A key aspect of the human being is religion; it dictates a set of rules and behaviors that must be obeyed by the people in order to achieve happiness and peaceful life after death. Being a very strong pillar within people, beliefs determine, limit and enhance many of the actions they take in their lives, being business one of the most influenced by them.We can look at the influence of religion in business from two points of view: the first one is when religion influences directly the creation, policies and how to operate when doing a business. Some religions promote the creation of free market while others limited companies because consider money as an obstacle to achieve good. The second point of view would be from the product or service to be market, this being the most affected by the religious laws in terms of ingredients, names, how it is created or obtained, etc. Some beliefs limit the use of certain products considered sacred or unclean.
Due to globalization and open markets, many companies have seen necessity to study the culture and religion of the territories that they want to reach with their products or services. They have realized that a product that is successful in a geographical area may behave very differently in another. They have had to adapt brand names, ingredients and presentations to meet the demands of each market.Respecting human being from their beliefs many products have opened the door and made strong in such difficult markets as Hindus, Jews and Muslims, generate a sense of belonging and respect for their brands to see the concern they had for adaptation.
Some cultures have created institutions responsible for care their customs and create stamps to endorse the products and services meet the minimum requirements to be consumed by its believers. Kosher and Halal stamps are proof of that. This is beneficial for producers because meeting these requirements they may open new markets and in turn positive for customers because the label represents quality.So in business we can say:
"Believe, then consume "
[Untitled photograph of religion
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Retrieved May 02, 2011,
from: http://www.heroturko.com/966/religion+photos/
[Untitled photograph of kosher
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Retrieved May 02, 2011,
from: http://menteargentina.wordpress.com/
[Untitled photograph of halal
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Retrieved May 02, 2011,
from: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsvVI8MIpanaI7DuqoaK58YMP3F0EOgucsZBdGUUNnp1HmBbVUeCBcLJjlJpE1P75td6i7GcZTurzhY2ljJl8zzcdLES9CkwzbGadu1PBhxQotMIbLiCKoQ7eAYJUPRQRDHf7WfCCrLQ/s400/indo-kombuha-halal-02.jpg&imgrefurl=http://malagaislam.blogspot.com/2011/01/alimentacion-halal-en-la-universidad-de.html&usg=__yydrQ4L-A61GcRN09N14VPOp8iY=&h=320&w=320&sz=18&hl=es&start=0&sig2=qV-yDl3eC03gE_xjNXOSig&zoom=1&tbnid=2UhEnXJttPZaTM:&tbnh=164&tbnw=164&ei=-cDQTfWZB4u3tgfe44XsDQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhalal%26um%3D1%26hl%3Des%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1275%26bih%3D680%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=300&vpy=129&dur=375&hovh=172&hovw=172&tx=102&ty=95&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0
I think youre right saying that the religion as an institution create some pressure over the business. I actually believe that this concept need to change in order to help business managers trying to separate the negotiation from religion.
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