association awarded her with the Adidas Golden Shoe and named her the
Sportsperson of the century.

Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana is a professional Indian cricketer who plays who plays for
the Indian women's national team, was born on July 18 1996 in Mumbai,
Maharashtra, India. She is a left handed opening batswoman who can also ball part
time right-arm medium pace as well. In June 2018, the Board of Control for Cricket in
India (BCCI) named her as the Best Women's International Cricketer of this year. She
also received the honourable 'Arjuna Award’ earlier this year.

Background
At the age of two, she along with her family moved to Madhavnagar, Sangli in
Maharashtra, where she completed her schooling. Both her father and brother,
Shravan, played cricket for Sangli at the district-level which inspired her to take up
 cricket after watching her brother play at the different Maharashtra state Under-16s
tournaments. At the age of nine, she also got selected in the Maharashtra's Under-15
team. At eleven, she was a part of the Maharashtra Under-19s team

Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy was born in 1960 in Kerala, India. She studied architecture at the
Delhi School of Architecture and worked as a production designer. She has written
two screenplays, including Electric Moon (1992), commissioned by Channel 4
television. She lives in Delhi with her husband, the film-maker Pradip Krishen.

The God of Small Things, her first novel, won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997
and has sold over six million copies worldwide. An immediate bestseller, the novel
was published simultaneously in 16 languages and 19 countries, but caused
controversy in India for the description of a love affair between a Syrian Christian and
a Hindu 'untouchable'. Set in Ayemenem in Kerala, a rural province in southern India,
it is the story of two twins, Estha and Rahel, their reunion after 23 years apart and
their shared memories of the events surrounding the accidental death of their English
cousin, Sophie Mol, in 1969.

She is also the author of several non-fiction books,including: The Cost of

Living (1999), a highly critical attack on the Indian government for its handling of the
controversial Narmada Valley dam project and for its nuclear testing
programme; Power Politics (2001), a book of essays; and The Algebra of Infinite
Justice, a collection of journalism. The Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire was
published in 2004. She has since published a further collection of essays examining
the dark side of democracy in contemporary India, Listening to Grasshoppers: Field
Notes on Democracy (2009).

Who is Vandana Shiva

Shiva, who holds a Master’s degree in physics and PhD in the philosophy of science, has
recevied an impressive number of awards. In 1993 she won the Right Livelihood
Award, also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize”. In 2003, Time magazine had called her
an “environmental hero” and Asiaweek magazine nominated her one of the continent’s five
most powerful communicators.
 In the 1970s, while still in her early twenties Vandana Shiva joined the non-violent
women’s group “Chipko” created to stop deforestation in the highlands of
northern India. To protect the forests, the women of Chipko would form circles
around trees and hug them. Vandana Shiva thus became a “tree-hugger” in the
footsteps of Amrita Devi, who three centuries earlier, in 1730, embraced a tree to
prevent soldiers
sent by the Raja of Jaipur from cutting it down together with the rest of the forest that
was home to the Bishnoi community.

Kamala Das
Kamala Das, Malayalam pen name Madhavikutty, Muslim name Kamala Surayya, (born
March 31, 1934, Thrissur, Malabar Coast [now in Kerala], British India—died May 31,
2009, Pune, India), Indian author who wrote openly and frankly about female sexual desire
and the experience of being an Indian woman. Das was part of a generation of Indian writers
whose work centred on personal rather than colonial experiences, and her short
stories, poetry, memoirs, and essays brought her respect and notoriety in equal measures. Das
wrote both in English (mostly poetry) and, under the pen name Madhavikutty, in
the Malayalam language of southern India.
Das was born into a high-status family. Her mother, Nalapat Balamani Amma, was a well-
known poet, and her father, V.M. Nair, was an automobile company executive and a
journalist. She grew up in what is now Kerala and in Calcutta (now Kolkata), where her
father worked. She began writing poetry when she was a child. When she was 15 years old,
she married Madhava Das, a banking executive many years her senior, and they moved to
Bombay (now Mumbai). Das had three sons and did her writing at night.

Indira Goswami
A celebrated writer of contemporary Indian literature, many of her works have been
translated into English from her native Assamese which include The Moth Eaten Howdah of
the Tusker, Pages Stained With Blood and The Man from Chinnamasta.
She was also well known for her attempts to structure social change, both through her
writings and through her role as mediator between the armed militant group United
Liberation Front of Asom and the Government of India. Her involvement led to the formation
of the People's Consultative Group, a peace committee. She referred to herself as an
"observer" of the peace process rather than as a mediator or initiator.
She was the winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award (1983), the Jnanpith Award (2001) and
Principal Prince Claus Laureate (2008).

Amrita Pritam
Amrita Pritam, the young poet who emotively invoked Waris Shah in what would become
her best known poem, ‘Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah nu’, was one of the foremost women writers
in 20th century India. Pritam, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi, was a bold and courageous
woman who lived life on her own terms unlike the more subjugated women of her time. A
prolific writer, she produced over 100 books including poetry collections, fictions,
biographies and essays. Born in undivided India in 1919, she witnessed the horrors of the
partition as a young woman, an experience that shook her to the core and shattered her soul.
It was in the aftermath of the terrible experience that she expressed her anguish in the poem
‘Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah nu’, reflecting the sense of hopelessness, terror and sadness that
swept over everyone who had witnessed the partition. Her experiences during the partition
also inspired her to write the novel ‘Pinjar’ in which she addressed the helplessness faced by
the women of her time. Through her poignant writings she became a voice for women in
Punjabi literature and the leading 20th-century poet of the Punjabi language. Her works have
been translated into several Indian and foreign language.

Anita Desai
Anita Desai, original name Anita Mazumdar, (born June 24, 1937, Mussoorie, India),
English-language Indian novelist and author of children’s books who excelled in evoking
character and mood through visual images ranging from the meteorologic to the botanical.
Born to a German mother and Bengali father, Desai grew up speaking German, Hindi, and
English. She received a B.A. in English from the University of Delhi in 1957.

Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri, by name of Nilanjana Sudeshna Lahiri, (born July 11, 1967, London,
England), English-born American novelist and short-story writer whose works illuminate the
immigrant experience, in particular that of East Indians.
Lahiri was born to Bengali parents from Calcutta (now Kolkata)—her father a university
librarian and her mother a schoolteacher—who moved to London and then to the United
States, settling in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, when she was young. Her parents
nevertheless remained committed to their East Indian culture and determined to rear their
children with experience of and pride in their cultural heritage. Lahiri was encouraged by her
grade-school teachers to retain her family nickname, Jhumpa, at school. Although she wrote
prolifically during her precollege school years, she did not embrace a writer’s life until after
she graduated (1989) with a B.A. in English literature from Barnard College and obtained
three master’s degrees (in English, creative writing, and comparative literature and arts) and a
doctorate (in Renaissance studies) from Boston University in the 1990s.

Kiran Desai
Kiran Desai, (born September 3, 1971, New Delhi, India), Indian-born
American author whose second novel, The Inheritance of Loss (2006), became an
international best seller and won the 2006 Booker Prize.
Kiran Desai—daughter of the novelist Anita Desai—lived in India until age 15, after which
her family moved to England and then to the United States. She graduated from Bennington
College in 1993 and later received two M.F.A.’s—one from Hollins University, in Roanoke,
Virginia, and the other from Columbia University, in New York City.

Shashi Deshpande

Nationality: Indian.

Born: Dharwad, 1938.

Education: The University of Bombay, B.A. (honors) in economics 1956, diploma in

journalism 1970, M.A. in English 1970; University of Mysore, Karnataka, B.L. 1959.

Awards: Raugammal prize, 1984; Nanjangud Tirumalamba award, for The Dark Holds No
Terrors, 1989; Sahitya Academy award, 1990.

PUBLICATIONS

Novels

The Dark Holds No Terrors. New Delhi, Vikas, 1980.