When looking at Japan with Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture, it seems the culture is very different from that in the United States (U.S.). That also means that conducting business globally with Japan would be quite an adjustment for any leader who is unfamiliar with the culture. Hofstede’s cultural map shows that Japan is mid-range between a collectivist and an individualistic culture (geerthofstede.com, n.d.). Moran, Abramson & Moran stated that the older generation thrived upon “we-ness” and the new generation’s focus is upon “I/my/me-ness” (2014). This shows that Japan is in a cultural transition, but since it is a generational shift, it is one that will take many years to complete. A good leader will have to appease both generations by being respectful of both mindsets and understanding the perception of each. Unlike the collectivism/individualism score, power distance is on the small end and is much closer to that of the U.S.
Japan had a low-to-mid-range score, which was slightly above the U.S.’. Japanese workers understand the inequality of power, but those holding the power are still mostly accessible to the people (PSU WC, L.2, p.6). In the companies I have worked for, it has always been a common practice for the organization’s leader to go out and informally speak with the hourly workforce. Here it fosters an attitude amongst the workers that the leader cares about them. Even though Japan is still scoring on the low side of the power distance range, Japanese workers may not like that practice. It would be important to understand what the acceptable power distance limitations are before making a potential cultural gaffe. Another aspect that has the same potential is masculinity.
Japanese culture tips the scale on the masculinity range (geerthofstede.com, n.d.). Since they scored so high, Japanese people are overall assertive and have stereotypical emotional gender roles (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). With that in mind, it would be unwise for a male leader to go into an organization and ask workers how they are feeling. In that sort of culture, it would discredit the leader by making him seem “feminine” and would likely lose the respect of the workforce. Another way to discredit the leader is to make decisions that have a lot of ambiguity.
In the U.S., it is seemingly common to “roll the dice” in order to move forward, but that is not the case in Japan. According to Hofstede’s research, Japanese people avoid uncertainty, at all costs (geerthofstede.com, n.d.). As Moran et al put it, they feel “threatened” by ambiguous situations, so leaders need to make sure that any business deal has all uncertainty removed before proceeding (2014, p.19). This probably has a lot to do with their affinity to long-term orientation, as well.
Japanese people are focused on reaching long-term goals, rather than short-term (geerthofstede.com, n.d.). In the U.S., we are accustomed to both long and short-term goals, so a leader would have to transition out of giving short-term goals and solely focus upon the future. This makes perfect sense because if the Japanese want to avoid uncertainty, then they would have to plan for the long-term in order to mitigate the risk. Lastly, the leader would need to adjust to Japanese cultural restraint.
The Japanese cultural norm is a very restrained one in that instant gratification is frowned upon and is not socially acceptable (geerthofstede.com, n.d.). This means that social guidelines will dictate daily life and any expat coming into the culture would need to follow the same guidelines (PSU WC, L.2, p.6). At my workplace, the General Manager can sometimes get caught-up in meetings and miss going to lunch at the regular time. When that happens, he will go whenever he can. If he was in Japan, he could lose face with the workforce if he was eating outside of the socially accepted lunch hour. Overall, it seems that there are similarities between the American and Japanese cultures, but the differences are astounding. Any leader going from an American organization to a Japanese would need extensive cultural training in order to gain (and keep) the respect of the workforce.
References:
Geert Hofstede.com. (n.d.). The 6-D model of national culture. Retrieved from https://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofstede-gert-jan-hofstede/6d-model-of-national-culture/
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R. & Moran S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences, (9th ed). New York, NY: Routledge.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (n.d.). OLEAD 410: Lesson 2: Introduction to culture. PSU WC.
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