Executive Summary
The given report aims to analyze the cultural dimensions existing in the Japanese and the US cultures in the experience of Mr. Selleck, an American baseball player, hired by the Japanese Nagoya Chunichi Dragon professional team and who was not prepared to encounter different culture and distinct mode of life. This report covers such cross-cultural management issues as cultural programming, reaction to new cultural experiences, and changes that may be provoked by the parties involved in the cross-cultural situations. Additionally, recommendations for the improvement of the cross-cultural management practices are provided.
Analysis
Culture as Frozen History
Cultural traditions and values are formed under the influence of various social, political, and historical environments and are maintained from one generation to another. The American and the Japanese societies largely differ from each other, and their national values belong to distinct cultural dimensions. Geert Hofstede (2001) distinguishes five major indexes which may be used to rank cultural values: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity, Long-/Short-Term Orientation. The example of Mr. Selleck indicates that the US culture is higher on Individualism while the Japanese community is higher on collectivism. Initially, in many situations, Selleck acted selfishly and was concerned primarily with his own advantages and interest, e.g., during the first training when everybody made exercises he refused to join and even found these activities absurd. But the goal of the Japanese managers was the development of harmony and cohesion among all team members. Although such attitude does not exclude some orientation towards individuals, it makes collective benefits a priority. There is also a greater level of power acceptance in the Japanese culture. In the USA, Mr. Selleck regarded himself as equal to his managers and freely expressed his opinions without paying much respect to authority. However, in Japan, this programming caused him a lot of trouble because traditionally the Japanese society abides by the principles of social and professional hierarchy and any disagreement with higher management is usually considered rude.
The distribution of socio-emotional roles in the Japanese culture is clearly identified. Japan has the index of 95 in the masculinity dimension (Hofstede 2001). It means that it is one of the most competitive countries in the world, and it values materialism, confidence, and predominance. The competition largely influences individual actions and decisions in the Japanese society and, in this way, affects the manner of work. Japan is also very high on long-term orientation. High scores in the given dimension emphasize the significance of authority and collectivism in the society. The long-term goals seem to unite teams and stimulate their trust in authority and power. Everyone except Mr. Selleck in the Japanese baseball team looked to the future and endeavored to fulfill the formulated long-term objectives (e.g. to win in the game against Tokyo Giants). And it seems that Mr. Selleck could comprehend the importance of the immediate daily practices which he regarded as unusual or ridiculous only when he realized what the team and the manager wanted to accomplish.
New Cultural Experiences Flow
Mr. Selleck’s experience underwent the stages of disgust, acceptance, and approval throughout his stay in Japan. The culmination of the first stage took place when Selleck tried to attack his rival who accidentally threw the ball in his head. He did not know that the opponent apologized for this by making a hand sign, and even when the situation was clarified to him, Mr. Selleck did not pay significant attention to others’ feelings and freely expressed accumulated adverse emotions in public. He gradually started to adapt to the cultural differences when his interactions with Hiroko, his girlfriend, became more frequent. His personal assistant who explained everything to him and supported his throughout his work contributed to the improvement of his condition. Finally, Selleck started to approve new experience after talking to the coach who facilitated the comprehension of the situation as a whole. At the final stage of the experience flow, Selleck found the meaning in everything he was asked to do and ultimately received substantial support from other team members when showed the willingness to collaborate.
Changes
Improved communication allowed the parties to gain both individual and collective advantages. First, as soon Selleck understood what the manager wanted from him and how it can be achieved, he could enhance performance. The individual and collective interests became perfectly aligned. Selleck also influenced his team and the traditionally accepted way of work by including the element of fun and risk taking in the game and professional interactions. He demonstrated that some level of uncertainty and freedom might lead to positive results. Overall, it is possible to say that this cross-cultural situation allowed the involved parties to merge their strengths in practice and find the right balance between two extreme ways of working by combining different cultural values.
Recommendations
The analysis of cultural dimensions makes it clear that it is possible to minimize misunderstanding and trigger the acceptance and approval of new cultural experiences through appropriate communication. The agency should always involve intermediaries in the process of cultural adaptation because it is highly useful in the context of cross-cultural business interactions. Personal assistance to a new expatriate employee may help him or her to join the collective organizational business endeavors more quickly and increase job satisfaction. It may allow organizations to gain many benefits including reduced staff turnover, increased work efficiency, and productivity.
In the context of international relations, it is critical to consider the fact that social and cultural structures vary from one country to another because the understanding of characteristics inherent in particular cultures and societies may significantly facilitate the process of communication and lead to productive outcomes. The agency should analyze cultural differences in the foreign employees to facilitate their integration in the work process and establish communication on the collected data. Well-developed communication and rendered support can contribute to the easier approval of unfamiliar cultural practices by individual employees from the culturally distant backgrounds. In this way, the agency will achieve positive outcomes by allowing partner-companies gain opportunities to align individual and organizational needs more efficiently and achieve productive results faster.
Work Cited
Hofstede, Geert. Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations. Sage Publications, 2001.