Compare and contrast business systems in Japan and China. Answer with reference to relevant theories and use comparative country and/or corporate examples.
Word count: 2,608
To understand the differences between Japanese and Chinese business systems we must first understand the meaning of a “business system”. A “business system” is a “methodical procedure or process, used as a delivery mechanism for providing specific goods or services to customers in a well defined market” (1). Unlike the Eastern ways of doing business, Asian-Pacific business is heavily influenced by religion and the ways of society plays an important role in the approach they take on doing business. Before we compare and contrast two leading countries, it is
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Therefore it seems that Japanese business is like a family, employing their workers for life in a closed community of loyal, trusted and harmonious beliefs.
Economy:
Japan enjoyed a period of high productive development since the end of World War II. It boomed in the late 60’s and 70’s and then came to an immense halt in the 80’s and 90’s and still vacillating today. Since the beginning of 60’s, Japans growth has been called a “post-war economic miracle” (11). This is because, in that time, they had an “average growth rate of 10% in the 1960s, 5% in the 1970s, and 4% in the 1980s” (11). In this time, according to Richard Katz in his book “Japan: The System That Soured” the Japanese government applied a “developing country strategy” which involved very low interest rates so that Japanese companies, that during that time, needed money to start up their businesses, could take out loans at a extraordinarily cheap price (10). They also used a system called WAT. This system was “a peer-to-peer complementary currency system” (12) which would “allow for small businesses to issue IOUs (called WAT-ticket) to their suppliers” (12). This allowed for a “high-cost structure” (10) where “efficient manufacturers and inefficient service-related sectors” were able to “co-exist” (10).
Has the government played a role in this success and does it
China and Japan are too enormous and influential nations located in Eastern Asia. These two nations are almost always confused because of their similar culture and people, and they also happen to be right next to each other. Japan and China have never been allies and the two countries always seem to be in conflict. These two superpowers are very important to the world, and without them everything would be imbalanced in the global market. The rising superpower, China, is a nation that will continue to grow and improve their economy, while the fragile superpower, Japan, could fall apart at any moment and ruin the balance between all of the other countries.
The legal system is another issue to be considered when doing business in China because it is still viewed as being in a developing stage. Contracts, for example, are highly influenced by this difference. In the Chinese culture, contracts describe how relationships will be developed whereas in the United States, the contract is a binding agreement that spells out the specific terms, conditions and expectations from each party involved. As Company X pursues the possibility of expanding business to China, it must understand that the Chinese business culture does not place as much emphasis on the binding force of a written contract.
Imagine yourself being a Confucian scholar-official from Song-dynasty China, and you had a chance travelling to Heian-kyo during Machinaga’s time. What observations can you make about the similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese societies? Based on your observations, which part of Japanese society deserves compliments? Which part needed to be
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.
Both Japan and China lie in the East of Asia. To a certain extent,Japan and China own similar culture background, in the Confucian Cultural Circle. But when we look back into the modern history development, Japan and China made quite different decisions when facing the western countries’ aggression. China suffered the invasion in 1840 after the first Sino-British War. Japan was in a similar situation in the black boat incident in 1853, the Opium War made the West began to pay attention to East Asia. From then on, Japan began to face the western culture. The reactions, as well as the result of Japan and China were quite disparate. This article wants to discuss what lead to the difference.
Japan’s unemployment rate of about 4% opposed to the U.S. unemployment rate of close to 10%. Even the financial debt to GDP ration is an advantage, and debt in the private sector has not increased unlike the U.S. and European countries, (Time, 2009). In addition, since Japan is a huge exporter and with the U.S. demand going downward, the international balances and growth declined especially as the dollar value dropped and the yen surged. •
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.
In 1945, Japan was devastated and lost a quarter of the national wealth after suffering a defect in the second world war. A majority of the commercial buildings and accommodation had been demolished, and massive machinery and equipment formerly used in production for the civil market were out of service to provide metal for military supplies (Miyazaki 1967). Despite the trash and ruins had left over in Japan, Japan was able to rebuilding its infrastructure and reconstruct their economy. It is revealed that the Japanese economy was on its way to recovery, which received a rapid development since the war, and the reconstruction of Japan had spent less than forty years to become the world’s second largest economy in the 1980s. This essay will explore the three factors account for the economic growth of post-war Japan: the financial assistance from the United States, the external environment, and the effective policy of Japanese government.
While many of the world’s economic powers seem similar, there is no doubt there are some very key differences. Many of these differences can be attributed to cultural differences within each of the countries. While many of these countries work together in global business efforts, cultural differences would certainly have a significant impact on management style, leadership and even work ethic of the employees. The United States and Japan are both strong economic powers that hold to a capitalistic economic system. Their management styles, however, are very different. This can often be explained through the differences in culture and management or leadership styles. Over the years, the two
The system’s notable elements mainly consisted in anti-labor and pro-business policies that protected the home market from outside influence with low levels of social welfare spending, making Japan pass through a growth period though, at the same time, such system presented cases of Diet’s unconstitutionalism, corruption scandals, and a lack of organization in more than one aspect.
The deregulation of financial markets catalysed by Globalisation worldwide has impacted on the amount of trade within the Japanese economy beneficially allowing easier access to foreign currencies, facilitating a higher flow of goods between nation, by relaxing laws that severely prevented foreign buying of currency, and floating the yen. These drivers have helped boost Japan's trade and recovery from its recession. Technology has allowed finances to be traded and communication to be near to instantaneous. This has increased dramatically the amount of FDI into Japan largely thanks to the numerous strategies the Japanese government has taken to promote economic growth and hence development. Finance and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) have increased as a direct result of globalisation doubling from $63 billion in 2001 to $144 billion in
Japan ranks as the third largest economy in the world as of 2010. The GDP at current prices in US dollars in Japan was reported at 5068.06 billion in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Japan’s resurgence after World War II has however reached an inflection point in yearly 1989 after the burst of Japan’s asset price and real estate bubbles. As can be seen from the graph below, Japan’s GDP has hovered around the same level through more than 20 years of economic stagnation. The GDP’s slow growth has been exacerbated by the world financial crisis of 2008. A major landmark of Japan’s stagnation has been the BOJ’s fight against deflation.
Japan has a relatively stable political and legal environment which reduces the risks associated with entering the foreign market. The political system is a democratic system, with a Westminster form of government similar to Australia, which is favourable for western cultures when conducting international business. The legal environment on the other hand, is built on the foundations of the European Civil Law system with an English-American influence. Therefore Australian businesses must understand the differences when conducting business to ensure the
He states that Japan used market capitalism to pursue individual and corporate material wealth. However, China has been far more conservative approach having evolved from Mao Zedong’s planned socialism towards a “functional market socialism”. Further Japan appears to have adopted a far more western attitude more readily in comparison to China.
Both societies, moreover, have developed the art of business and commerce, of buying and selling, of advertising and mass producing, to the highest levels. Few sights are more reassuring to people from the United States than the tens of thousands of busy stores in Japan,