I came across and article titled “Russia, Japan agree to promote economic cooperation in Russian Far East”, located at http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/11/05/business/russia-japan-agree-promote-economic-cooperation-russian-far-east/#.WB51JPkrK00, which discusses how Japan’s Trade minister Hiroshige Seko met with Russian officials in Moscow and the two parties have agreed to promote economic development projects in Russia’s Far East. The two nations have come up with around 50 projects which focus on the development of infrastructure, energy resources such as gas and oil, and other projects involving Japanese companies in the area. According to Kyodo (2016), Tokyo hopes this bilateral economic cooperation will bring about progress in a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over a group of islands seized by the Soviet Union after Japan’s World War II surrender in August 1945 that remain under Russian control. This dispute has kept Tokyo and Moscow from signing a peace treaty formally ending their conflict in World War Two, (Japan, Russia agree to economic cooperation ahead of summit: Nikkei, 2016). In order for Japan and Russia to successfully complete so many large scale projects, they must achieve synergy. Furthermore, I believe Japan and Russia are capable of achieving synergy due to their cultural orientation based off of their scores in Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.
First, “Synergy is a cooperative or combined action, and occurs when diverse or disparate individuals or groups collaborate for a common cause. The objective is to increase effectiveness by sharing perceptions and experiences, insights, and knowledge”, (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 266). Furthermore cultural synergy is the same concept but extends to cultural level rather than focus on the individual, (PSUWC, 2016). Secondly, Hofstede’s dimensions of culture are six categories in which cultures are ranked and scored. Many cultures throughout the world receive scores in the categories of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, long-term/short-term orientation, and indulgence/restraint. Power distance refers to the inequality/equality in the treatment of powerful and nonpowerful members within a culture. Uncertainty Avoidance refers to the way cultures deal with ambiguity. Individualism is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members, while collectivism is the degree to which the needs of the group take priority over the need of the individual. Masculinity/femininity refers to gender roles within a culture, where masculine cultures value competition and assertiveness amongst men while the women are expected to be more nurturing. On the other hand, in a feminine culture both men and women have more of the nurturing role (Hofstede, 2001; Hofstede & Hofstede, n.d., as cited by PSUWC, 2016). Long-term orientation refers to cultures that place emphasis on planning for the future, as oppose to short-term orientation refers to cultures that place emphasis on the here-and-now (PSUWC, 2016). Indulgence refers to a culture that allows for immediate gratification, while Restraint refers to cultures that require delaying gratification, (PSUWC, 2016).
Above is graph showing how Japan and Russia’s cultural dimensions scores compare to each other, found at https://geert-hofstede.com/japan.html. According to the graph Japan and Russia’s overall cultural orientation complement each other with their only major difference being in Masculinity/Femininity. I believe the similarities in their scores will be conducive to behaviors that foster synergy between Japan and Russia. One example being their scores in uncertainty avoidance, with a score of 92, Japan is considered one of the most uncertainty avoiding countries on earth. This is largely due to the fact that Japan is constantly threatened by natural disasters, (Geert Hofstede, n.d.). Russia scores a 95 in uncertain avoidance as detailed planning and briefing is very common among Russians as they prefer to have context and background information. With Japan and Russia’s similar orientation in uncertainty avoidance in mind, a Japanese and Russian multinational team will synergize well when it comes to factors such as how project business is planned, how work is organized, management of responsibilities, and ambiguity resolution and problem formulation, (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 273).
Another cultural dimension where Japan and Russia would synergize really well is long-term orientation. With a score of 88, Japan long-term orientation can be seen in corporate Japan as they focus less on make money every quarter for the share holders, and more on serving the stake holders and society at large for many generations to come (e.g. Matsuhista as cited in Geert Hofstede, n.d). Similarly, with a score of 81, Russia is definitely considered a country with a pragmatic mindset and a strong propensity to save and invest, (Geert Hofstede, n.d). With that being said a Japanese and Russian multinational team would synergize well when it comes to factors such as Coordination of long and short-term members, agreeing on the degree of innovation required, and timing and sequencing approaches, (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 273).
One cultural dimension that Japan and Russia will have difficulty synergizing is Masculinity/Femininity. Russia’s score of 36 indicates that it leans more towards what can be considered a feminine culture, as oppose to Japan’s score of 95 making it a masculine culture. In workplace settings as well as when meeting a stranger, Russians prefer to understate their personal achievements, contributions or capacities as dominant behavior is accepted from a boss but is considered offensive coming from peers, (Geert Hofstede, n.d). On the other hand, in Japan you may not see assertive and competitive behaviors within groups due to their mild collectivism, however competition between groups can be severe, (Geert Hofstede, n.d).
References
Geert Hofstede. (n.d.). Retrieved November 06, 2016, from https://geert-hofstede.com/japan.html
Geert Hofstede. (n.d.). Retrieved November 06, 2016, from https://geert-hofstede.com/russia.html
Japan, Russia agree to economic cooperation ahead of summit: Nikkei. (2016, November 6). Retrieved November 6, 2016, from https://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/japan-russia-agree-to-economic-cooperation-ahead-of-summit-nikkei
KYODO. (2016, November 5). Russia, Japan agree to promote economic cooperation in Russian Far East. Retrieved November 5, 2016, from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/11/05/business/russia-japan-agree-promote-economic-cooperation-russian-far-east/#.WB51JPkrK00
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (9th ed.). New York, New York: Routledge.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (PSUWC) (2016). Lesson 6. Retrieved November 6, 2016, from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1802572/modules/items/21179089
Russia has been attempting to upgrade the Asian-Pacific in its foreign policy portfolio since 1986. Lately, its main focus is searching for new growth sources and expanding its cultural diversity, also known as the pivot to the East. A major complaint is “the overreliance on China and the overall lack of balance of the Russian eastward strategy” (Tsvetov, 2016). Part of the problem are the treaty allies Japan and South Korea have with the United States. The other issue is the lack of relationship Russia has with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Russia really needs to start giving more thought to the ASEAN counties since by 2050, the Southeast Asian Countries (SEA) will have more than 600 million people and will become the fourth largest economy in the world (Tsvetov, 2016).
Tsvetov, A. (2016). “Russia and ASEAN: in Search of Economic Synergy and Political Consensus,” Russian International Affairs Council. Retrieved from: http://russiancouncil.ru/en/inner/?id_4=7713#top-content.