Transcript JAPAN

CULTURE
What is Culture?
Integrated system of learned
behavior patterns that are
characteristic of the members of
any given society.
Context Orientation in Major Cultures
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Slide 5.3
Introduction
• Culture: “the sum total of the beliefs, rules,
techniques, institutions and artifacts that
characterize human populations” or “the collective
programming of the mind”.
• Socialization Process: The process of
enculturation or the adoption of the behaviour
patterns of the surrounding culture.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.4
Table 5.1
World population percentages in terms of home region, language and religion
Sources: www.census.gov; www.adherents.com
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.5
Language
• Language is critical to culture because it is the
primary means used to transmit information and
ideas.
• Knowledge of local language can:
– permit a clearer understanding of a situation;
– provide access to local people;
– allows the person to pick up nuances, implied
meanings, and other information that is not stated
outright.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.6
Religion
• Religions influence lifestyles, beliefs, values and
attitudes and can have a dramatic effect on the
way people in a society act toward each other and
towards those in other societies.
• Religion also influences:
– the work habits of people;
– the work and social customs (from the days of the
week on which people work to their dietary habits);
– politics and business.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.7
Values and attitudes
• Values: basic convictions that people have
regarding what is right and wrong, good and bad,
important and unimportant.
• Attitude: a persistent tendency to feel and
behave in a particular way toward some object.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.8
Customs and manners
• Customs: common or established practices.
• Manners: behaviour regarded as appropriate in a
particular society.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.9
The importance of culture
in different business contexts
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.10
Influences of culture
on international management
Culture influences strategic management in a number of
ways:
• Work attitudes
– for example, work ethics, organization commitment, etc.
• Achievement motivation
– the desire to accomplish objectives and achieve
success.
• Time and future
– for example: punctuality, decision-making time
constraints, time expectations on implementation of
plans, etc.
• Ethics
– standards of conduct and morality.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.11
Geert Hofstede’s four cultural
dimensions
• Power distance: measures the degree to which
less powerful members of organizations and
institutions accept the fact that power is not
distributed equally.
• Uncertainty avoidance: measures the extent to
which people feel threatened by ambiguous
situations and have created institutions and
beliefs for minimizing or avoiding those
uncertainties.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.12
Geert Hofstede’s four cultural
dimensions (Continued)
• Individualism vs. collectivism
– Individualism: the tendency of people to look after
themselves and their immediate family only.
– Collectivism: the tendency of people to belong to
groups who look after each other in exchange for
loyalty.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.13
Geert Hofstede’s four cultural
dimensions (Continued)
• Masculinity vs. femininity
– Masculinity: the degree to which the dominant
values of a society are success, money and
material goods.
– Femininity: the degree to which the dominant
values of a society are caring for others and the
quality of life.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 5.14
Figure 5.2
Hofstede’s power distance against individualism for 20 countries
Source: Hofstede, G. (1983). The cultural relativity of organizational practices and theories, Journal of International Business Studies, Fall, p. 92. Copyright © Geert Hofstede
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Elements of Culture
CONCRETE ELEMENTS
ABSTRACT ELEMENTS
•Language
Verbal
Nonverbal
•Religion
•Infrastructure
•Education
•Values and attitudes
•Manners and customs
•Aesthetics
•Social Institutions
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Understanding Cultural
Differences
Four Dimensions of
Culture
• Individualism
• Power distance
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Masculinity
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Societal and Institutional Differences
Aspects
China
United
States
Ethnic Culture
Source of Trust
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•Centered around
"relationships"
•"Reclusive", each
minding his/her own
business (especially
with "strangers" and
people outside of the
relationship network)
•Centered around
"individuals"
•"Messianic": "let's
save the world"
Trust those around
you; don't "lose face"
and credibility by
failing to live up to
written or oral
agreements
Trust the contract;
don't get into legal
hassles by not fulfilling
the agreement
Copyright © 2004 by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. All rights reserved.
Business Culture
Quiet and reserved;
clumsy
communicators
Outspoken; eloquent;
effective
communicators
Negotiation Style
Group decision; final
say by the "boss"
More individual
authority and
distributed decision
making
Dealing with
Business
Counterparts
Indirect; courteous;
take things
personally; long
memory for both
favors and
humiliations
Direct; more matterof-factly; memory for
conflict superceded
by business objective
Ability to Make
Immediate
Response
Weak
Strong
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Aspects
China
United
States
Interpersonal
"Relationship" comes first
"Economics" comes first
On "Humility"
"Humility" viewed as a virtue
"Humility" is a sign of weakness;
there is every reason for the abled
to be proud
Time Horizon
Accountable by the generation
(~30 years)
Accountable by the quarter (~3
months)
What Commands Respect
Respect for seniority, wisdom,
ability
Respect for success,
achievement, wealth
On "Family"
Children should learn to respect
the elder, love the young, and rely
on the "extended family"
Children should learn to be
independent
On "the Strong" and "the Weak" It is not righteous to bully
It is an honor to win; business is all
a competition; it is only natural that
the weak is preyed on by the
strong
Discipline (in following
procedures and schedules)
Strong
Depends on the individual
Tolerance of Diversity /
Openness to Alternative
(possibly opposing) Ideas
Openly - very receptive; but
actually, less so
More open
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Shame or Humiliation
Copyright © 2004 by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. All rights reserved.
Long memory; need and urge to
Tends to be superceded by
JAPAN
Culture and firms’ analysis
Slide 17.21
Business characteristics
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 17.22
Social and cultural
characteristics
• Collectivism rather than individualism, dominates many
aspects of Japanese life.
• Within companies certain characteristics have strong
religious roots, including honour, respect, sincerity,
loyalty (chu), duty, obligation or responsibility (giri), ritual
and hierarchy.
• Parent–child relationships characterise the hierarchical
nature of inter-organizational and interpersonal links, such
as government–industry, large firm–small firm, manager–
employee, etc.
• Respect for elders, ritualistic (highly-complex)
language forms and behaviour, group activities and
consensus decision making are all important elements.
• These contrast individualism and meritocratic forms
of organization and tend overall to unify the Japanese in
their response to gaijin (or outsiders).
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 17.23
Hai ≠ Yes
• Hai can mean one of at least four levels of yes:
– recognition, but not necessarily understanding;
– understanding, but not necessarily acceptance and
agreement;
– responsibility, understanding, but must consult with
others and secure their agreement before
acceptance; and
– agreement, which means understanding,
agreement and acceptance.
• The non-verbal signals from the speaker have to
be understood to determine, which yes is being
meant.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 17.24
Manufacturing strengths
• A variety of attributes underlie Japanese
manufacturing competitiveness.
– attention to quality;
 quality circles (QC) and total quality management (TQM).
– strong manufacturer–component supplier linkages;
 just-in-time (JIT) and keiretsu relationships.
– ability to cut production costs;
 ‘just-in-time’ and flexible and ‘lean’ manufacturing
techniques etc.
– a high level of automation and use of robotics;
– higher degree of credibility and responsibility given to
engineers and technical expertise;
– kaizen or continuous improvement, and a focus at all
levels on incremental productivity improvement and
customer-led product development.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 17.25
Strong applied R&D
• Japan has traditionally spent more than most
other countries on R&D. In 2005, 3.18% of the
nation’s GDP was spent on R&D, compared to
2.68% in the US and just 1.84% in the EU27.
• Around 78% comes from industry, the highest
amongst OECD countries.
• Contrary to popular myth the Japanese
Government has always spent relatively smaller
amounts on R&D compared to other advanced
countries (this is partly related to the low level of
defence spending).
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 17.26
Keiretsu
• The renowned Japanese corporate groupings or
keiretsu, characterised by cross-shareholdings
and regular meetings between executives,
represent more or less closely tied groups of
integrated businesses.
• There are broadly two types of keiretsu, the
horizontal (kinyu) type and the vertical,
manufacturing keiretsu.
• In the early 1980’s the top six keiretsu alone
directly accounted for about 5% of the Japanese
labour force and 16% of total Japanese corporate
sales.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 17.27
Distribution, retailing
and customer-orientation
• Associated with the keiretsu industry groupings
are multi layered distribution and retail networks
in Japan.
• This “tied” system of distribution, bound by
strong face-to-face ties between sellers and
buyers at each level, adds substantial costs to the
final product.
• Many elements of this complex distribution
system remain in Japan today. The multi tiered
distribution hierarchy has become more
simplified, however, driven by the growth in
discount stores and cost-reduction measures.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 17.28
Characteristics of
Japanese management
• We can distil some of the main characteristics of
the generic Japanese management style as:
– Effective communications internally and with
outside firms, and the use of cross-disciplinary,
cross-business and cross-functional workshops.
– Less separation of R&D, design, manufacturing
and marketing functions.
– Life-time employment, low labour mobility and
substantial investments in training. There is
also a strong emphasis on training on-the-job and
job-rotation within the firm.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 17.29
Characteristics of
Japanese management (Continued)
– Strict formal hierarchy combined with strong
underlying informal networks and a tendency
towards consensus-based decision making
(‘horizontal promotion’ for high-fliers and a lack of
outsiders entering the firm at senior levels).
– General “long-termism” with a focus on growth
and employment stability and market share rather
than profits and shareholder dividends.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009
Slide 17.30
Kaisha (“company”)
• Abegglen and Stalk (1985) sum up some of the
distinctive characteristics of Japan as the ‘‘3 Ms’’.
– marketing: direct links with consumers via
retailers and wholesalers and strong customer-led
product development;
– money: cross-shareholding and the lack of
outside pressure for short-term returns and stock
price improvements;
– manpower strategy: worker involvement, loyalty,
effective team-working, and devolvement of
responsibility combined with hierarchy.
Alan M Rugman and Simon Collinson, International Business, 5th Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2009