Cross Cultural and HRM Issues Faced by Hungry Jack in Expanding to Nepal

This report highlights the cross cultural and HRM issues faced by Hungry Jack while expanding to Nepal. It discusses language barrier, racial and ethnic backgrounds, education and religious beliefs, society's demands, managing employees, workplace policies, dealing with bullying, technology, ethics, and economy.

CROSS CULTURAL
MANAGEMENT

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Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................2
Cross cultural issues..........................................................................................................................2
Human Resource Management Issues...............................................................................................3
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................4

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INTRODUCTION
In the age of globalisation, there are larger numbers of companies have crossed borders
(Thomas and Peterson, 2017). Hungry Jack is an Australia based big fast food chain and is
planning to open its business in Nepal. Because of the fact that there is a huge difference in
the culture prevailing in both the nations, they tend to face many kinds of HRM and cross
cultural issues. This report highlights some of the issues that are faced by Hungry Jack while
expanding to Nepal.
Cross cultural issues
There are several cross cultural issues that arise in the international business. Some of them
are as follows:
 Language barrier: The first and the foremost problem that any company faces in its
expansion plan is the language barrier. Since Australia and Nepal has different type of
language hence for the management of Hungry Jack, it becomes difficult to
understand the language of the local employees or other stakeholders (Primecz,
Romani and Sackmann, 2011). This is also reflected in the operational effectiveness
and performance of the firm as the management has to deal with the sense of
understanding.
 Racial and Ethnic backgrounds: The people of Australia and Nepal are from distinct
racial and ethnic backgrounds, this act as a very big issue in the management of
employee relations. It also creates problems as it generates conflicts among different
staffs at different level (Bird and Mendenhall, 2016). This is because their beliefs and
understanding about anything is distinct from each other. This also gets reflected in
the amount of hard work they do as well as the type of work they prefer to do. For
example Nepalese people believe on physical work while Australian work force
believes in less physical work.
 Education and religious beliefs: People of both the nations have different kind of
religious as well as educational beliefs. This is a problem for the organisation as they
have to respect the religious belief of Nepal in this case. Australia is a highly educated
society while Nepal’s educational standard is comparatively on lower side. This also
gets reflected in the type of services they provide. Since the company is expanding in

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Nepal hence they will have to put larger efforts in the training and development
program.
 Society’s demands: The society of Nepal and Australia differs from each other in
terms of the demands they have. This creates a challenge in front of Hungry Jack as
they will have to change their operational mechanism. It can be seen in the eating
habits that society of both the nations have. There is a difference in the way the
people in different nations wants to avail the services (Aher, 2017). For example the
ambience in the restaurants or the way in which the food is served.
Human Resource Management Issues
Due to the difference in the working culture in both the nations, there are several HRM issues
that arise in the organisation. Some of the most common HRM issues have been illustrated
below:
 Managing employees: There are many employees that are from different regions in
the Nepal and hence managing them can be a challenge for the company. This can be
understood by the fact that people in two nations have different kinds of demands and
hence fulfilling them can be a dangerous aspect (Chanlat, Davel and Dupuis, 2013).
For example the reward and salary expectation of the employees in both the countries
differ from each other. Employees in both the nations demands for different kinds of
working environment providing which can be a difficult job for Hungry Jack. If the
salaries and rewards are not balanced for the employees of both the nations then there
is a chance that work force can get divided.
 Workplace policies: Since the rules are highly affected by the demands of the
employees and hence it becomes essential for the cited firm to make sure that they
design the rules and policies of the company that complies with working demand of
both the nations.
 Dealing with Bullying: It is often seen in multinational firms that people from the
native country bullies the employees from host nation. This is a serious challenge for
the HRM of the Hungry Jack as this issue creates a negative environment at the
workplace which reduces the productivity of the employees (Kawar, 2012).
 Technology: It is another major problem that companies are facing. This is because
Australia is a highly advanced technological nation while Nepal is comparatively on

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the lower side. This creates a difference in the way management wants to do the work
and how things are done in the Nepal. Australian workforce is highly dependent on
the technological equipment for their working process and so is Hungry Jack while
the employees of Nepal have lesser knowledge regarding technological use. For this
Hungary Jack will have to train the employee thoroughly so that operational
efficiency can be maintained.
 Ethics: The ethical consideration of the employees is different in different nations
(Moran, Abramson and Moran, 2014). On the other hand Hungry Jack has the some
specified guidelines regarding ethical norms which may differ from that of what is
considered to ethical in Nepal. This is an issue as they will have to manage the ethical
consideration of the both the nations. Since the cultural beliefs of both the nations are
different hence ethics for the workforce also differs.
 Economy: Australia is a developed nation having strong economy and Nepal is a
developing nation with relatively weaker economic background. This is a challenge
for the cited firm as they will have to manage the salaries according. The inflation
plays a much greater role in this which differs in both the nations (Whitehead, 2017).
With the diverse workforce at the Hungry Jack this problem widens as people also
wants different kinds of rewards especially in the festive seasons.
CONCLUSION
From the above based report it can be concluded that in the expansion plan of the Hungry
Jack in Nepal there are various issues that will arise in terms of both cross cultural
management and human resource management. This is because diversity at the workplace has
a distinct set of demands which if not fulfilled can create several issues at the workplace.

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REFERENCES
Aher, R., (2017) Cross-Cultural Challenges In the International Business Management.
Online. Available at: http://blogmag.in/cross-cultural-challenges-in-the-international-
business-management/. [Accessed on 21st May 2018].
Bird, A. and Mendenhall, M.E., (2016) From cross-cultural management to global leadership:
Evolution and adaptation. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.115-126.
Chanlat, J.F., Davel, E. and Dupuis, J.P. eds., (2013) Cross-cultural management: culture
and management across the world. Routledge.
Kawar, T.I., (2012) Cross-cultural differences in management. International Journal of
Business and Social Science, 3(6).
Moran, R.T., Abramson, N.R. and Moran, S.V., (2014) Managing cultural differences.
Routledge.
Primecz, H., Romani, L. and Sackmann, S. eds., (2011) Cross-cultural management in
practice: Culture and negotiated meanings. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Thomas, D.C. and Peterson, M.F., (2017) Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts.
Sage Publications.
Whitehead, S., (2017) Staffing Policy & HRM Issues in International Business. Online.
Available at: http://panmore.com/staffing-policy-hrm-issues-in-international-business.
[Accessed on 21st May 2018].

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