Question

Give an example of a U. S. company in Japan, and how the company addressed porential compliance issues.

Answer 1

GE is a well known example of an American company prospering in Japan. When GE entered Japan, there were considerable differences which it observed in the work culture of the home and the host country.

To elaborate upon the work-related differences that foreign company will encounter in Japan, while working in USA, we are comparing the cultural disposition of Japan(east) and USA (west).

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions for USA

1. Power Distance: America values equality and participatory form of doing business. All are considered equal and there is not much hierarchy. Organizations also have flat structures. Every employee of the organization has equal rights of expressing his concerns.
2. Masculinity: America stands high on the masculinity quotient of cultural dimensions. Americans love being competitive and are always ready to take challenges. The overall society aspires to become achievers. Success is what matters the most to them, the path followed to achieve success is not considered important.
3. Individualism: USA is highly individualistic country. The nation prefers nuclear family than joint ones. Preference is given to family over others. Loyalty is also biased towards personal favorite entities in business
4. Long Term Orientation: Americans live in the present and care very less about the future. They believe in attainment of short-term goals and do not worry much about the long term objectives
5. Uncertainty avoidance: USA is a risk taking country. They like to grab opportunities, without giving much considerations to the outcome. They accept change with open hands.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions for Japan

As per the Hofstede’s Cultural dimensions, the culture of Japan is characterized by

• Moderate power-distance (54): Japan is a type of a hierarchical society. There is awareness about power play and social positions but the same is applied in business as the last resort. Japanese are quite slow decision makers as each decision needs to be approved by every hierarchical layer in business before its implementation
• Moderate individualism (46): Japanese culture can be considered to be moderately group oriented. The people take special care not to hurt the overall harmony of society. The Japanese criticize in indirect way as they try to avoid any kind of conflicting situations in group.
• Very high masculinity (95): Japan can be considered to be one of the most masculine culture in the world. They are highly competitive, achievement and success is celebrated quite effectively. Japanese do not like that their weaknesses get recognized in public, so they work really hard on every aspect, so as to convert their weakness to their strength.
• Very high uncertainty avoidance (92): Japanese do not like any kind of uncertainty in their business. They are highly risk aversive. They try to be certain about each term of the contract, before taking the final decision.
• High long term orientation (80): Every decision taken in the Japanese culture is based on long-term effectiveness. All business decisions are taken based on how fruit it might be in future.

Japanese culture can be considered to be moderately group oriented. The people take special care not to hurt the overall harmony of society. The Japanese criticize in indirect way as they try to avoid any kind of conflicting situations in group. Japan can be considered to be one of the most masculine culture in the world. They are highly competitive, achievement and success is celebrated quite effectively. Japanese do not like that their weaknesses get recognized in public, so they work really hard on every aspect, so as to convert their weakness to their strength. USA is one of the most individualistic country. Americans have preference to their own family than to bigger groups. Joint families are not that prevalent in the country. Americans have biasedness and favoritism and that gets portrayed in any work that they do. The society can be considered quiet masculine as it thrives on competition and achievers spirit. and aspires to be achievers.

To work with Japanese people, Americans need to be more polite and formal. Japanese like decorum and take time in decision making. So, the American company needs to maintain its patience, when dealing with Japanese clients.