Nawaraj Basnet (Roll no:12)

MBA IT 5th Batch (1st Semester)

Discuss the importance and challenges of cross cultural communication in Nepalese

business world?

Ans:

Culture:

“Culture is defined as the way of thinking and living whereby one picks up a collection of
attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs that are taught and reinforced by other members within the
group.” It consists of unwritten and written principles and laws that guide how a person interacts
with the surface world and passes from generation to generation. Members of a culture are
identified by the very fact that they share some similarities. They’ll be united by religion, by
geography, by race or ethnicity.
Orientation to Nepalese Culture:

Nepal is a multilingual, multiethnic, multicultural, and multi-religious nation so it is a rich

country in terms of language, culture, religion, biodiversity, and socio-cultural diversity. The
people with different cultures, faiths, and ethnicities have been living harmoniously here since
the past. So, Nepal is also known as a land with “Unity in Diversity”

The population of Nepal in 2019 was reportedly 29.7 million. About 101 ethnic groups are
speaking over 92 languages and almost all people speak and understand the Nepali language.
Peoples with different ethnic groups and cultures live in different parts of the country.

 Northern Himalayan People:

The Himalayan region of Nepal are inhabited by Sherpas, Dolpa-pas, Lopas, Baragaonlis,
Manangays. The Sherpas are mainly found in the eastern part of Nepal, Solu and
Khumbu region; the Baragaonlis and Lopas are found in the semi-desert areas of Upper
and Lower Mustang; the Manangays live in Manang district while the Dolpa-pas live in
Dolpa district of western Nepal. Most of the people found in this region are of Mongolian
race and most of the people residing in this region follow Hinduism and Buddhism.

 Middle Hills and Valley People:

Several ethnic groups live in this region. Among them are the, Gurung, Tamang, Rai,
Limbu, Thami, Magar, Sunuwar, Newar, Thakali, Chepang, Brahmin, Chhetri and
Thakuri, Damai, Sarki, Kami and Sunar. Similarly people from other regions also migrate
to this region in search of better opportunities and facilities.

Kathmandu, the capital of the country lies in this region where people from varied
backgrounds live together to form a diverse population. The natives of Kathmandu valley
are Newar peoples and they have different cultures along with their unique festivals,
jatras, and food.
 Nawaraj Basnet (Roll no:12)
MBA IT 5th Batch (1st Semester)

 Terai People:
The ethnic groups found in this region are Tharus, Darai, Kumhal, Rajbangsi, Bote,
Majhi ,and others. They mostly speak Maithili and Bhojpuri and other North Indian
dialects. Most of the people in this region follow Hinduism and Islam religion. The
people living in this region are of the Aryan race.

Cross-Cultural Communication:

“Cross-cultural communication is the process of sending and receiving messages between people
whose cultural background could lead them to interpret verbal and nonverbal communication
differently.” Encryption of message by sender and decryption of message by the receiver is
influenced by their culture. So, for proper understanding of the message the sender and receiver
both should know about their cultural differences and efficiently handle them.

In Nepal, an individual can practice culture at varying levels. There is a cultural difference in
language texture, word-meaning, signals, etc. For example: people living in Jumla have cultural
differences with the people living in the Bara District. The language texture is different, the
mother tongue is different, the pattern of greeting is different and word meaning to the same
word is different which may lead to miscommunication due to cultural clash. So to handle this
type of cultural difference one should know the techniques and ways to bridge the cultural
differences. If these kinds of cultural differences are addressed well then this will open a chance
of business opportunities from a global perspective. Similarly the regional business can be
expanded to nationwide business in the context of Nepal.

Importance of Cross Cultural Communication in Nepal:

As mentioned earlier Nepal is the country with varying cultures and ethnic groups. So, there is a
high chance of cultural clashes based on language texture, word-meaning, non-verbal signals,
etc. So, cross-cultural communication plays a very important role in the Nepalese business world
because this may help in removing the gap between two cultures and acts as the bridge between
two cultures which further leads to the right response to the message.

For example: A regional noodles company is planning to expand its business countrywide. For
this expansion, if the company makes an advertisement in the English language then the people
living in rural areas will not understand the advertisement properly and the power of persuasion
of the company becomes low and this may not help them to reach the rural market. The people in
the rural market may not be more inclined to the English language so there exist a cultural
difference based on language. So the business will be a failure. But if the different
advertisements are made in a regional language then the advertisement is well consumed by the
regional audience of that region and there will be an expansion of business and the company may
reach its goal of reaching the mass consumer. This practice was done by well-renowned brand
Wai-Wai by making a different advertisement for different target markets with the slogan
“Hamro mann ma Wai-Wai” a few years ago. In this advertisement, they persuaded different
 Nawaraj Basnet (Roll no:12)
MBA IT 5th Batch (1st Semester)

communities such as Tharu, Gurung, Tamang, Newar, Maithili, Bhojpuri, etc. by making
advertisements in their native languages which were the best example of cross-cultural
communication.

Figure 1: Cross Cultural Advertisement by Wai-Wai noodles for different community

Along with this the company can also learn more things from the view point and idea processed
by an employee of the company if cross cultural communication exist in the company. Company
can learn more about the taste and preferences of the people following a specific cultural
background. For example: A food manufacturing company is manufacturing a specific product
line related to the food. One of the employee working in a company is permanently from
Dhanusha district and he shares that most of the people in Dhanusha are vegetarian and like more
spicy food. This kind of idea shared by the people from the terai region may help the company to
 Nawaraj Basnet (Roll no:12)
MBA IT 5th Batch (1st Semester)

make veg-spicy chips especially for the people living in the terai region which helps in the
business expansion.

As businesses completely deal with the proper communication with each stakeholder there is a
great importance of cross-cultural communication in the business scenario of Nepalese business.
Nepalese business nowadays is expanded to the global market. So there needs to have proper
communication between the Nepalese party and foreign party. But due to differences in
geographical culture we can experience the cultural difference based on language, gesture, and
other communication attributes. This may lead to the cross-cultural conflict in communication.
So to grow the business as a global knowledge there should be proper knowledge about cross-
cultural communication skills. Cross-cultural communication is important in Nepalese business
world because of the following summarized points

 It overcomes cultural barrier

 It ensures proper exchange of information
 It helps in globalization and creates more business and job opportunities
 It helps in sharing viewpoint and perspective of diverse people

Challenges of Cross Cultural Communication in Nepal:

Due to diversity in workstation workforce encompasses a wide range of skills, traditions,

backgrounds, experiences, outlooks, and attitudes toward work. As a result, Supervisors face the
challenge of connecting with these diverse employees, motivating them, and fostering
cooperation and harmony among them. Working together is also one of the emerging challenges
in today’s business world because of diversified people involved in the same team. Along with
this company also have their organizational level challenge to make the balance between their
business partner and the community in which the company operates.

While communicating we encode our message using our assumptions but while receiving a
message receiver decodes message according to his/her assumptions. So due to differences in
culture there arises a problem of misunderstanding which is the major challenge of cross-cultural
communication.
The challenges of cross-cultural communication can be explained by help of the points listed
below:

1. Assumption of similarities: This refers to our tendency to think about how we behave
and act is the universally accepted rule of behavior. When someone acts differently or
acts against our culture then we have a negative view of them.
In the case of Nepal the majority of people follow the Hindu religion and minorities of
people follow Islam religion. There exist dissimilarities in the culture they follow such as
the way of cutting a goat in the festival, writing a script ( Devnagari Vs Urdu ), etc. Both
 Nawaraj Basnet (Roll no:12)
MBA IT 5th Batch (1st Semester)

communities have different views about them. So it is a challenge for a manager to solve
the issue of assumption of similarities.

2. Language and word meaning differences:  Problems occur when there is an inability to
understand what the other is saying because different languages are being spoken. The
same language may have some words that may differ their meaning in different cultures
and contexts.

For example the word “Chatti” in the Western part of the Himalayan region is
interpreted as “slipper” whereas in the terai region it is interpreted as “underwear”. So
there exists a misinterpretation. Similarly the Newari people living in Kathmandu and
Lalitpur understand “laa” as water but the Newari people living in Bhaktapur understand
“laa” as muddy water.

So in diverse workstations it is a challenge for managers to deal with language

and word meaning differences for proper cross-cultural communication in the Nepalese
business world.
.
3. Nonverbal Signal misinterpretation:  The way we dress, the way we express ourselves
through our body language, eye contact, and gestures also communicates something. 
For example: a simple gesture like nodding the head is considered to be YES in certain
cultures and NO in others. Similarly looking in the eyes of people is a bad culture in the
context of Nepal but in the western country it signs to trust. As we all know the Christian
community people wear a white dress in their wedding whereas in the Hindu community
people wear white dress during the funeral period. This may lead to the nonverbal
misinterpretation to some peoples.
So it is a challenge for the manager to deal with nonverbal misinterpretation for proper
cross-cultural communication between people with different cultural backgrounds which
may help in the expansion of the business.

4. Preconceptions and Stereotypes: Stereotypes involves putting people into pre-defined

slots based on our image of how we think they are or should be. It involves a set of
characteristics that we assume that all members belonging the group share which may be
true or may be false. But stereotypes may lead to wrongful expectations and notions. A
preconceived opinion of another can lead to bias and discrimination.
For example: Jhapali and Syanjali are referred as distrusted people in Kathmandu
valley which is based on stereotype.
Preconception such as caste-system is found in our country which further can lead to bias
and discrimination in the workplace
Alongside people of Nepal think that all politicians are bad people which is an example
of stereotyping.
So it is challenge for manager to deal with preconceptions and stereotypes for proper
cross cultural communication in Nepalese business world.
 Nawaraj Basnet (Roll no:12)
MBA IT 5th Batch (1st Semester)

In this way the importance and challenges of cross cultural communication in Nepalese business
world is explained.