comparing indian and japanese culture

8/2/2019 Comparing Indian and Japanese Culture

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Japan

Group 2

Anish Thomas

Rini Rajan

Lisa Thomas


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PESTEL ANALYSISPolitical

e-governance initiatives - greater transparency toJapanese politics and improve political administration

diplomatic row with North Korea - provocative actionshave led to the destabilization of peace in the region.

Economic

The second country after China with official foreignreserves exceeding $1tn.

Earthquake and tsunami had a detrimental effect onbusiness and economy, wiped out towns and industrialzones that supplied essential components. The supplydisruption


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Social

Government to alleviate the declining birth

rate. The population that contributes to the labor

force (1564 years) has steadily - shortage of

both labor and industrial productivity.Technological

Government expenditure on R&D has

increased by around 36% from $128bn in2001 to $174bn in 2010.

Faces challenges from China and India, both of

which have R&D, low costs and skilled labor


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Environmental

Registered with the UN its intention to slashgreenhouse gas emissions by 25% from 1990 levelsby 2020.

One of the largest producers of CO2 in the world.

Legal

In December 2010, the country announced plans toreduce its effective corporation tax rate from 40.9%to around 36%.

World Bank's 2011 Doing Business Report- getting a

business up and takes Min.8 procedures and 23days, which is both a longer period of time andgreater level of complexity than the OECD avg. of 5.6procedures and 13.8 days.


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On a trip to Japan the president of a large American electricalappliances company visited one of the factories of a leadingJapanese manufacturer. When he was shown the productionline, he was utterly amazed at the workers absorption in their

simple task and the diligence and precision of the womenworkers. He was so impressed, and believed it so important toanalyze their motivation, that the president extended his stay inJapan. Thinking it might explain the difference in laborproductivity between Americans and Japanese, he tried hard to

discover the key to their work attitudes. He observed the same women as they worked on the assembly

line for several days, until he finally decided that the way thesewomen approach their work reflect something of japanstraditional spirit. They appear to work in exactly the same spirit

as they might perform traditional arts, like flowers arranging ortea ceremony. These girls are not just mindlessly moving theirhands as they work; they seem to find some delicate diversity inapparently repetitive and simple functions. As a result, their skillsimprove dramatically.


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Organizational Commitment

There are two schools of thought about commitment.

The from control to commitment school, was led byWalton (1985), who saw commitment strategy as amore rewarding approach to human resourcemanagement, in contrast to the traditional controlstrategy.

Japanese/excellence school, is represented by writerssuch as Pascale and Athos (1981) and Peters andWaterman (1982), who looked at the Japanese model

and related the achievement of excellence to gettingthe wholehearted commitment of the workforce to theorganization.


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Ethnocentric

Atsushi ToyoshimaManaging Director of

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd(TKM).

Shinzo NakanishiManaging

Director and CEO ofMaruti Suzuki India Ltd.

Tatsuya ShinkaiChairman ofSuzuki

Motorcycle India Private Limited

Masaru TamagawaManaging Director, Sony

India


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Conventional Japanese HRM Systems

(CJHRMS)

Seniority Wage System (SWS)

Lifetime Employment Systems (LES)

Seniority-based Promotion System


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Seniority Wage System (SWS)

SWS that were widely practiced from the 1970s Rewarded employees on the basis of cumulative

on-the-job experience, and internal training over

the years that are strongly related to their tenure.

The practice aimed to secure and retain skilled

labor.

SWS leads to high fixed labor cost that hurts

capital gains. It also results in a stark wage

difference that could de-motivate younger

Japanese workforce


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Lifetime Employment Systems (LES)

Considering the scarcity of skilled labor and

intensive poaching during the industrialrevolution, LES was strategically emphasized in

the 1970s to gain full employee commitment.

LES that promotes a lifelong employer-employee relationship via the integration of

employer-employee goals also promotes

employee motivation and stable employmenttill mandatory retirement age.


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Current Scenario

External forces in Japan: High fixed labor cost

Economic downturn and competitive business

environment

Increased importance of profitability as a

measure of corporate performance

Changing work values of younger workforce

Change of management values to securing

and retaining highly-competent employees


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Criticisms to CJHRMS

CJHRMS are simply incompatible with aglobalized future.

There is tendency with Japanese firms to losehighly-competent staff to other multinationalcorporations (MNCs) due to less attractive SWS.

Cornered by various changes such asglobalization, prolonged recession, high fixedlabor cost and the changing work values,

Japanese firms have begun to recognize the needto modify CJHRMS to secure a highly-competentpool of workforce for sustaining a competitiveedge.


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Comparing Indian and Japanese Culture


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Power distance

India Japan

Score - 77

Power is distributed more unequally

Accepted by the population as a

cultural norm

Social inequality is accepted

Leaders are expected to be decisive

and self-sufficient Subordinates should know there

place and not question their

superiors

Score - 54

Conscious of their hierarchical

position in any social setting

However, it is not as hierarchical as

India

There is no one top guy

Education system : everybody isborn equal and anyone can get ahead

and become anything if works hard

enough


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Individualism

India: 48 and Japan: 46

Both are collectivist society

Being a part of a group is highly valued

Stronger acceptance of fate, tending to cause low stress levels

However, Japan is not as collectivistic as India

Society does not have extended family system

Japanese are experienced as collectivistic by Western standards and

experienced as individualistic by Asian standards

More private and reserved than Indians


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Masculinity / Femininity

India Japan

Score 56

Masculine but more feminine than

Japan

Quality of life is the sign of successStanding out from the crowd is not

admirable

Emphasize the quality of the whole

life

Organizations are not very

competitive

Score 95

One of the most masculine societies

Employees are most motivated

when they are fighting in a winningteam

Drive for excellence

Perfection in every aspect of life


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Uncertainty avoidance

India Japan

Score 40

In comparison to Japan, India is very

low

Uncertain situations and conditions

are viewed as part of the job

More tolerant and flexible

Population is open to unstructuredideas and situations

Have fewer rules and regulations

with which to attempt control

Score 92

One of the most uncertainty

avoiding countries

Japan is constantly threatened by

natural disasters

Lot of time and effort is put into

feasibility studies Detailed facts and figures before

taking any decision

Changes are too difficult


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Long term orientation

India 61 and Japan 80

Indias LTO lesser when compared to Japan

Both countries have high adaption of tradition to the modern context

High savings ratio driven by thrift

Patience and perseverance toward slow results

Concern with respecting the demand of virtue


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General business challenges

Declining labor forceComparatively poor education and healthcareperformance

High wage costs:

Declining technical workforce

Change in legal policies leads to unpredictablesituations

Violation of human rights, Weak prosecutionsystem, Declining judicial reviews

Strong knowledge base


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Important points which an Indian

Manager should keep in mind

Language

Patience and politeness

Japan is not as collectivistic

Private and reserved than Indians

Japan is not as Hierarchical as India

Love to compete and win

Drive for excellence and perfection

High need for uncertainty avoidance

Highly long term oriented people


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Need for global mindset

Overcome the cultural differences

Being open minded Comfort with diversity

Cultural integration

Interest in history, geography and nationalphenomena

Integrity in both ethical and intellectual matters

Abstract thinking is essential Risk taking capability

Cultural sensitivity

comparing indian and japanese culture

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