Differences Between Japan And Gung Ho

Cross-cultural comparison on Japan and the United States The 1986 film Gung Ho, depicts significant cultural distinctions within Japan and the United States. These conflicts between Japan and the US play a significant role in how business gets accomplished and how the two cultures have similarities yet such distinct worldviews. The conflicts presented are shown through the lens of the Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture; Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long-term orientation, and Indulgence.

Power Distance

According to International Management, Power Distance is defined as “the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power is distributed equally”” (120). The US

The Japanese are scored a high of 95 on this dimension while the US scored a 62. Both scores are high however, Japan score shows that they are mostly a masculine culture that does not get consumed with the quality of life. This dimension is often shown in the movie in both cultures. The scene when Hunt goes to the executive’s house for dinner with his girlfriend, shows how Masculinity play a part in both cultures. More particularly, when the men started to discuss business, the Japanese women left the table in which hunts girlfriend continued to pry in on the business

Japan appear to believe in the theory of universalism, in which is “the beliefs that ideas and practices can be applied everywhere in the world without modification” (129). This theory could have been used less while both cultures could have used the theory of simplification more. The theory of simplification is” the process of exhibiting the same orientation toward different cultural groups” (154). They could have avoided much conflict by having an understanding of how they do business before they opened the factory.

In closing, the 1986 film Gung Ho, depiction of cultural distinctions within Japanese and the United States cultures shows how conflicts arise in between them. These conflicts between Japan and the US play a significant role in how business gets accomplished and how the two cultures have similarities yet such distinct worldviews. If the Japanese men used less universalism and both cultures used more simplification they could have avoided much of the conflicts