Analysis of Japanese Business Culture Essay

In Japan, for all its business and technological skills, social values take priority over purely economic ones. Reid's interesting description of a new-employee ceremony at a large Japanese corporation, in this case the electronic giant NEC, highlights his celebration of how Confucian ritual dignifies life in the Japanese workplace.

Since Japan’s exit from isolation and entrance into global, cross cultural exchange, many aspects of the Japanese culture have been shaped and changed from their original traditionalism. Despite Western influence, however, Japan has been able to maintain a sense of cultural identity through unique practices that are rooted in the original culture. A prime example of this autonomy can be found when observing Japanese business culture and ethics, especially when the United States is used as a cornerstone of comparison. In observing the modern business practices of both nations one is immediately drawn to the manner in which business is both discussed and

Japan’s business culture is regarded as one of the unique in the entire world. One of the reason behind their uniqueness is that; Japanese live in long term orientation oriented societies. Japanese see their life as a very short moment in a long history of mankind. They want to do their best in their life time and that is all what they believe in. Japanese live their lives guided by virtues and practical good examples. They all serve the durability of the companies. The idea behind it is that the companies are not here to make money every quarter for the shareholders, but to serve the stake holders and society at large for many generations to come. On the

     Cultures are varying among different parts of the globe. People with different cultures have different characteristics and viewpoints on the subjects due to diverse understanding and method of learning. During the past few decades, the international trade grows in a very rapid rate due to the advantages that it provides; “increased sales, operational efficiencies, exposure to new technologies and broader consumer choices” (Heslin). Therefore, when considering the culture aspect to current business world, it is crucial for business to understand the culture aspect because of the tremendous growth of international business as well as utilize the international market to its maximum

One of the most important facets for a successful business in the twenty-first century is how it communicates with their customers, partners, suppliers and governments from different countries and cultures from around the world. For a business to operate with any modicum of success in Japan, you must possess a basic understand of how their society functions. As a result of learning about the geography, climate, history, religion, cultural rituals, politics, education system, and the role of the family; it will allow a business or business person the insight needed to understand how society functions and the method in which business is conducted.

is in sharp contrast with the Japanese collectivist nature of working in a group for the company as a whole. The individualistic nature of the Americans also leads to power conflicts among themselves. This is because, when additional responsibilities are given to them, they view it as an extension of their individual sovereignties (because of their thirst for personal achievements and accomplishments) and this leads to power conflicts in the case of overlapping sovereign areas. The Japanese being extremely high on the dimension of ³masculinity´, the job culture is often in contradiction to the American workers who lay equal emphasis to personal life as to professional, and their work life balance is imbalanced. The excessive importance given to dedication and devotion to work can create work stress for the Americans who put ³personal and family happiness first´. This is also evident in their recruitment philosophy: It is the ability, performance and attitude of an individual which is measured in an interview, rather than assigning a pseudo ± status to one owing to the prestige of his degree. This often leads to a communication gap between the Japanese and the Americans, which is literally evident in the meetings and discussions which happen at late hours when the Americans have retired for the day, among the Japanese in their language. Needless to say, this created apprehension in the minds of the Americans but the management tries to rectify the issue by

There are significant cultural differences between Japan and the United Kingdom that need to be taken into account when doing international business. There are also a number of methods and systems by which these differences have been described. These include the Geert Hofstede cultural dimensions, Trompenaars seven dimensions of culture and the Globe Project's cultural dimensions. This paper will discuss these differences and similarities, and shed light as to the best approach to international business in these countries.

In Japan, business organisations use wa for practice, which is different from China that use guanxi as their practice. Both of them have different use for the organisation but they will provide many benefit to them. The competitive advantage that Japanese’s firm receive from wa or teamwork is actually base on its own characteristics. Wa refer to the value that Japanese give to loyalty and consensus. According to Altson (1989), Wa is the existence of mutual corporation that encourage the employees to put all of their energy and work together to achieve the common goal. Personal interest is disregarded that all of the member in the group need to discard the idea of personal gain before the group benefit. However, this does not mean that members will not receive any benefit from their work but will be rewarded after the group’s goal is achieved. Group membership is more important than specific position. Wa demand employees to work as the team and trust each other during the process. Japanese think that do business with friends is better and having a proper introduction will initiate the business relationship to be established. Contract was viewed as the personal agreement in Japan and it will change when conditions change. Social relationship will be formed through the third parties or mediators who will smooth thing out for both parties and are respected from both of them.

The United States business culture is based on a direct and informal approach. This means that “rolling your sleeves up” and getting down to business is respected and expected when working in the United States. (Executive Planet) On the other hand, the Japanese culture is a complex and multi-layered system, which developed over thousands of years. This is very much apparent when analyzing the business culture. The Japanese put a lot of focus on having a hierarchical, group-oriented society, and aim to avoid direct confrontation, maintaining the workplace harmony on a high level.(Export.org) The long-term focus on culture and tradition caused the business culture to be very formal and complex, a complete opposite of the American culture.

Japan is the region of the world focused on in this research essay. The author will define culture, and describe Japanese cultural traits with an emphasis on leadership competency. The thesis statement hypothesizes that cultural study and research of specific regions of the world will enable cross-cultural competence and comprehension in leadership roles.

Analysis of Japanese Business Culture Along with recent globalization, the business market is now diffused everywhere in the world. Consequently, mega-competition and international co-operation are promoted simultaneously in the field of business. Under this circumstance, learning and understanding the business culture each country has is important to succeed in global business. As business culture is indivisible from a country’s cultural uniqueness, American-style business is formed in the United States, and British-style business is adopted in England.

Another point is that they give authority to local managers in important decision making, which serve customers better. Based on these facts, it is actually not impossible for Japanese companies to be successful in the emerging market. Additionally, it is also argument to overcome cultural distance theory that ‘as the cultural distance increase, the level of investment decreases, the type of investment lower, and the investing firm will not want to cooperate with a local partner’.

Sonzai is constructed from 2 words; son and zai. Son means subjective self-subsistence or sustain over time. Zai means that the subject stays in the same places in which the word “places” refers to social places which consist of human relations, such as home, hotel, inn, etc. By putting these two words together, we get sonzai (human existence) which literally means self-sustenance of human relations. Although sonzai looks similar to ningen, they are quite different. Ningen refers to capability of being an individual and at the same time also being a member of a society. To sum up, ningen is mostly explaining about a person as an individual. Sonzai emphasizes the dynamic structure of human being, such as human relations which

Every country has different management practices. They all have unique approaches that have been found to be the most adequate or efficient way in accomplishing specific objectives. At some point we have heard the English terms culture, management terms, and business culture, yet we don’t have much knowledge about these terms definitions. On the other hand, some of us are not familiar with terms such as “wa”, “quanxi”, and “ inhwa”, Which these terms are essential management terms in Japan, China, and South Korea. In this paper I will be analyzing my findings on the words culture, management terms, business culture, “wa”, “quanxi”, “inhwa”, what would be similar terms to describe American management practices, and if these terms sufficiently capture American management practices.

Doing business across continents requires cultural awareness. Cultural awareness involves understanding, appreciating and learning about different cultures where one does business (Ogasawara, 2010). This blog focuses on doing business in Japan, with the aim of outlining the uniqueness of Japanese culture. The areas of focus are greetings and communication style, the concept of time, and personal space and/or eye contact. People often mistake Japanese culture as difficult to understand and an obstacle in doing international business. However, below is an understanding of this culture when it comes to international business.