The Cross-Cultural Actors and the Cultural Convergences in the Japanese and American Cultures - Coursework Example

Cross Cultural Paper Executive summary The report is prepared with the aim of assisting the business people from the United s who are moving into Japan for business purposes. The cross cultural factors and the cultural convergences noted in the Japanese and American cultures are evaluated and explained so that the business people can have a clear and up to date idea about the cultural backgrounds and existing perspectives in Japan. Also, an overview of the country, the cultural history and the present cultural trends are explained in the write up. The paper also includes the identification and explanation of the various differences between the Japanese culture and the culture of the United States evaluated with respect to the Hofstedes model of cross cultural dimensions. The business practices and the social processes with respect to the cross cultural factors are described. The report is concluded with suitable recommendations and concussion provided for the business people regarding culture management and adaptation to the existing culture in Japan. General overview of the Japan Japan is located between the Sea of Japan and North Pacific in the north eastern region of Asia. The country consists of four main islands which are surrounded by almost 4000 small islands. The four major islands that build up Japan are the northern island Hokkaido, the main island Honshu, the southern island Kyushu and the smallest island Shikoku. The country has a total area of 377, 873 square kilometers which is almost equivalent to the size of Switzerland and Germany. The topography of Japan is characterized by long coastlines with towering mountains, twisted valleys and varied sceneries. The official language in Japan is the Japanese language which is also commonly used by the people in the country for both formal and informal purposes. However, most Japanese people are able to communicate in English as the country is much advanced in its interactions with the people of other countries through the use of English as a main foreign language. The capital city of Japan is Tokyo and the total population of the country is approximately 126 million of which around 2 million people are found in Tokyo itself. Japan is the third largest economy in the world. It is a heavily industrialized country with a highly functional manufacturing and industry based economy. The country has remained especially strong in terms of financial reserves and economic power despite facing serious economic weaknesses and continuous deflation in the country. Japan is a developed and mature country and has efficient democratic institutions. However, there are many key challenges in Japan with respect to the political structure of Japan which hinder the growth potential of the country due to the relatively vested interests of the people and a high level of political instability noted in the country. The most prominent milestone in the history of Japan is the birth of modern Japan in the year 1868 when a famous emperor of Japan, Emperor Meji shifted the government to Tokyo from Kyoto and started to establish Japan as a modernized and industrialized nation transforming from a feudal society (Brockner, Chen, Mannix, Leung and Skarlicki, 2000). After the World War 2 Japan established a democratic constitution and saw a wide influx of western influence and culture belong integrated into the Japanese culture including western food, dressing, architecture, industries as well as industrial norms. The democratic constitution adopted by Japan after the Second World War was aimed are establishing human rights, less prominence of war activities and establishing sovereign power within the Japanese people . Shinto and Buddhism are the main religions followed by the Japanese people. Almost 84% of the total population of Japan follows the Buddhist religion or Shinto religion. Though the country is small country yet there is a wide variety and diversity on customs. Food habits, dialects and accent in the country. The currency of Japan is Yen. The main industries in the country are the real estate, manufacturing, services, and distribution, construction and communication industries. The country is major exporter of goods like electronic devices, cars and computers. The major trade partners of Japan are the United States of America and China. Also, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany and Thailand are other important trade partners of the country. Japan experiences a surplus in the import and export balances and the most imported goods are mainly raw materials like wood, oil and food stuffs. The main supplier of raw materials for Japan is China. Other suppliers are the United States, Saudi Arabia, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and South Korea. Agriculture accounts for 2 % of the total gross national product of Japan. Other industries like mining industries are of very small scale in Japan which is why most of the materials for manufacturing and industrial purposes are imported by the country. Cultural overview of Japan and typical business practices The culture in Japan is a complex system which has a multi layered structure. Also, the culture of Japan is much differentiated from the other countries of the Asia Pacific region. The culture is much unique and differentiated in nature but has basically been formed as a hybrid of different cultures in surrounding countries from regions of Asia, Europe etc. The Japanese culture has been developing through thousands of years and has formed several layers within itself in these years of its development. The Japanese are basically much tuned to nature but the scenario of urban Japan is dominated by an industrialized structure. There have been major ad hoc developments in Jana after the war. The Japanese people are much result oriented and follow stringent rules with respect to behavior. The world ‘omote’ is used commonly in the Japanese culture which denotes formal, public as well as conventional types of expected behavior in the country. This word refers to main ingrained activities and behaviors in businesses like shaking hands first in the meeting, exchanging business cards and deciding how close the people will stand to each other. The cultural values of the Japanese culture are also expressed through the word ‘ura’ which represents the informal and unconventional ways of behavior that is expected from people in Japan. The behavior related to ura is applicable for family and friends. One of the key features of the Japanese culture is the business etiquettes. The business manners followed by the Japanese people are considered to be the most efficient and stringent business behavior in the world. But in practice Japanese business manners are similar to the western business etiquettes in many ways. For example, sensitivity, politeness and good manners are considered to be the main pillars of the culture of Japanese people with respect to business communications. These characteristics of behavior expected and displayed in the Japanese behavior are similar to the business manners followed in the western countries like United Kingdom and the United States. However there are also key differences between the business culture of Japan and the business practices in the western countries like the United States and Europe. The main difference in this respect is that the Japanese culture encourages stringent and formal business etiquettes while the business etiquettes in the western countries are profoundly informal in nature. The Japanese culture is built on formal behaviors, especially in business dealings and meetings. For example, the Japanese people are known to exchange the business cards in the beginning of a first business meeting. This is followed as a ritual in the business etiquettes of Japan (Heine, 2003). The Japanese people like to follow traditional customs and old ways in their mannerisms as well as in the cultural aspects. The outside appearances and presentations are very critical for the Japanese people. Therefore, the business etiquettes for people in Japan include formal mannerisms and concern towards appearances of the pooled, workplaces as well as presentation styles related to the business. Social status and position are also very important for the Japanese people. The vertical rankings in Japan decide the behaviors and ways of addressing other people on the basis of their social position and in regard of their age. In Japanese companies, everyone is aware of the other peoples’ age. Also, in certain companies formal newsletters are circulated for internal distribution which display the age of the employees of the company. The inhabitants of the country had lived through long periods of isolation from the other countries of the world during the periods of “Tokugawa Shogunate” and were first exposed to the outside world during the establishment of the Meji period and the black ships in the history of Japan. However the long centuries of relative isolation have strengthened the hold of traditional values and beliefs in the Japanese culture. People in Japan perceive the people from other countries to be much different from them in their habits and outlooks. However, when in Japan, the people are expected to follow the local traditions and customs prevailing in the country. The people from other countries are expected to behave according to the existing cultural and business practices in Japan when they move into Japan for business or travel purposes. The Japanese culture is much strict and traditional and the influx of western cultural characteristics is often considered to be deteriorative for the Japanese culture by the people in the country. However, the extensive level of globalization have increased the international trade and business activities causing many people to move in and out of Japan and bringing in new dimensions of culture into the existing cultural factors of Japan. The musical and artistic tastes of Japan are based on both contemporary and traditional styles and mirror a combination of traditional and modern styles. The Japanese culture does not only represent the views and tastes of the people but are also an adequate representation of the volatile historical periods faced by the country before and during the Second World War. Most of the business dealings of outside countries with Japan have resulted in the people from other countries realizing the stark differences between the Japanese way of doing business and communicating in business and the western business practices and business manners (Fontaine, Duriez, Luyten, Corveleyn and Hutsebaut, 2005). The Japanese people are known to be more dedicated in their work and if they say that they can do a job well it can be expected that they will complete the job skillfully and within the specific time required for the work to be done. Many businesses from other countries have perceived the strict cultural values of Japan to be barriers to establishing successful business in the country. However, with time, this has been proved as a myth by many companies collaborating with Japanese companies and many companies opening up their businesses in the country successfully. In Japan, people acting in business are expected to read between the lines and be more subtle in their behaviors. The feelings of people are critical for the Japanese and they take care not to offend someone or make remarks about someone. Being direct in conversations and getting to the point is often considered impolite in Japan and people are expected to bring subtlety in their behaviors. The Japanese people show major concern for respect towards others and in maintaining punctuality and efficiency in their business activities. Not only the people but the public conveyance modes like the trains and the subways in Japan are also efficient in terms of punctuality and continuous functioning. The Japanese have high regards for safety, cleanliness and hygiene. They Japanese companies are much focused on ensuring good heath of their employees and cleanliness in the wok places (Townsend, DeMarie and Hendrickson, 1998). Thus, overall the culture has many positive aspects and though it has much difference with the western culture, it is good and enlightening in more than one way. Significant differences between US and Japan There are many cultural differences between Japan and the United States. The people moving into Japan for travel as well as business purposes must consider these differences and ingrain them in their behaviors and communications in the country. It is critically important to understand the differences in order to function successfully and sustainably in the country. One of the most popular tools that can be used to analyze the cross cultural factors between two countries is the cross cultural comparison model devised by Geert Hofstede. The Hofstede model of cross cultural comparison is based on five major dimensions which are bipolar and along which the cultural seminaries and differences between the two countries may be suitably measured and evaluated. These bipolar dimensions include collectivism versus individualism, low power distance versus high power distance and low uncertainty avoidance versus high uncertainty, femininity versus masculinity and longtime orientation versus short time orientation (Hofstede, 2001). According to the Hiofstede’s model, the traditional culture of Japan can be identified to be collectivist, masculine and long term oriented in its dimensions. However, the integration of certain aspects of western culture into the Japanese culture has made the Japanese culture more short term oriented, feminist and individualistic in nature. The convergence of the cultures of the United States and Japan are evaluated and compared with the use of the Hofstede’s model as given below. Figure 1: Comparison of Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions for Japan and United States (Hofstede, 2014) Power Distance: Power distances refers to the extent to which the people in lower positions in organizations are capable of expecting and accepting the fact the power is distributed in the organizations or the families in an unequal manner. The cultures which are characterized by low power distances are usually, more democratic and consultative in nature. The United States has a power distance of 40 according to the score of cultural distribution in Hofstede’s model. This implies that the United States has a low to medium level of power distance. Japan on the other hand has a very high power distance score. The power distance is more in Japan due to the strict hierarchical structure of the organizations in the country. However, in recent times, the power distance of Japan has reduced to become short and thus, has become more similar to the power distance of the United States. The Japanese culture has started displaying signs of shifts with respect of power distance where the Japanese have started to question the people in power. The value of power distance for Japan is being lowered due to the influence of the western cultures and the Japanese culture is now more representative of the willingness to shift power and criticize power inequalities in the country (Taras, Kirkman and Steel, 2010). In the political arena the democratic party of Japan which came in power in 2009, vowed to reduce the power differences and power bureaucracy in the country. Also, in organizations, the Japanese employees have started to question about unequal power distributions and the people in powerful positions have started to take responsibilities and accountability for their decisions and for the use of their powers. Collectivism versus Individualism: This dimension represents the degree to which a culture has its individuals integrated into different groups. The societies are differentiated as individualistic societies and collective societies. The individualistic societies are those in which individual gains and achievements are given more importance. On the other hand, collective societies are those societies in which individuals behave as a part of cohesive groups of organizations and work towards the collective benefits of the group, the group may refer to the families or the organizations. The word collective in this respect has no political meaning and is used to imply the group of a family or a company and not the state as a whole. Japan is more collective in nature with respect to its society and cultural practices. The group achievements and the benefits of the whole organization or family are considered to be more important in the Japanese culture. On the other hand, in the culture of the United States, the role of individualism is more stressed upon where personal benefits and achievements are considered to be more important that collective group achievements and benefits. The major aspects of collectivism in Japan are demonstrated in the ability of the country to provide complete employment to the people in the country (House, Javidan, Hanges and Dorfman, 2007). However, in the current situation, strains are noted in the close relationships between the employees and the employers. Therefore, collectivism is marginally impacted by these aspects of loosening of the employer and employee relationships and the while collar jobs being laid off due to the changing management systems and structures (Barnett and Kincaid, 2003). The practice of temporary and hour based workers is more common in the United States which is noted to some degree in the Japanese culture as well. Femininity versus Masculinity: Japan is predominantly masculine in nature and is one of the cultures which demonstrate maximum masculinity in its features. Japan is considered to be the number one country inn the world with respect to masculinity. The United States is much feminine in its cultural aspects. The Japanese society is based in traditional markets where generally the men go out for work, whereas the women stay at home and look after their families (Fallows, 1999). But the trends of the society are being influenced by the western trends and the number of women in the workplaces has increased. Generally in Japan, most women tends to quit their jobs after the first child birth but now women prefer to stay in the job even after the birth of a child (Wei-hsin, 2005). The western culture is much more feminine and is not dominated by the male society, The employees in the United States consists of almost equal proportions of men and women and the role of the women in the business world is much more established in the United states than in Japan. However, both the cultures are expected to converge in the future and to demonstrate higher levels of femininity. Uncertainty avoidance: The Japanese culture has lesser tolerance for uncertainties in the society, culture and business practices. The country does not like to accept changes quickly and tries to avoid ambiguity in family decisions as well as in business decisions. The United States is much open to risk taking and the society thrives on the high advantages or payoffs received from risk taking situations. However, the recent economic crisis and the house bubbles crisis have led to a decline in the risk taking levels of the country (Hofstede and Minkov, 2010). On the other hand, the intolerance for uncertainty has caused stagnancy in some aspects of Japan like the manufacturing organizations have started to look for other countries for their business. Therefore, the country is slowly shifting from non-tolerance to tolerance towards uncertainties and ambiguities in order to make the economy of Japan stable and non-stagnant. Short term versus long term orientation: Japan is traditionally a country displaying long term orientation. One of the major factors that have caused Japan to be a long term printed society is the aging of the society in Japan (McCreary, 2000). The decline of the working age population in Japan has been one of the major reasons behind the long term orientation of the country. The country has a much lower tolerance to outsiders and the Japanese people are staunch believers in their own traditions and customs. The people in Japan like to follow their traditional customs and have a preference towards doing things according to the existing rules. The society of Japan embraces long term commitments and values and follows the traditions and customs of the country. In contrast, the United States is a short term oriented society in which things are much fast paced and a higher level of cultural convergence is noted in the country. The values and perceptions often change with changing situations. The country is more open to people from outside countries and embrace new rules and changes. Recommendations It is recommended that before moving into Japan, a clear idea should be developed about the Japanese culture and their way of doing things in the social as well as business activities. The important features of business etiquettes of the Japanese people should be kept in mind and followed to ensure success for a business in Japan. The people moving into Japan for business related activities should focus on maintain the small gestures and mannerisms related to the Japanese culture like the exchange of visiting cards, greeting in the Japanese manner of bowing down, talking with subtlety and showing respect because these mannerisms are followed like rituals in the country. Japan is a country which thrives on healthy relationships. Therefore, it is implant for people doing business in Japan to focus on maintaining tee right depths with respect to their relationships. Without maintaining the proper dimensions of relationships with the business counterparts it would be difficult to achieve success and sustainability in the country. It is also important that respect is shown to people in the country. Apart from that marinating good appearance, presentation of business processes and people and marinating cleanliness would be sure to leave a positive impression on the minds of the Japanese people. It is important to show sufficient respect to the elderly people in the country and comply with all the existing social and traditional customs in Japan. Since, age is an important factor in Japan with the Japanese people having great respect for elderly people and considering aged people to be associated with dignity factors (Axelrod, 2000). Therefore, it would be advisable to have some elderly people in the team of the business people moving into the country. Being diplomatic, polite and subtle in personal communications and business communication at all times is also critical for adhering to the Japanese rules and custom. Loud displays of emotion like anger, annoyance, impatience and irritation in Japan is considered to be non-polite and against the customs of Japan (Minkov, 2007). The negative emotions should be avoided so as to build up positive and healthy relationships with the business partners and to avoid creating any negative image in the minds of the people in Japan. It is also important to maintain punctuality in business meetings and other works because punctuality is an important part of the culture and tradition of the Japanese in their personal as well as their business lives. It is also advisable not to push the Japanese people for decisions or of deadlines. It is best to understand that if the Japanese people take some responsibility they are most likely to do the work in a timely and efficient manner. Since the Japanese follow a step by step approach towards decision making, the decision making processes of the Japanese people are often lengthy and time consuming. Therefore, it is important to jeep patience throughout the decision making process and to avoid pushing the Japanese people for decisions. The Japanese people tend to build consensus retreated to any major business decisions. Therefore, it is best not to be impatient and behave politely and in a patient manner for the business activities. Being humble and down to earth would help the business people to be more easily accepted in the Japanese culture. Showing respect for the tradition and adhering to the customs prevailing in the country would be another way in which a positive image can be created in the minds of the Japanese people. Since English is not a very commonly used language and most of the people in Japan communicate in Japanese language, it would be advisable to have an interpreter in order to avoid any miscommunication or gaps in communication. It is also important to follow the basic etiquettes of sitting, standing, greeting as well as ending a meeting. It is important to understand which actions and words are acceptable in the culture and which are unacceptable in the existing culture in the country. Since exchanging business cards is critically important at the beginning of any business dealings or meetings it is important to exchange cards and also to create the business cards in an impressive manner. The business cards often highlight the position and status of the card owner in the society which is also significant in the Japanese culture. The exchange of cards should be followed by taking adequate interest in the cards and showing respect and interest for the information in the card. The cards should be presented to the senior person of the team first with carrying them in both the hands. Also, it is necessary to bow a little as a way of greeting and showing respect while exchanging the business cards. It is expected to walk with the guests till the exit door and open the exit door with a slight bow as a common gesture among the Japanese people. Also the culture expects the hosts to go down with the guests till their cars. Since the casual western style of greeting and attire is uncommon in the Japanese culture, it is advisable to dress appropriately according to the business occasion while meeting the business partners. This is likely to create a positive image on the minds of the business partners and other people present in the business meetings. Souvenirs and gifts are appreciated by the Japanese people. It is therefore, advisable to bring small souvenirs or gifts preferably representing the culture of the country from which the business people are coming. This would be appreciated as a friendly gesture and would help to establish healthy relationships with the business counterparts. The social interactions should be based on politeness, subtlety, controlled emotions and humbleness. The Japanese may ask direct questions like age etc. It is advisable to not be offended by these questions and consider them as a part of the Japanese culture and answer them suitably be respecting the traditions and culture of the country. Behaving in a traditional manner and showing proper respect to the customs sand mannerisms of the country would help the foreigners to mingle with the people easily. Also, adapting to the prevailing traditions and adhering to the local rules and guidelines is extremely important because the Japanese people show a lot of respect for their traditional values. Conclusion The recommendations given above are developed on the basis of the extensive study done to understand the cultural values and traditions of Japan. It is also identified that adherence to the guidelines and customs of Japan and respecting and valuing the traditional activities and systems of Japan is critically significant for ensuring acceptability by the Japanese people towards the people from other countries. It is very important to adapt to the traditions of a country and to understand the basic rules and to do activities in the country in order to establish successful business relations and social relations in the country. Since, the Japanese people follow a unique and differentiated culture and see the foreign people as much different from them, it is important for the business people to get absorbed in the culture by adapting suitably to the existing customs and traditions. The understanding of the local traditions and customs would also be important because it would help the business people to identify the cultural differences and not be surprised by the differences. 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