CULTURAL BRIEF
The purpose of this brief is to present our senior management team with an in-depth guide to the culture and customs of the Japanese people. In today’s business world, the importance of understanding national cultural differences in multinational relationships is key. As we focus on expanding globally, it essential for our company to understand the similarities and differences of other cultures. This cultural brief should provide our senior management team the knowledge to adapt their communication and behavior styles effectively when working with Japanese colleagues.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Japan was founded in early 7th century BC. The religious practice of Shintoism and Confucianism has greatly influenced the traditions and beliefs of the country. (Coulter, Lee, Sheldon, & Meraz, 2011). The Japanese people often celebrate the changing seasons with festivals and celebrations. The majority of the people live in along the coast in main cities such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, and Sapporo (Coulter et al., 2011). The Japanese society can be considered as ethically homogenous; however, there are a small number of immigrants from other countries such as the Philippines and China, who live there as well (Coulter et al., 2011).
COLLECTIVISTIC VIEW
Based on the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) studies (Northouse, 2013), researchers concluded that the Japanese people place higher importance on performance orientation, institutional collectivism, and in-group collectivism. A collectivistic culture places group needs and wants above those of the individual (Northouse, 2013). Japanese people are particularly sensitive to and concerned about relationships. They discourage individualism whe...
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...go to Australia” (Kameda, 2014, p. 99). As Americans, we may be confused as to how these two separate sentences are connected. They have a tendency to skip over the minor details and expect their listeners to realize the unspoken parts of the story. In order to understand the Japanese, we must ask them to provide more details or else we will most likely be judged as a person of slow understanding (Kameda, 2014).
NEGOTIATION STYLES
When conducting business in Japan, negotiations can move very slowly. Japanese people do not express yes or no assertively. (Kameda, 2014). Even if they disagree with the proposal or request, they do not say no upfront. Instead, they will most likely ask if they can have more time to think it over. Often times the use of such indirect sayings such as, “we will have to think it over”, is essentially expressions of negation (Kameda, 2014).
I did not know that much about this culture until this paper. The Japanese people are very polite and respectful. The Japanese take education very serious and nature. Their langue is a lot different they have different styles of speaking even for different social status there is a certain way of thinking. In Japan there is a mixture of the Buddha religion and the Shinto. Both beliefs have the same influence on the Japan culture. Buddhism was brought o Japan in the early 6th century from China. There are five precepts that they go by which are no killing, no stealing, no lying, no sexual misconduct, and no use of intoxication.
-Nara’s Buddhist temples were another result of cultural diffusion, Buddhist began in India in 500s B.C.E. about 1,000 years later, it came to Japan from China by way of Korea.
Imagine about four-hundred years ago, in present day Europe, a civilization arose. It was split into many chunks of land, called kingdoms, which contained even smaller communities inside them, called manors. In this manor many men, called knights, had just returned from war covered in poop, mud, blood, and many other disgusting things. This mess was cleaned up by a squire, aspiring to be a knight himself one day, that had to go through rigorous and dirty training to achieve his goal. Halfway across the world another civilization, in present day Japan, somewhat like Europe, doesn’t have children do their work for them. Instead, adult workers clean the clothes of their warriors, called samurai. Although weren’t as similar as you thought, in fact,
Japan has a history that dates back thousands of years. Researchers believe the Japanese people descended from many groups that migrated to the islands from other parts of Asia, including China and Korea. As early as 4500 B.C., the Japanese islands
From the animated mega city of Tokyo, to the serene zen gardens with rustic ponds home to the koi fish, Japan has a unique past, present, and future. The alcove ornament samurai houses called, shoin-zukuri are a symbol of the struggling past that Japan escaped. These samurai houses were training centers long ago of judo, sumo, and other martial arts. Lush trees envelope houses, and the religion Shintoism was developed back in 500 A.D. Paintings and drawings capture the grace and beauty the landscape portrays. The Japanese dragons reveal the legends held within themselves, many are associated with rainfall and the ability to reach peace. Seeking farther inland you witness the largest city in the world, Tokyo. Cars, buses, subway systems, taxis, and bicycles are buzzing through every street, going to and from work, quickly advancing technology.
When moving to a market with a consumer culture so different from the home market, a company must be careful to analyse its target audience in detail, to avoid and costly cultural faux pas. To get a good feel for the Japanese culture, a good place to start would be the experts in the cultural studies field. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, created during his in depth GLOBE study of the cultures of the world, gives a good comparison between the priority differences between Japanese and English culture. A detailed analysis of the cultural differences will be given in the ‘Marketing Issues’ section of the report.
Cousins,S.D. (1989). Culture and self-perception in Japan and the United States. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 56 (1),124-131
In past experience, through travels outside of the country for business relations it was discovered very early on that most cultures will respect fairness and tolerance, but each to a different degree. American women in managerial positions have had to struggle to find ways to be effective in cultures where their authority and credibility are not traditionally the norm. Perhaps it was the value of fairness that clashed with tolerance or respect for diversity on this particular business trip to Japan over 10 years ago. However, even if there was an underlying agreement on such values, in this particular scenario these values were prioritized differently among the two different cultures and might have been expressed different for that reason.
We will explore some important facts about Japan’s cultural society and environment. The country of Japan is an island nation, which is separated from Mainland Asia by the Sea of Japan. (“Facts about Japan”) On the west side it is surrounded by the Northern Pacific Ocean. It has no land boundaries.
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 of thinking is also being replaced by the new.
During the 1990s, Japan has been exposed to one of the most difficult structural transition periods in its post-war history, in terms of social and economic conditions. There have been two major changes: one is a substantial decline in economic growth in real terms, and the other is a changing social structure characterized by the declining birth rate and the ageing population. Under the pressure of changes in the economic environment caused by globalization and innovations in information technology, Japanese business corporations are forced to adapt to the new situation. While companies faced with fierce international competition, it became more critical to understand the basic knowledge of complicated legal, cultural, economic, and social issues. Engaging in international trade also requires attention to international regulations, international business planning, international market research, funding, distribution and other areas that must be considered separately from domestic business issues. The paper suggests some of the basic tools that can apply to solve the problem or to bring the business opportunity to fruition in today's Japanese business environment
I chose to compare and contrast the United States culture with the culture of Japan. There are a few similarities between the two, such as a love of the arts, fashion and baseball. However, they are culturally different than similar in very major aspects. Japan is a very homogenous society made up of about 98% ethnic Japanese. They tend to put a lot of emphasis on family and communities, and value the group more than the individual (Aliasis, 2013).
An important US-Japan negotiation is scheduled in Hawaii - midway between the american continent and Japan. The Japanese party and the US negotiation party both have done their preparations well: they studied the material, the facts, prepared strategies, fall-back positions, read up on how to negotiate with the Japanese (or the Americans) and read about cultural differences, and learnt a few polite word's in the other party's language. The doors open and in come the Japanese and the US negotiators. The Japanese negotiators - all experienced senior managers - trying their best to adapt to American culture and to create a good atmosphere, enter the conference room dressed in Aloha shirts, sandals, shorts while on the other side of the room the American delegation enters: dressed in stiff white starched shirts, dark tie, dark blue business suits, polished black shoes...
Japan is a large island off to the east of China it is a great country that has a rich culture. The Japanese religion is based off of two main beliefs, the belief in Shinto and Buddhism many Japanese people believe consider themselves both. The Japanese people were known to be around as early as 4,500 B.C. They have constructed their government style to a constitutional monarchy where they do in fact have an emperor, but he has limited power within the country. The main power of the country is held by the Prime Minister of Japan. Japan is made up of many islands that extend along the Pacific coast of Asia. The land area is made up of a lot of forest and mountainous area that cannot be used for agricultural, industrial or residential use. Japan also has one of the largest and growing economies in the world. They are growing every day and it is all because the people of Japan work very hard in order for their economy to flourish as it has.
The Japanese culture is quite harmonious, respectful, and hardworking. Their culture is made up highly of being respectful of others, family, and nature. They value their elders, history, tradition, religion, family, government, nature, education, and work.