Introduction
With globalization in full force nowadays, it is crucial for a businessperson working in the international setting to understand how business practices vary in different countries. Showing the understanding of other cultures and showing an effort to adapt to their business customs can make or break any negotiation. In order to ensure success during meetings and presentations, this short guide will outline the main aspects and differences between the United States’ and Japanese business practices with regards to the business attire, meetings and negotiations, salaries and benefits and finally the popular careers in Japan.
Background
The United States business culture is based on a direct and informal approach. This means that “rolling your sleeves up” and getting down to business is respected and expected when working in the United States. (Executive Planet) On the other hand, the Japanese culture is a complex and multi-layered system, which developed over thousands of years. This is very much apparent when analyzing the business culture. The Japanese put a lot of focus on having a hierarchical, group-oriented society, and aim to avoid direct confrontation, maintaining the workplace harmony on a high level.(Export.gov) The long-term focus on culture and tradition caused the business culture to be very formal and complex, a complete opposite of the American culture.
Business Dress
In accordance with a very formal approach in conducting business, Japanese are very strict about their attire during the business meetings. For men, it is expected to wear a dark suit, either navy or black, between the months of October and April, and to wear a gray suit between the months of May and September. One important thing to know ...
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...ons becoming the most popular and sought after careers in Japan. (Executive Planet)
Works Cited
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A businessperson needs to understand that the Mexican government plays a large part in establishing a business in Mexico. The government in Mexico influences and controls the Mexican business world, as most business transactions require a permit. Because of the strong government influence, many business practices in Mexico are corrupt. Not understanding or taking the time to learn Mexican business etiquette along with rules and regulations, one can find themselves in a compromising position. This paper intends to provide the necessary details such as customs, etiquette, mannerism, and culture of doing business in Mexico.
The rest of the book is spent discussing each of the countries in detail. For each country the authors give a brief explanation of the history of the culture. Then they give tips on what each country expects from a visiting businessman. This includes tips on whether or not it is okay to be late for meetings, proper behavior during a business lunch or dinner, and how to properly address people you come in contact with during your business trip. They also give a guide t...
Hill, C., Wee, C. and Udayasankar, K. 2012.International Business:An Asian Perspective. 8th ed. Singapore: McGraw-Hill.
In order to do business in Japan we must first understand the Japanese culture. The Japanese culture has a deep history and is very complex. When analyzing and trying to understand the Japanese culture we must look at various aspects such as: communication, languages, manners and customs, values and attitudes, ethics, and religion, and social structures. We must also consider how these aspects of culture play into doing business in Japan and how they compare to Canada’s way of culture and business
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Many businesses have begun using a casual dress policy on certain days. Implementing dress-down days may be an effective way to boost employee morale. The question that seems to pop up too often is whether dress-down days are a benefit or burden to the company. Many companies have adopted Friday as a casual or dress-down day, while others have made casual business attire a full-time policy. Some employees view wearing casual business clothing as an employee benefit. To others, it is a disaster. Both men and women are often confused about what "casual" means and about how to dress casually and still look professional. Some people in management positions feel employees goof off on casual dress day. This report will look at all these issues as well as a conclusion about the effectiveness of casual dress days.
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When in Japan there are a multitude of customary behaviors to adhere to. This is important because not following certain traditional ways, even as foreigners can be disrespectful. These traditional Japanese manners, customs, and courtesies play a vital role in their society.
Heine, Lehman, Ide, Leung, Kitayama, Takata, and Matsumoto (2001) performed a study on the cultural differences between North American and Japanese natives in their model of self as well as their perception of success and failure. The researchers found that Japanese students are more sensitive to information related to their weaknesses while American students are more sensitive to information related to their strengths. The Japanese students worked much harder when focusing on their weaknesses while American students worked harder while working on their strengths. Ultimately, Americans used a self-enhancing strategy while the Japanese used a self-improving strategy. Both cultures share similar goals of achievement but they use vastly different strategies in achieving these goals. As we look back at the Khan
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I chose to compare and contrast the United States culture with the culture of Japan. There are a few similarities between the two, such as a love of the arts, fashion and baseball. However, they are culturally different than similar in very major aspects. Japan is a very homogenous society made up of about 98% ethnic Japanese. They tend to put a lot of emphasis on family and communities, and value the group more than the individual (Aliasis, 2013).
Based on Richard R. Gesteland book, the patterns of cross-cultural business behavior can be categorized into deal-focus vs. relationship-focus, informal vs. formal cultures, rigid-time vs. fluid-time cultures, and emotionally expressive vs. emotionally reserved cultures. Those four categories need to be learned by business people to solve the cross-culture problem. Furthermore, there will be some elucidations regarding the patterns of cross-cultural business behavior.
In international management, culture is acquired knowledge that peoples use to interpret experiences and generate social behavior. This knowledge forms values, creates attitudes and influences behavior. Because different cultures exist in the world an understanding of the impact of culture on behavior is critical in the international management. There are many way of examining culture differences and their impact on international management. Culture can affect technology transfer, managerial attitude, managerial ideology and even business-government relations. Cultural affects a host of business-related activities, even the including the common handshake. For example, in the United States, the standard greeting is a smile, often accompanied by a nod, wave and it may sometimes include verbal greeting. In business situations, a firm handshake is used. Feeble handshakes are viewed as negatively as weakness. Men usually wait for women to offer their hand before shaking. As in the Czech Republic, shake hands, firmly but briefly, with everyone (including children) when introduced. It is also customary to shake hands once again upon departure. Men should wait to see if women extend their hands in inter-gender meetings. Also, avoid keeping the left hand in one's pocket while shaking hands with the right. In the Czech Republic, politics and other complicated ...
To make sure you are dressed right; make sure that your business clothing is seen as conservative as men and women has to avoid wearing bright or any coloured outfits so stick with a conservative look. Shoes should be easy to slip on and off because the Japanese regularly remove their shoes.
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