A point that struck a chord with me from the lesson material was the information about how the history of Japan and their early economy led to strong work ethics and high creativity in the modern inhabitants of the nation as well as their sometimes insular nature that results from their fear of losing their cultural identities (PSU WC, 2019, L. 11, p. 3). The reason this information interested me is that my mother-in-law (Mieko) was born in Japan and lived there through her early twenties. She was in elementary school during WWII, and she has discussed that time period at length with me. The government messaging she heard during WWII was that they had to engage the United States in war because Americans wanted to take over Japan and destroy their culture. In addition, they were told that they had to fight because the Americans would systematically kill every citizen if they ever landed on Japan’s shores. As I’m sure you can imagine, the bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki did little to dispel these notions in the minds of the citizens. She also said that she remembers being shocked by the kindness of the American soldiers when they occupied the country after the war, and by the respect they showed to Japanese history and the buildings and artwork of the cities.
Related to the other point from the lesson about work ethic and creativity, Mieko’s family owned one of the silk factories in Kyoto. She was taught advanced sewing techniques at a very young age and when she emigrated to America, she opened a tailor shop. Her work ethic, skill, and dedication to her craft far surpassed that of any individual I have otherwise met. She has dresses displayed in the Smithsonian, has made garments for famous actresses and musicians, but devoted an equal amount of time and attention to more mundane tasks, such as hemming pants for local customers.
My anecdotal experience with Mieko is born out by research on the topic. The word for business in Japan is keiei, which is the combination two terms: Kei, meaning “governing the world in harmony,” and ei, which means “making ceaseless efforts to achieve” (Taka, 1997, p. 1499). Lipset (1992) found that Japan had the lowest rate of workplace absenteeism of all industrialized nations. (p. 50) In addition, Japan has the highest rate of employment among people aged 65 and older (Lipset, 1992, p. 50). It is interesting to note that the United States had the second lowest rate of workplace absenteeism and the second highest rate of employment among people aged 65 and older.
For managers of corporations who are considering expanding at the international level, this information could have significant meaning. Although there are many differences between the United States and Japan, the information on work ethic provides some basis for common ground between employees from the two countries. Beyond this similarity in work ethic, the two countries share the economic ideologies of capitalism which means there will be fewer competing ideologies that managers must resolve, as seen in the following chart:
(Ralston, Holt, Terpstra, & Kai-Cheng, 1997, p. 181).
Awareness of these similarities, if properly used, could provide managers with the strong base they need to resolve other ideological differences, such as individual- and group-oriented cultures. Finding common ground is always a good start when trying to blend disparate cultures into a single high-performing organization.
References:
Lipset, S. M. (1992). The work ethic, then and now. Journal of Labor Research, 13(1), 45-54.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2019). POLEAD 410 Lesson 11: Asia: Focus on Japan. Retrieved from: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/canvas/sp19/21911–17997/content/11_lesson/printlesson.html
Ralston, D. A., Holt, D. H., Terpstra, R. H., & Kai-Cheng, Y. (1997). The impact of natural culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: a study of the United States, Russia, Japan, and China. Journal of international business studies, 28(1), 177-207. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490097.pdf
Taka, I. (1997). Business ethics in Japan. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(14), 1499-1508. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023/A:1005850728406.pdf
Hi Jennifer,
This is quite an insightful look into the work ethics of Japan, especially when compared to our own. What especially caught my attention was the story you described of your mother-in-law. Quite an inspiring tale of how she had gone on to craft pieces of history while maintaining a strong sense of work ethic. It does go to show just how important hard work really is, no matter how mundane the task. I think that’s something that we can all strive towards.
In addition, I had no idea how similar our absenteeism ratings and employment over 65 ratings were so similar to one another. As you pointed out, these similarities should be noted by businesses who are looking for easier conflict resolution strategies.