matsushita and japan's changing culture Essay

Japan is the home to of the top companies in the world. One of the companies, which has helped Japan’s economy to be one of the top, is Sony. Modern day Sony is a high profit high output company, which is manly due to its marketing strategies and decision to its customers.

Political, social, and economic aspects influenced the rise of the Empire of Japan, and their effects created the ways in which Japan interacted with its people and the world around it. Politically, the Meiji Restoration of the mid-1800s to the early 1900s set the stage for the growth that took place to make Japan an Empire, including the transformation of the views on the emperor. These views on the emperor helped to create a social change: the anger of the Japanese government and people about the lack of representation for Japan in world treaties and in the League of Nations. This caused extreme patriotism. Japan was economically changed by the advancements into China after Japan’s Great Depression. This military advancement opened the door for much more and was based on the Japanese’s intense nationalistic views.

Japan is a small island nation off the coast of Eastern Asia. Despite its size, Japan has proved to be formidable both economically and militarily. Since the expedition of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 opened up the past feudalistic and reclusive Japan, this nation has expanded and adopted many imperialistic policies as well as taken a more aggressive military stance. Japan has changed in many ways, but has also continued upholding traditional practices throughout 1853 and 1941.

Often in America, the public is educated about the victories of the nation, such as in World War II (WWII); however, they are unaware of the after effects it imposed onto other parties (enemy nations). Specifically, Japanese people lost their defenses, and the lifestyles of the citizens were significantly modified. Moreover, Japan was part of the Axis powers during the war and gained worldwide attention when the island attacked Pearl Harbor, a United States Naval base. This event caused the Americans to join the battle and eventually overwhelm the Japanese and forcing a surrender in 1945. Post WWII, Japan’s failure in the war was responsible for a cultural change in the country that is still present in modern day, which led to reform in family dynamics, mentality adjustments, and perceptional alteration of women. Also, whether young or old, all were exposed to this change, and those that lived in family styled households together, were the first to experience their relationships shift.

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.

Throughout History, there have been many different groups or events that are still widely known today. Groups of people such as the Indians or Vikings are popular groups which are referenced constantly in today’s society. However, none of these groups is more known or referenced than the Japanese Samurai. Originating in 646 AD, these Japanese warriors developed from a loose organization of farmers to the dominant social class in Feudal Japan. Along with their dominant military and political standing, the samurai brought with them a unique code or moral belief that became the core of Samurai culture. Because of this, the Samurai and their principles still affect modern day Japanese society with social customs today

Japans history dates back almost 53,000 years and is filled with interesting and fascinating events. Most of Japans actions have left the major world powers in the world stunned. The base of this amazing country is astonishing just by itself. The base is a bunch of active and large under water volcanoes. Japans uniqueness from the rest of the world ranges from its culture to its very interesting history to the change in government every few hundred years and their trading dilemma with petroleum and their assortment of fish that they export. Japan as a country is so very appealing and kind compared to the rest of the world its no wonder that it’s geographically separate from the rest of the world.

Pocky, Anime, manga, kanji. Have you heard of any of these? If not… where have you been? All around us teenagers, children, and even adults are being drawn into Japanese culture through TV, books, and even food. Japanese comics, called manga, take up more and more space on American bookshelves, and they've infused new life into the publishing industry. Japanese animation, anime, is on more and more movies and TV screens and influencing popular toys and games.

Western Influence on Japan Japan, as a nation, is a continually changing society. Ever since western nations became involved with Japan, its changes over recent times have increased at a substantial rate. Japan now faces cultural, economical and social differences as a result of the western involvement. The involvement was initiated by the Japanese themselves, beginning during the Meiji Period1 through current times.

Throughout the course of East Asian history, Japan has been largely influenced by the Asian mainland. From ancient times to the medieval period, significant contributions to Japan can be seen coming from both Korea and China. Both of these countries diffused elements of their cultures to form the basis of Japanese society – namely China. These foreigners would influence various aspects of society including technology, philosophy, politics, and religion.

The evolution of the world has left nations with an ever changing business environment which keeps companies on their toes.With the technological advancements as well as changes in demographic, many companies have to rapidly change the way they react to these changes in order to stay relevant in a competitive environment (Jovanović, 2015). Samsung has adapted to today’s business through adopting Western business practices into its Japanese system as well as digital technology(Khanna, Song & Lee, 2011).The role of management in today’s industry has rapidly changed from the role of a manager imposing restrictions to an organisational tool, not only for a company but personally as well (McCrimmon, 2010).Management system used in Samsung during the S-level recruitment program proves the importance of managerial ranks as well as an organised system(Khanna et al, 2010).

     Another topic discussed is the changing role of women in modern Japan. Kingston argues that women have considerably contributed to the economic boom in the 1950s and 1960s by acting as a sort of “shock absorbers” to the economy by accepting “relatively low wages and limited benefits [thus helping] subsidize the favored core workforce of full-time, male workers.” (43) However, Kingston notes that “the popular stereotype of meek, submissive Japanese women has long obscured the reality of their lives, status, experiences and perspectives, and, by the end of the twentieth century, is no more than a condescending caricature at odds with contemporary reality.” (68) As evidence he cites and three-fold

Royal Philips NV and Matsushita (owner of the Panasonic brand among others) are two of the world’s biggest electronics multinationals. After successfully building their global empires in the early twentieth century, they have both suffered financially in recent decades. It is therefore interesting to look at why this has happened and what their future prospects are.

     The Japanese culture has allowed for very little diversity. This started very early in their history. The social controls used to eliminate diversity are the family, the power of gender, the poor treatment of minority groups, the corporate Japanese mentality, and the respect required by people in authority. However, due to globalization and the shrinking of the world, Japanese society is starting to make the change to diversity. The individualistic mentality shared by the new technology driven younger generation is putting pressure on the old Japanese status quo. The transformation is happening very slow, but as the population ages and the old conservatives are being replaced by the new liberals, the old way

In contrast to Philips, Matsushita’s success stems from highly efficient and centralized operations. Also unlike Philips, Matsushita’s numerous domestic retail outlets in Japan are ideal for the sale and distribution of their products and provide valuable market research opportunities and capabilities. Both the structure and culture at Matsushita encourage an entrepreneurial drive in their employees and divisions, as they compete for funds to develop new products, and extraordinary communication exists between the international operations and the home office in Japan.