Part I Getting involved in a business deal between an employee in Western countries and a Japanese, there is needs to understand the different cultural gaps. Both nations have different cultural norms that might become an impediment if not well addressed before engaging in any business dealings. In Japanese organization, there is an emphasis in upward flow of information. According to (Triandis, Harry, 2007), this is from the bottom level staff to the senior level management. This results, in the majority of the senior management level employees of a firm being too of supervisory rather than hands-on leaders. This leaves a gap where those coming up with policies do not get involved in shaping and implementing. Unlike in western cultures where top management level staff are involved. While it is okay in American culture to talk straight to the point with a person and express your emotions, this is not the case in Japanese culture. They believe in one expressing his conflicting feelings more indirectly. Generally, when an American meets a person for the first time, he may call him a friend and end even the friendship immediately. However, in Japanese cultures it will takes time for one to call you a friend. There friendships take a lifetime to end. In the US, people tend to use verbal greetings more unlike in Japanese culture where non-verbal greetings are more dominant. More so, when doing family of friends introduction in the US, elderly people are given precedence over young ones. However, in Japanese culture young people are introduced first before adults.
Part II According to (Bailey, 2010), Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory, there are four main distinct dimensions of any cultural association. These dimensions are used as the basis of differentiating one culture from another one. He used this model to give each country a score that ranged from 0-100 on each dimension. Later he developed his model to add another five dimension. IndividualityIn this dimension, the US scores 91. This dimension seeks to understand the level of dependency that people maintain on themselves or towards society. It deals with the need to analyze whether people view themselves as “we” or “I”. The US is an individualist society where people tend to concentrate more on their own self welfare rather than societal needs. In this regard, there is a high affinity for US businessmen to get engaged with strangers in their dealings. This translates to one looking at what one can offer as an individual rather as a collective society grouping. In contrast to other world average of 43 in nations, like China which is a collectivism society where group-relations have higher preferences. In hiring and firing of staff family ties are given undue preference, as opposed to out-groups. In such collectivism society, individual expect their relatives to look out for them in exchange for loyalty and are more comfortable working with their families. Power distanceThis dimension seeks to evaluate the inequalities in society. It expresses the cultural perception about these inequalities. It takes into account how much the poorer ones in society endorse and accept the inequalities they are facing. In the US with a score of 40 both those at high and low levels are inclined on the need for social justice for all. They are both reliant to each other. For example, managers require employees support to steer the firm while employees require their needs to be met by their seniors with room for dialogue. In contrast to a world average of 45 that forecasts the majority of the world citizens faced by a situation where there is a gap between seniors and low level staff. This gap is deemed acceptable, and the superiors are not bound to their actions in any way. This goes down to businesses where lower level staff are not expected to question their superiors cause this will be seen as a challenge to their authority (Ralston, 2007). Long-term orientationThis dimension, is largely related to the teachings of Confucius and greatly implies the dealing with traditions and relations. According to The US, scores 29 on this dimension. The score can be attributed to the fact that the majority of US businesses measure their performance in short-term periods with statements on the same issued in quarter-year basis. This helps to motivate the staff to achieve higher results in their work. This low score implies that the US population believes more in absolute truths and have deeper concern for stability. With a world average of 45, the US has the lowest score in this dimension. Asian countries have a thrift in making investments and a wide belief in truths. Today nearly all organizations are engaging in teamwork. Business operators form organizations belonging to one or more teams to collaborate in business. A team is an established organization of individuals coming together with ideas, skill and same objectives that contribute to their overall corporation in the business. These groups will always have somebody who acts as their team leader. As a manager, I will be inclined more to assessing an individual's performance as compared to the general productivity of a single unit. More so I will be more engaging with the staff thus erasing the barrier between higher level management and employees. The role of manager is to organize the whole team, encourage participation of the other members or employees and get things going in the organization. As I manage the employees, as a leaders I am required to use my best style of management with the highest skills. To manage these kinds of organizations as a manager I am required to be more effective. It is important to apply all my skills and knowledge because only the trained managers who are more skilled can make up-to-date decisions.
In addition, I will be more focused on the results attained in the short-term to be able to assess the firm’s performance going forward. It is necessary to be equipped with scores of each country to be able to administer your duties without overstepping the cultural boundaries.
References
Bailey, H. (2010). Preliminary findings of an investigation into the relationship between national culture and EQ-5D value sets. Quality of Life Research 19.8 , 1145-1154.
Cultural Aspects of Japan, the United States and Europe. (2007, september 29). Retrieved Octomber 24, 2007, from Super Business - Project Management Articles: http://www.super-business.net/Intercultural-Management/292.html
Ralston, D. (2007). The impact of national culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: A study of the United States, Russia, Japan, and China. Journal of International Business Studies , 177-207.
