The peculiarities of each aspect of the everyday life in Japan depend on the country’s customs and traditions. This principle is also important for understanding the peculiar features of providing business affairs in Japan.
Today more and more companies become involved in the process of globalization, extending and strengthening the international business relations. To provide the effective results of these tendencies, it is necessary to pay attention to the cultural peculiarities of that country with which it is important to establish successful business contacts.
To be able to work effectively with the partners from Japan, it is significant to analyze the particular features of organizing the management processes in the country. Two common managerial approaches to the organization of the work in the company can be determined.
The first approach is the accent on an individual and his work toward reaching definite business goals. The second approach is the orientation on the team work when the results of the collective work of individuals are appreciated (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov). The first approach is typical for companies in the USA where managers accentuate the work of an individual as a leader of a definite process.
The second variant of the work organization is realized in the Japanese companies. The misunderstandings connected with the differences in approaches can result in the ineffective realization of the cooperative projects between the managers of the both companies (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov).
The Japanese managers concentrate on creating the atmosphere of harmony in the team in order the members of the group could do all their best and provide the highest results. The main principles of the work are understanding, sincerity, and cooperation which are realized because of the proper attention and monitoring without the oppressive control (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov).
It is not typical for the Japanese company to determine the individuals’ successes, but pay attention to the team’s results. The situation in the USA can be considered as quite opposite. US managers focus on the leader’s characteristics of the employees and their ability to work in order to achieve the corporate goals using the most effective methods (Cultural aspects, n.d.).
Moreover, it is also important to pay attention to the cultural peculiarities of Japan and to its traditions. The Japanese people always focus on the significance of customs and traditions. That is why they also concentrate on the people’s following such customs as entering the room where the tatami is used without footwear, taking business cards with both hands, and the avoidance of the unnecessary physical contacts (Cultural aspects, n.d.).
The Japanese people also greet each other with bowing, but today they prefer to use shakehands while interacting with their international guests. It is typical for the Japanese people to express the utter respect toward their business partners, and they also hope for the international partners’ respectful attitude to their customs and traditions.
Today US business coaches pay more attention to team building as an effective way to achieve the cooperative goals and optimize the problem-solving and decision-making processes. Nevertheless, if the American managers focus on the peer control in the team, the Japanese managers can consider these methods as a kind of pressure.
That is why it is possible to accentuate the development of the cooperative atmosphere in the team in the US company with references to the Japanese patterns in the situation when the Japanese managers pay attention to the role of the individual, but without focusing on the significance of the leader’s positions within the group.
References
Cultural aspects of Japan, the United States and Europe. (n.d.). Web.
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. USA: McGraw-Hill.