Some Common & Important

Cultural Differences
•The individual & self vrs the collective as the primary unit of value.

•Emphasis on honesty & directness vrs harmony, indirectness & face.

•Value on doing vrs being or belonging--implications for equality, status & age.

•Emphasis on the quality of the deal vrs the quality of the relationship in making
decisions to do business--implications for ritual & the bargaining process.

•Preference for high power distance in which bosses make all the decisions vrs low
power distance in which subordinates expect to participate.

•Belief in control vrs fatalism--implications for uncertainty avoidance, planning,

decision making & training.

•Belief in high vrs low work centrality.

•Preference for monochronic vrs polychronic structuring of activities in time.

Some Common & Important
Cultural Differences (cont)
•A past vrs present vrs future orientation--implications for valuing progress,
change, tradition & continuity.

•Perception of people & nature as independent & competitive vrs interdependent

and in balance--implications for valuing technology.

•Belief in universalism vrs particularism or rules vrs relationships.

•Emphasis on analytic vrs holistic, relational or intuitive understanding--

implications for research, education & training.

•Different strategies for forming, maintaining & dissolving relationships--including

the value on individual attitudes vrs role performance.

•Differences in verbal & nonverbal communication symbols.

•Preference for high vrs low context communication.

•Different conflict resolution strategies and skills!!!

 Traditional Indian Management in
Comparison
Management Practices Western Management
Task requirements and abilities
Employee Requirements
Participative management style
where input is solicited
Leadership Style
Relationships remain impersonal
Motivational Aspects and Work an end itself
Rewards Intrinsic rewards
Objective selection criteria
Human resource management
Downsizing, performance pay
practices
Traditional Indian Management
Family relation and caste memberships
of employees have to be considered
Organizational leaders display a high
level of personal involvement with
their subordinates. Leaders provide
nurturance contingent upon the
subordinate's task accomplishment
Work is viewed as a means to an end
i.e. for the sake of satisfying family
needs. Little demand for changing work
tasks, only the compensation is relevant
Nepotism and caste considerations
affect selection and compensation.
Training less emphasized
 Evolution of Indian Management
Management Practices Traditional Indian Management
Family relation and caste
Employee Requirements memberships of employees have to
be considered
Organizational leaders display a
high level of personal involvement
with their subordinates. Leaders
Leadership Style
provide nurturance contingent upon
the subordinate's task
accomplishment
Work is viewed as a means to an
end i.e. for the sake of satisfying
Motivational Aspects and
family needs. Little demand for
Rewards
changing work tasks, only the
compensation is relevant
Nepotism and caste considerations
Human resource management
affect selection and compensation.
practices
Training less emphasized
Contemporary Indian
Management
Relevant educational background
and experience matching task
requirements
Increasingly participative
management style where
subordinates' opinions and input are
solicited. Personal relationship
between management and
employees reduced
Elements such as job rotation,
enrichment, autonomy, team work
and competitive salaries are
increasingly considered to motivate
employees
Objective selection criteria.
Training programs and performance
related compensation applied
1 ． Transitions of Japanese-style management 　
1960s ・・・ 1980s 1990s 2000 ～

High-growth period 　 Economic bubbles 　　 Lost decade New corporate governance

　
(Limitation of Japanese-style
Japanese-style management governance)

Mutual dependence among

companies
Crossholding of shares, Change of capital market Reform of the board
Era of Japanese-style corporate governance

main financing bank system, of directors

Governance by management, bank and

company groups, etc. Indirect financing 　→　 Direct financing

Japanese-style employment Introduction of

economic agencies of state

practice Shift to borderless economy US-style

Lifetime employment, Global economization Independent
seniority system, Trade and capital liberalization
company union, etc.
board members
Big ban, IT revolution
System selectivity
Industrial policy Enhancement
Administrative control, of auditor's
public-private cooperation framework, Corporate scandal
authority
coordination in a industry group, etc. Executive
officers

Ambiguous corporate accounting ・ Shareholder

practice value
・
Limited disclosure of corporate
information ・
 Some Key Japanese/American
Cultural Differences
•Emphasis on the individual or self (American) vs. the relationship or collective (Japanese)--
implications for the value of individual freedom, independence, self-reliance, in-group vs. out-group
competition, collectivism & authority.

•Value on honesty (American) vs. harmony (Japanese) in relationships--implications for

communication directness, indirectness & face (kao).

•Emphasis on the quality of the immediate “deal” (American) vs. the longer-term relationship
(Japanese)--implications for the objectives of business meetings (e.g., decision making or
relationship testing).

•High (Japanese) vs. medium (American) work centeredness--implications for the role of the
company vs the family or community in worker’s lives.

•High (Japanese) vs. low (American) uncertainty avoidance--implications for planning, job
descriptions & job security.

•High (Japanese) vs. lower (American) reliance on “context” in communication--implications for the
meaning of words (yes), gestures & silences.

•Direct verbal expression of conflict by complainant (American) vs. indirect expression and
interpretation by target (Japanese).
Comparison of American, Japanese, and
Theory Z Management Styles