Intercultural Competence in Business Assessment_1 (GC0801)

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction.

2.0 Compare and contrast the culture of Japan with the culture of the UK using various theories and models

Edward Hall’s High- and Low-Context Cultures.

Hofstede’s Six Dimensions.

Confucian Cultural Values.

3.0 Conclusion.

Reference.

1.0 Introduction

Crouch (2015) suggested that Culture is defined as the consequences of the acts of mankind in social circumstances. Culture refers to accumulated plots of minds of mankind that differentiate one type of people from another type. According to Robbins (2014) definition, Organizational culture is referred to as the environment of an organization where activities are done according to business and understanding the business. Culture whether they are national or organizational is of different types. However, the culture of a nation can’t be changed but the organizational cultures can be changed according to management. This paper discusses the comparison and contrast between the two cultures Japan and the UK, how they impact the workplace according to the various situations of the business.

2.0 Compare and contrast the culture of Japan with the culture of the UK using various theories and models

Edward Hall’s High- and Low-Context Cultures

M Jeffrey (2016) stated that Edward Hall’s High- and Low-Context Cultures theory refers to the cultures which are based on how explicitly the people of that culture interchange their messages and how much the context means in particular circumstances. Context means the meaning behind the uttered words. The high context can be expressed by talking and the low context can be expressed through computers.

According to this model, Japanese culture is a culture of high context. They say fewer words but with applied meaning. Such as in the case of greetings they usually bow down before each other to show their respect. Here most of the time they don’t use words or say few words. However, in the case of British people during they like to say many words and with a more definite meaning. In the case of working together in a variety of business situations, greetings can be misinterpreted. For this, they need to prepare themselves by learning the opposite parties’ cultures.

Japanese tends to work for a longer hour which is a sign of high context culture. Whereas British people do not work that late. M Jeffrey (2016) suggested that according to the theory Japanese are more covert and implicit. However British people are overt and explicit. Japanese tends to use expression more in case of sharing messages. However, in the case of British people they use words for direct meaning. Japanese use more non-verbal hints, but British people depend on verbal expressions. In the case of the Japanese, the reactions are not very clear but British people give a lot clearer reactions. In the case of business or workplace, the Japanese are highly committed than the British. For this working together in business situation management would be different in case of both of the cultures. Japanese people will be needed to give more nonverbal hints whereas British people will need clearer guidance for management. In the case of dress code maintenance, a universal dress should be chosen where both cultures will be respected.

Our Recommended Resources:

Intercultural Competence in Business Assessment 2
Unit 6.6 Managing Quality and Service Delivery Assignment Help

Diagram: high context VS low context Source: M Jeffrey (2016)

Hofstede’s Six Dimensions

According to Hofstede (2014), this model is mainly used for cross-cultural communication in business. This model was developed by Hofstede in 1980 to know about the effect of cultural diversity on organizational value. According to this model, there are 6 factors that affect the workplace value and environment. These are power distance, masculinity vs. femininity, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, indulgence vs. restraint, and short-term vs. long-term orientations.

In the implication of Hofstede’s six dimensions model, it seems that, there many differences between the Japanese and British cultures. The chart below shows the difference between the cultures:

Chart 1.1: Cultural differences between Japan and UK Source: Hofstede (2018)

According to Hofstede (2018) stated that, in the case of power distance, the Japanese score higher than the British. This means the Japanese are more conscious about the hierarchal status. Incase of individualism, British people score more than Japanese people. Japanese are very loyal to their work organization. However, UK workers are not that loyal. Though loyalty is part of individualism, japan is individualistic than the Asian countries. However, in terms of the western country, they are collectivistic countries in the case of the workplace. Incase of masculinity Japanese scores more than the UK. In Japanese culture, masculinity is mainly seen. Women often face problems to compete with these masculine working situations. However, in the UK both men and women face equal working challenges in comparison to Japan. In terms of uncertainty avoidance, the Japanese score more than the UK people. According to the chart, in the case, long term orientation vs. short-term orientation, the score of Japan is higher than in the UK. Japan is a country that constantly faces natural disasters. Naturally, it makes the people stronger, ready, and manageable than the British. Their proficiency level is much more than the British. Lastly, in the case of Indulgence, the Japanese scores lower than the UK. This means British people’s acts are not limited by social patterns.

Confucian Cultural Values

Ryu and Cervero (2016) recommended that the Confucian cultural value includes the importance of maintaining harmony; maintain group orientation, maintaining the relationship of hierarchy, maintaining bonding in the family. Confucian cultures are mainly seen in Japan, Korea, and China. In the Confucian cultural value, social status is emphasized highly. For this, in the workplace of Japan, people with higher social status will have benefits and respect more than others. According to Ryu and Cervero (2016), as Japan is under Confucian cultural values, they are very loyal to their workplace. They maintain hierarchical relationships in the organization. They abide by their superiors’ commands. They believe that customers should be made friends first. They should treat others as they want to be treated by others. UK workers are less loyal than in Japan. However, customers are important shareholders of any organization in the world. In this case, both japan and UK maintain their best behavior to manage their customers.

3.0 Conclusion

There are different types of cultures in this world. However, to work in cross-cultural communication some adjustments have to be done to give respect to all the cultures. For this, the parties involving from and with a different culture first need to prepare themselves for their opposite party. They should provide proper respect. If any misinterpretation happens they should sort it out mutually.

Reference

Mqjeffrey (2016) High-Context vs. Low-Context Communication. Available at: https://toughnickel.com/business/High-Context-vs-Low-Context-Communication [Accessed at 13 April 2018]

Ryu, K. and Cervero, R.M. (2016) The role of Confucian cultural values and politics in planning educational programs for adults in Korea. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/display/79990303. [Accessed at 13 April 2018]

Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J. and Minkov, M. (2014) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. 3^rd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill

Robbins, S. P. (2014) Essentials of Organizational Behavior. London: Pearson library.

Crouch, A. (2015) Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling. 5th Ed. London: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Torrington, D., Hall, L. and Taylor, S. (2012) Human Resource Management. 10th Ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Geert-Hofstede (2018) Cultural differences between the UK and Japan Available at https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/japan,the-uk/ [Accessed at 13 April 2018]

Business Plan