Some time ago the Competitiveness Division of the Department of Trade and Indust

Question

Some time ago the Competitiveness Division of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the British government commissioned research on British small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that had managed to set up successful businesses in Japan, one of the toughest (though lucrative) global markets to break into for foreign firms. Numerous success stories from the study show how some firms managed to adapt to the differences in culture, society, and business practices that can act as barriers to foreign firms. But there are also numerous tales of the blunders that some managers made that undermined their efforts to establish themselves in Japan.

Meishi is Japanese for “business card,” but has a deeper significance in Japan than elsewhere as a representation of the employee’s allegiance to and respect for his or her company. The strong emphasis placed on loyalty and obligation between employees and their firms, lifetime employment based on a moral contract (rather than a price-based contract), and a manager’s position as a member of a collective all have a strong influence on his (sometimes her) behavior when interacting with others. Kaisha-in literally means “company person,” but it also denotes the individual as a representative of “our company” in the sense of a shared group consciousness. The company name comes first, before the individual’s name on the meishi and when making introductions. The exchange of meishi also establishes relative rank within the strict corporate and social hierarchy and therefore guides the correct behavior and even form of language used for interacting. Overall for the Japanese exchanging meishi is an important symbolic ritual.

A senior technology manager from Scotland on his first assignment to Japan was attempting to establish a strategic alliance with a local firm as a starting point for marketing and selling his firm’s products locally. In his first meeting, he faced six senior executives from the Japanese firm, ranged across a boardroom table traditionally in order of seniority. Almost the first act of the Scottish manager was to throw his newly printed meishi across the table to each of the Japanese executives in turn!

There is no way of knowing how significant this single act was in undermining this firm’s market entry in Japan. It failed in its attempt to forge an alliance with this particular Japanese firm and with others, eventually leading it to abandon its attempts. What we can say for certain is that a small amount of preparation by this manager to build even a basic understanding of business etiquette in Japan would have improved this company’s chances of building a successful business in Japan.

The overall study, including 30 detailed case studies of successful British firms in Japan, demonstrates very clearly that managers need to understand the cultural and social norms that underpin business practices in different countries if they are going to do business in those countries. The lesson applies to firms engaged in cross-border mergers and alliances, expanding into new markets through foreign direct investment activities, or even at the simple level, when hiring new recruits from overseas, outsourcing to foreign countries, or selling products and services abroad. Cultural awareness is critical to making business relationships work, at the face-to-face level or at the company-to-company level.

Explain what kinds of broad cultural differences we are likely to find between the Japanese and the British.

Explanation / Answer

japanese and Britishers are different in each and every way in their culture. So here are some of the business board culture differences that we find between them.

Britishers Japanese For Britishers they will be always addressed as Mr/Ms/Mrs Sir etc Japanese always be addressed with name followed by san For Britishers generally all are equal in board meetings Japanese head is the uttermost power after himsitting down others will sit down They always are straight forward get into point very fast They start to talk all the subject and move forward Britishers are always individualist in their work Japanese are mostly collectivist britishers are always are short run oriented in business while working with others They always have long term thinking while doing any business with others Britishers always think about waht is good and bad in their own point of view and takes individual decisions Japanese always take a group decision in each and every matter which will lead to long process

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