Intercultural Competence in Business Assignment (GC01622)

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 Robbin’s (2014) definition, Organizational culture is referred to the environment of an organization where activities are done according to business and understanding the business. Culture whether they are national or organizational, it 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 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 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 nonverbal hints, but British people depend on verbal expressions. In the case of the Japanese they reactions are not very clear but British people give a lot clearer reactions. In the case of business or workplace, Japanese are highly committed than British. For this working together in a 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 of cultures will be respected.

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 culture. The chart below shows the difference of the cultures:

Hofstede (2018) stated that, in the case of power distance, the Japanese score higher than the British. This means the Japanese are more conscious of their hierarchal status. Incase of individualism, British people score more than Japanese people. Japanese are very loyal towards their work organization. However, UK workers are not that much 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. In the case of masculinity Japanese scores more than the UK.

In Japanese culture, masculinity is mainly seen. Women often face problems competing with these masculine working situations. However, in the UK both men and women face equal working challenges in comparison to Japan. In the terms of uncertainty avoidance, the Japanese score more than UK people. According to the chart, in case long term orientation vs. short-term orientation, a score of japan is higher than 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 the British. Lastly, in the case of Indulgence, the Japanese score 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 Confucian cultural value includes importance on maintaining harmony; maintain group orientation, maintaining a relationship of hierarchy, maintaining bonding in the family. Confucian cultures are mainly seen in Japan, Korea, and China. In Confucian cultural values, social status is emphasized highly. For this, in the workplace of Japan, the 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 towards 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 Japan. However, customers are the 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 culture in this world. However, to work in cross-cultural communication some adjustments have to be done to give respect to all cultures. For this, the parties who 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.

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