The Difference between Japanese and German Attitudes towards Overtime

Japan is home to a lot of ancient cultural artifacts and yet serves as an example of the developed world samurais, high-speed trains, home to some of the world’s largest tech companies, and may evision Tokyo as a bustling fast paced city. Japan’s population is declining, this isn’t unusual in a time where developed countries are relying on less children.What is overlooked when describing the now 3rd largest economy on Earth is how it went from surrendering during WWII to becoming an industrial superpower. There have been many changes but one have remained constant, which is the collective drive to work and excel. It has heavily influenced the Japan we know today.

The industrial revolution is the biggest milestone of human history. Factories and machines greatly improved productivity of manufacturing. Japan and England are countries with similar geography, both being islands around the same size of the coast of large countries (doc 1). England was technologically ahead of Japan, due to Japan’s foreign policy which limited contact with other countries in order to preserve culture. The Industrial Revolution started around 1760 in England, and 1868 in Japan (background). There were now a plethora of job opportunities, with many people going to work at factories. These jobs gave little money and lasted long hours. One of the biggest industries was the textile industry; people in England and Japan both worked in this industry with many parallels. Female English and Japanese mill workers had similar experiences with their work hours, similar work conditions, and gender equality within the job.

    Japan is a country of many cultures. Japan’s most renowned is the art of the samurai and currently, urbanization. Due to the American occupation in the pacific, Japanese moved from a cultural masterpiece, to an eastern constitutional monarchy. Which is generally effected by a western influence.

More than a quarter of employers report that their people are clocking up increasing amounts of overtime and more than 60 per cent say that those extra hours are unpaid. Of particular interest was the 26 per cent of employers who told us that the amount of overtime being performed by their employees had increased in the past year. Too much work was given as the main reason for doing overtime, with 40 per cent citing it, while 20 per cent said they stayed late because of pressure from colleagues. More than one in 10 (11 per cent) of those workers questioned said they remained in the office because they were afraid they might lose their job if they didn't clock up extra

Precision and punctuality is believed to be the order of the day in the Japanese society in both workplaces and social settings. Punctuality is highly regarded as an important factor that has contributed to the success of the Japanese economy in global scene. In 2013, the train transport between Osaka and Tokyo recorded an average delay of six seconds only. There is a deep sense of respect for other people’s businesses with concerns that such activities should not be interrupted due to lateness. However, the lack of flexibility has been faulted by critics who believe that the Japanese people are too obsessed with time keeping and precision. However, the origin of such values is still unknown to many with questions arising on whether such values existed before industrialization in Japan. The fact that the values are associated with Japan’s position as a global economic powerhouse raises concern on the origin of such values.

In my research, I chose a wide range of authors and scholars who have taken their time in this area of study. Through their effort, I have been able to bring out what seems to be indeed the true picture of japan and the tangible issues affecting the people of Japan.

The culture and society of Japan consists of many similar ideas to the foundation that the Western civilization was built upon. Influences that have impacted Japan include; industrialization, continued modernization, and the shift toward a democratic political government. Even with both societies being founded on identical concepts, the major differences are the way the society functions. Japan has been heavily influenced by both China and America and has made their own culture by combining these ideas along with their own traditional ideals. Just as any other country, Japan is no stranger to gender roles, gender stereotypes, and workplace inequalities and the ideas Japan was built upon plays a big role in the way all of these forms of discrimination

According to the video on YouTube, the Japanese work ethic appears to be modeled on a system that structures itself on hard work (OMF International). Aside from that, there appears to be an intense dedication that the workers have towards their jobs and their economy as well. I thought it also to be interesting around a minute into the video where Mr. Orr talks about the social attitudes and altruism of the Japanese people towards their community.

Japan: Tradition, Economy, or Both? Which is best? In Asian societies, customs and traditions play an important role within many different cultures such as the Chinese, the Japanese, the Indian, & the Cambodian cultures. In 1998, Nicholas Kristof wrote an article that described Japan’s society as too polite and civilized.

Have you ever wondered what the work ethic is like in another part of the world? What if you heard working more than 35 hours a week is not a requirement outside of the United States? A few years ago I traveled to Europe, I was intrigued to find out during our time in Paris that working more than 35 hours a week was not a custom work standard. The work hour difference between France and the United States is on average 330 hours per year (____). Being a typical American “workaholic”, the work standards in France peaked my interest; through observations during our trip and further investigation here I share my findings.

How do the scenes where the Japanese Manager’s wife was about to give birth and the American worker who wanted to take his child to a doctor’s appointment illustrate cultural differences in focus? These scenes reflect the American idea of self-focus and individualism, and the Japanese idea of group-focus and collectivism. When the American employee wanted to leave to be with his son, hunt says, “he lives for his kids,” and the Kaz replies, “But the work suffers.” In America, it far more important to us to be with our individual families and care for them, than it is to care for the company. It’s the opposite in Japan as reflected by the Japanese employee who stayed to help the company, even when his wife is giving birth. He acted for the good of the

Every country has their own set of cultures. But the most unique Japanese cultures have to be:

This report will highlight the various aspects of Japanese culture important to understanding how the average Japanese man or woman goes about his or her day. This report will also analyze various aspects of Japanese culture which would be useful for a Canadian business person to have a successful and safe business stay in Canada, and very briefly highlight some differences between the Canadian and Japanese culture.

“Compensation is known as one of the most complex areas of international human resource management” (Bohlander, Snell, Morris, 2016). For many years there has been a debate on the wages CEO’s in Japan versus those in the United States. It has been reported that CEO’s in Japan make one-sixth of the income of a CEO’s in the United States (Jilani, 2011). This research paper will examine the similarities and differences of compensation practices utilized in the United States and Japan. In order to truly examine the similarities’ and differences of compensation practices, the following aspects of compensation; salary and wages, job evaluation process, and benefits, will be examined. To fully understand the differences and similarities it is important to understand the history of compensation practices in both of these countries and how their current practices were adapted.

In order to provide for oneself or a family, citizens must often must work jobs with long hours. Due to the high concentration of people in cities, competition in the workplace can be fierce. Although workers are often provided vacation days, workers feel inclined to utilize the least amount they can manage. The reason many workers tend to rarely use a vacation day is the fear that they will appear less dedicated than co-workers that miss less work days. Justin McCurry states that a dilemma many japanese workers face is deciding whether to “take time off to recharge, or risk inviting criticism for appearing to leave more committed colleagues in the lurch”( McCurry 5). The pressure between workers may also lead to individuals engaging in more overtime in order to compensate for missed days from work.