Himalaya
Ban*
General Background
In the recent years,
the businesses are operating internationally. The social cultural challenges
are faced by all of the organizations either local or international but the
companies which work across the national borders face a lot of social cultural
challenges. For example, work force diversity has increased in the companies.
People from various backgrounds like culture, language, religion, gender and
traditions work together. It is the responsibility of the organizations to
create such an environment which may enhance the positive interaction among the
workforce.
The aim of a business
is to make optimum use of its available resources to generate revenue, and
maximize its profits. Whether or not a business is able to make optimum use of
its available resources depends upon numerous internal and external factors.
One of such notable factors that play a decisive role in the functioning of an
organization is the sociocultural environment of the region in which the
organization is operating. Sociocultural factors such as social attitudes,
belief systems, education, law, politics, etc., have a bearing on the prospects
of a business. If a business overlooks, or fails to identify the effects of sociocultural factors, it runs the risk of alienating itself with its
immediate environment.
One of the most
important sociocultural trends which have an impact on a business is the
constantly changing preferences of customers. A business may build a brand name
for itself and model its core strategies in a certain manner, but if it fails
to recognize and adapt to the changing preferences of the customers, it is
doomed to fail. According to Adhikari, (2010)Nepalese
companies have been facing four mega trends that can be found are mainly; Rapid
globalization, IT revolution, Industrial structure change and declining
birthrate.
Sociocultural Impact in Nepalese perspective:
Nepali society is a
home of multicultural, multiethnic and religious groups scattered throughout
the length and breadth of its geographic boundary. Nepali society and cultures have
flourished here over millions of years and this diversity set in a small
geophysical entity like Nepal is a typical example in the history of the whole
of South Asia(Khatry, 2014).
Glorious history apart,
Nepali culture has also been experiencing changes in the recent decades. Some
of these changes are fast and irreversible. They are going deep into the mind
and psyche of the new generation and bringing up some pertinent questions
regarding new social order, cultural continuity and national character.
Fast development of
urban culture through modern education, media, economy, employment and other
factors, our rural context has remained back or is experiencing slow pace of
change and development. Yet, the impact of urban development on the rural
social, cultural and political order is phenomenal. We are now fostering
education where there is less focus on norms, moral values and respect for
one’s culture and tradition. Western consumer culture, faiths and practices,
western values and norms are creating erosion in our own value system, faiths
and practices.
The socio cultural
change has brought various trends and mega trends in Nepalese market. The impact
has been so great and so deep that, wherever we go, and, as far as the eye can
see, we can notice its impact directly. Our food, and food habits, our dresses,
our dances, our songs, our music, our education system, our life style are the
entire western pattern. (Library of Congress, 2014)
The socio-cultural environment of the country has changed considerably
over the past two decades or so with many changes in the economic, cultural and
gender mix of the working population. This emerging and distinctive change and
class structure of the Nepalese society has opened up new frontiers of economic
and business activities. The following are a few examples of the broadening
base of the Nepalese business sector.
a)
The Middle class House-makers:
Today, the urban house-
maker is playing an increasing and active role in managing her household. The
house-maker, therefore, has a major influence in all purchase decisions of her
family. With the increasing purchasing power of the middle class, the house-maker
has more funds with her to buy different products of daily use as well as other
commodities needed by the family.
b)
Shifts in lifestyles:
Nepal is currently
witnessing great changes in lifestyles and eating habits. Fast foods are
preferred to homemade meals. The number of restaurant goers is growing.
Similarly, changing urban lifestyles demand for time saving home appliances, TV
seats, refrigerators, telephone sets, music system, and so on.
c)
The Urban Teenagers:
Urban teenagers belonging to the middle and upper class families are
now emerging as a sizable and distinct market segment. They care less for
tradition and religion. They are after material comfort and inclined towards
pursuit of pleasure. The children of the teenagers spend their pocket money on
soft drinks, chocolate, fast foods, movies and light reading materials.
d) Growth in nuclear Family:
In Nepal due to growth in working class population modern youth tends
to prefer small family or children of one or two. This has changed the
purchasing pattern and family planning pattern of people. Unlike previous,
current generation youth tend to marry and prefer to stay away from their
parents. This has shooted the demand for new apartment, baby care centers,
Montessori schools and changed lifestyle. The young parents tend to invest
heavily upon the baby care and baby related products in markets and thus have increased
demand. Meanwhile, these young parents are also equally spending for themselves
in recreational activities like watching movie, eating out in weekends and
visiting new places in a six month or so thus boosting out the nation’s
economy.
e) Change in Food Culture
Food habit of Nepali
people is greatly changed due to the influence of western cuisine. Most of the
Nepalese people needed “dal bat” to satisfy their hunger but today the ‘pizza
culture’ has changed “dal bat” culture. People go to the restaurants with their
families and have pizza, burger, chicken and purchase of instant noodles,
processed meat, packaged food has taken the dinner table at home and office due
to change in lifestyle and time limitations. The advent of KFC Chicken, Coca
Cola, Organic Coffee and imported wine has taken the place of mother cooked
food and local drinks.
f) Shift in working
culture
The impact of sociocultural change can be noticed in case of occupation also. Most of the people in
the past were farmers. However, the dominant farming culture is seen as
disgrace these days, youth prefer to go abroad and work 18 hours a day but seek
little opportunities in their home land. The remittance income has further
boosted the income of people drastically and this has created demand for luxury
items like jewelry, televisions, refrigerators, real estate, automobiles, etc.
Similarly, people migrate from village to city in search of jobs in offices,
factories and industries. This has increased demand for apartment service in
city areas, the plotting of land business has boomed and people are inclined
towards buying and trading shares due to awareness.
g) Change in attitude
The attitudes of people
are also changing. Nepalese people used to have spiritual thinking and
dependent upon luck, but the impact of west have translated into materialistic
people. Most of the Nepali people have become money minded people and money has
been seen as highest respectful entity. Previously, there was no nightlife in
Kathmandu. However, Night clubs, Discos, Dance bars have attracted not only the
youths but many people from old generation too. The awareness among people
toward gender equality has given female also power and rights for working
outside home. This has raised their income and increased their purchasing power
decision. To tap this opportunities we can see rise of beauty parlors,
boutiques rapidly.
h) Shift in Shopping
Culture
The shopping habit has
changed a lot. Previously the customer had to go to shops to buy goods but now
reverse has happened due to call
centers, TV shopping, online shopping as buying, choosing goods has become
quicker and easier. Meanwhile, shopping at the departmental stores and shopping
malls trend is the next impact of changing sociocultural in Nepal, These days
business has combined shopping centers with shopping malls, food courts, movie theaters, game house, beauty parlors etc. So going to shopping mall has become
a new trend of not only shopping but a complete day out in weekend for fun and
excitement.
i)
Change in fashion habits
The trend of jeans and
t-shirt has taken over ‘dhakatopi and daurasuruwal’ by male and ‘gunyocholi and
patuki’ by female in Nepal. Nowadays it is rare to see such dresses. These were
worn by some people in special occasions only. Nowadays people wear jeans,
t-shirt, cap, coat, hat, goggles and heavy shoes. The heavy influence of Indian
and Hollywood movies and TV serials can be seen in fashion, eating habits and
buying habits. The cultural shift has can be seen in celebrating festival as
well. Nowadays youth are also celebrating Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and
Valentine Day side by side with their local festivals. This has created new
business like party palace venues, flower shops, event management companies,
and others.
j)
Rise in Internal Tourism:
With the restoration of
peace in the country, internal tourism has also grown significantly. People
visit places of their interest. This increasing mobility of people has created
business opportunities for hotels and travels agencies to foster fast.
Conclusion
Sociocultural impact
has heavily shaped the consumers value and their relevance to business has
become obvious. Value change is pervasive in its effects on business. Any shift
in people’s basic values would change the business environment. These trends
are occurring more rapidly in various forms. Therefore in nutshell we can
outline the following trends in business due to socio-cultural factors:
i)
Growing urbanization
and consumer awareness.
ii) Individualized
lifestyles.
iii) More
informed and demanding consumers due to growing education.
iv) Greater
acceptance of fashion and lifestyle
v) Shift
in traditionally defined male-female roles.
vi) Growth
of greater pleasure orientated and materialistic focused culture.
vii) Changing
family structure, preference to smaller families and less influence of elders
in purchase decision.
These factors together
represent the sociocultural profile of the contemporary Nepalese society. These
value changes can be considered not only a source of general input to business
decision makers, but also the factor to be considered for formulating strategies.
Special efforts are required to properly understand these value shifts.
Examination of trends in these and similar variables can help a business firm
predict and sociocultural changes likely to affect its operations.
Bibliography
C.
A. (2010). Nepalese Economy:Current Scenario. Kathmandu.
Ghimire, B. (2008). ohmynews. Retrieved from The
Changing Face of Nepal:
http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=381640&rel_no=1
Khatry, P. (2014). Nepali Society: Fading Norms and
Dying Values. Retrieved from Gorkhapatra:
http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/rising.detail.php?article_id=64236&cat_id=7
Library of Congress. (2014). Nepal - The Society.
Retrieved from mongabay.com: http://www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/nepal/SOCIETY.html
