The key to doing business in Japan is establishing strong relationships. According to Haru Yamada, a linguistics professor at the University of Westminster in London and the author of Different Games, Different Rules, “Present yourself as a trustworthy person who is sensitive to Japanese interests. Ask some non-sales related questions about their company. By shifting your focus from the product to the relationship, you will consider it the most interesting part of doing business and don’t consider it an effort at all. It’s part of figuring out who you’re dealing with, and how familiar with the West you counterpart is. Japanese people are deeply proud of traveling. Get them to tell you about their trips. Then you can start to gauge their familiarity [with the West] and get a good sense of how good they are at telling you what they’re thinking, directly, as opposed to the indirection that the Japanese are famous for. The Japanese are like emotional bonds with people.” When doing business in Japan, they are very formal. Yet there are some aspects of business etiquette in Japan that are similar to those of the United States. When in a business meeting, the Japanese expect for you to wait to be seated because they have a custom on which party sits on which side of the table. It is also important to take a lot of notes from the beginning of the business meeting to the end. A huge “must have” in the Japanese business society is carrying a business card, meishi. You must present the card with both hands to the most senior member and so on down the corporate ladder. It is considered rude if you put the card in your pocket or wallet. You must keep it on the table in front of you during the meeting. If you were to receive a business card, yo...
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...es include entrepreneurship, freedom, harmony, and innovation. It has been found that cultural values play a huge role in the companies organizational performance evaluations. “Previous studies have suggested that companies in Japan with a corporate management philosophy are more likely to show higher corporate performance than those without such a philosophy because a corporate management philosophy might contribute to originality and uniqueness (Miyata, 2003, 2004)”. Other studies show that when the market is tumultuous, it is harder to create a good corporate performance (Ginn, 2006; Grewal and Tansuhaj, 2001). For long-term performance, Japan often turns to their value orientations. Since the Japanese often include entrepreneurship in their value orientations, they believe that it will lead to innovations in the future, therefore affecting long-term performance.
The Meiji Restoration refers to the time when the western technology was adopted by the Japanese which in turn allowed them to fully industrialize which took less than fifty years. The great general “Tokugawa Shogun” ruled Japan in the feudal years and he lost his power and the Meiji emperor took over. When the Meiji emperor was made the head of the Japanese in 1868, the country was a militarily vulnerable region, was mostly farming, as well as got small technical development. It absolutely was handled by many semi-independent feudal lords. The Western forces — European Union as well as the US got Japan to sign treaties that confined its control over the foreign trade that was and also made sure that any law breakers who were not Japanese were not tried in Japanese courts but in the western courts. By the time the Meiji restoration was over the Japanese was in no fear whatsoever that it would be imperialized, instead they sort out to practice imperialism themselves in order to gain power and acquire the natural resources. Japan in turn emerged as one of the world class power using the western technology and its methods while still maintaining the cultural traditional values of the local people in Japan
Organizational cultural is the system of shared beliefs and values that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members, while organizational structure is an expression of social and economic principles of hierarchy and specialization (Kinicki, 2015). Both the culture and the structure of an organization are important things for management to understand in order to successfully set and achieve an organization’s goals. Companies who excel in highly competitive fields can attribute their successful economic performance to a cohesive corporate culture that increases competiveness and profitability. This culture is best utilized in an organization that has the necessary structure to allow its employees to coordinate their
During the early 1700's, trade in Japan was often in Osaka. Osaka is a large port city. 10% of all merchants in Osaka worked in the rice exchange. Osaka was located in Dojima. Since the rice market was in Dojima, that’s what the whole rice exchange was called.
The rest of the book is spent discussing each of the countries in detail. For each country the authors give a brief explanation of the history of the culture. Then they give tips on what each country expects from a visiting businessman. This includes tips on whether or not it is okay to be late for meetings, proper behavior during a business lunch or dinner, and how to properly address people you come in contact with during your business trip. They also give a guide t...
Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling resources within a company to achieve organizational goals and economic well-being. With that being said, there are numerous theories regarding behavioural management as well as classical management approaches that can be considered as to which would predominate a Japanese business such as Nikon. Japanese business such as Nikon tend to make decisions by ‘consensus’, focus on the problem at hand, constantly increase effectiveness and focus, prioritize security and productivity, and open up to organizational change.
In the article, Cultural constraints in management theories, Geert Hofstede examines business management around the globe from a cultural perspective. He explains how he believes there are no universal practices when it comes to management and offers examples from the US, Germany, France, Japan, Holland, China and Russia. He demonstrates how business management theories and practices are very much subject to cultural norms and values and by understanding these differences, it can give managers an advantage in global business practices.
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
The Main Bank Relationship in Japan First, it is necessary to define what a Japanese “main bank” is. The “main bank” is defined as the “financial group” (“kinyu keiretsu” in japanese) in the paper. “Financial group” is defined in principle by the amount of financing that a bank supplies to a particular borrowing company. When a given company has taken out the largest amount of loans from a particular bank for the past three or more years consecutively, the company is viewed as belonging to that bank’s “financial group.”
This particular case is about the implementation of the popular fast-food chain, Burger King, into the Japanese market. Despite its’ strong market position in other countries, Burger King has some difficulties to face within the Japanese market. In this report, my team and I will analyze Burger King’s current situation and problems and suggest alternatives.
The Japanese culture is based on its long rich history and change is not welcome, things are done the way they were hundreds of years ago. People also don’t tend to voice their opinions like we do here in the States. Anyone who speaks out usually isn’t given much attention and they fall back into their place and a majority of the population is fine with that. Everyone is fine with fitting in and personal opinion is not voiced out loud most of the time. There are multiple practices that are part of the Japanese culture that are not found in American culture. A few of these are bowing instead of handshake when you address someone, slurping or loud noises are viewed as polite and that you’re enjoying your food, and tipping is viewed as an insult. These practices are somewhat opposite in the American culture, we are much more different than some people tend to realize.
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). The social hierarchy important and members of the society are expected to conform. One way is showing respect for one’s elders, for example the oldest member of a group is served first and their drinks are poured for them (AngloINFO, 2014). This mentality is common in the business world as well. Promotions are usually based on seniority and people often work at one company their entire lives. This way of life brings satisfaction and pride to the people (Aliasis, 2013). When greeting others it is customary to bow, although the Japanese are familiar with our ways and would expect us to want to shake hands rather than bow (Bazzel, 2013; Angloinfo, 2014). Also, being too direct about what one is really thinking is not socially acceptable. The Japanese use subtle language and rely heavily on non-verbal forms of communication (Aliasis, 2013).
It is a “pattern of beliefs, values and learned ways of coping with experience” (Brown 1994) that manifests itself into three layers: artefacts at the shallowest, values and beliefs in the middle and basic assumptions at the deepest. It is inseparable from the organisation that cannot be easily manipulated as it is fundamentally non-unitary and emergent. Finally, organisational culture is important as it is one of the main determinants as to whether a firm can enjoy superior financial and a comparative advantage over firms of differing cultures.
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.
Japanese value respect and their reputation. It is very important for them to save face in their society. For example, The japanese believe that if they turn down someone’s request, it causes embarrassment on themselves and they lose reputation. If they cannot agree to a request, often they will say “it will be difficult” or “it’s under consideration.” instead of flat out denying the request.
Importance of organisational culture Organisational culture is one of the most valuable assets of an organization. Many studies state that the culture is one of the key elements that benefits the performance and affects the success of the company (Kerr & Slocum 2005). This can be measured by the income of the company, and market share. Also, an appropriate culture within the society can bring advantages to the company which helps to perform with the demand of the industry environment. For example, a company with a flexible, and innovative organisational culture will create competitive advantages that benefit the organisation's performance.