Us And Japan Business : A Culture Of Progress

In essence this dimension deals with the relationship between the individual and the collectives in a given society. It is reflected in the way in which people live together. For example, nuclear families, extended families, tribes and other larger communities. It directly effects peoples values and behaviours. In some cultures individualism is sometime to be sought after but in others it is seen as alienation.

In Peter Duus’ Japanese Discovery of America, the author shows the learning experience that Japan went through in order to become one of the strongest countries in the early 20th century. From 1797 when the first American ship arrived in Japan, to 1879 when President Grant visited the Meiji emperor, Japan, not one of the strongest countries economically and militarily at the time, had interactions with multiple countries that included Russia, England and Portugal. However, Japan’s Confucianism belief and the development of the Tokaido Road served as roots for their quick rise to modernization. Even though multiple countries were cooperating with Japan, the relations with the United States proved to be the most

‘ What are the differences of managers’ leadership styles between the Western and Non-Western cultures ?’

First, power distance is the first dimension in Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions. Power distance is the “extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.” (Hofstede, 2017). When comparing China and the United States, China had twice as high power distance score than the United States. The high-power distance score in China shows that it is acceptable to have inequalities in their society, and that the people accept and expect power is distributed unequally.

The first dimension is Individualism and Collectivism. These are social patterns under which beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values are then organized into one theme. Some countries practice individualism and the members of society are motiviated by their own needs and preferences above the needs of the group. In contrast, countries that practice collectivism are much more closely linked as a group and are motivated by the obligations that are considered norms for the group. Hofstede felt that countries with higher higher per capita

Looking at the chart the first dimension of culture plotted is individualism-collectivism. This dimension addresses how people define themselves and their relationships with others. Cultures that fall on the individualism side of the continuum share four characteristics. First, such cultures consider the individual to be the most important entity in any social setting. Second, individualistic cultures stress independence rather than dependence. Third, individualistic cultures reward individual achievement. The last characteristic is; individualistic cultures value each individual’s uniqueness.

Hierarchy and status are considered highly important in both Japan and Mexico in addition to a strong separation between the work and home life. Both Mexico and Japan rely on strong work relationships and loyalty in addition to having top down style of commination and information flow. Both countries have a belief in collectivism over individualism, according to Hofstede’s Value Dimensions, with Japan slightly higher on the index, similarly for the masculinity index. The implications of these characteristics can be viewed in each countries’ management approach. These societal values and characteristics influence each countries’ business behavior and methodologies. (Deresky, 2014)

This paper provided an opportunity to take a deeper look into the country of Japan by conducting a Global Cultural Analysis. Throughout this paper the following four research areas were explored: 1.What is the major elements and dimensions of culture in Japan? 2. How are these elements and dimensions integrated by locals conducting business in Japan? 3. How does U.S. culture and business compare with the elements and dimensions of culture integrated by the locals conducting business in Japan? 4. What are the implications for U.S. businesses that wish to conduct business with Japan?

Our way of conducting business in the United States works for us, but when doing business in other countries it may not. I decided to look at the way business is done in Japan and how it differs from United States. When doing business in different countries, we would need to do our homework and research Japan. Japan is a country with a rich history and culture. The lack of knowledge about their culture can make doing business very different. We will look at the Japanese culture and how it differs from U.S. culture and the proper way to communicate in a business meeting in Japan.

There are several different challenges for Human Resource Management teams in organizations throughout the world. The HR strategies of these various organizations are very dependent on the culture of the country in which the organization resides. Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions is a great way to distinguish between the traditional HR aspects of organizations in different parts of the world. Although both the United States and Japan have very successful companies, there are differences in the way these organizations handle HR issues.

Power/Distance (PD), “refers to the degree of inequality that exists- and is accepted- among people with and without power. A high PD score indicates that society accepts an unequal distribution of power, and that people understand “their place” in the system. Low PD means that power is shared and well dispersed.” (www.mindtools.com) As an example from the article, Myers goes on to say, “there were basically four levels: VP, director, manager, and worker bee. You only talked to people at your level.” SK Telecom boasted that

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,

Power distance is a value that is essential to differentiate individuals, groups and organisations based on the distance between the leader of a group or head of the organisation, to those present on the lowest rung of the organisational hierarchy. Power distance also relates to the degree to which inequalities are acceptable within the organisational hierarchy. Hofstede (1984) defines power distance as “the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally”. In organisations where power distance is large, hierarchies are accepted and create social orders where each member has a very specific role. Conversely, in societies where power distance is low, people tend to strive to distribute power equally and question any kind of inequalities.

Japan is an Eastern nation that is equivalent to the United States with regards to her economic status. The country's capitalistic philosophy started during the Meiji restoration in the late 1860s and was further developed and embedded through the work of Deming. Throughout its history, Japan is regarded as a religiously and ethnically standardized society with a feudal past of strong nationalistic and internal allegiances. While the country falls under the capitalistic side of the capitalism-socialism continuum, her interpretation of capitalism is not similar to the United States model. Similar to Russia, Japan has mainly been influenced over the past five decades by national culture and economic ideologies that emphasize different directions. The nation has an economic ideology that is considered as more individualistic-focused and a national culture that is increasingly collectivistic-focused (Ralston et. al, n.d.).

Hofstede (1980, 2001) referred power distance as the extent to which the individuals, societies and nations accept the inequalities and power hierarchy as legitimate in institutions and organisations. Power distance can be considered as greatest challenge for multinational corporations because it can give significant impact to the employees and also the organisational performance.