Workplace Bullying in Japan - Essay Example

Japan culture and workplace bullying Workplace bullying in Japan is social problem that is linked to the cultural phenomenon Introduction Workplace bullying in Japan is social problem that is linked to the cultural phenomenon and threatens the welfare of employees in Japanese companies. The culture of Japan is characterized by high power distance, collectivism, long-term orientation and high uncertainty avoidance that ensure managers exert high control and power over their subordinates (McCarthy, 2001). The employees are expected to demonstrate loyalty in order to gain favors from their bosses and avoid actions that may strain their relationships with the bosses thus creating opportunities for bullying (Inceoglu, 2002). Workplace bullying is defined as repeated and health-threatening mistreatment that is humiliating, intimidating and threatening in a manner that interferes with full participation in work. The perpetrators desire to control the victim and bullies in the workplace select their victims and methods of bullying. Bullying at the workplace is a form of aggression and includes spreading of malicious rumours, gossip or physically attacking someone socially (Inceoglu, 2002). The topic is of great importance since bullying at workplace takes different forms such as undermining a person’s contribution at the workplace, threatening abuse, withholding necessary information, establishing unattainable deadlines, changing the work guidelines, intruding in to individual privacy, yelling, constant criticism, unwarranted punishments, assignment of unreasonable duties and tampering with individual personal belongings in order to intimidate the individual (McCarthy, 2001). Workplace bullying in Japan is a social problem that is linked to the current cultural phenomenon. Japanese culture is complex and multi-layered since it has been developing for the last a thousand years. Japanese people view the culture as a source of inspiration especially fashion, geisha traditional dancers and Samurai warriors wielding their two swords. Japanese business leaders perceive themselves as Samurai warriors and deal effectively with subordinates through bullying or issuing verbal commands that may be insulting. Social ranks and status in the society are clear and everyone is aware of each other’s age and status in the institution (Gordon, 1998). In some companies, the employees are issued with magazines that display the formal ages of each employee and ranking is used in various employment matters such as promotions, distribution of awards and recognition of superior performance (Jacobson, Hood & Buren, 2014, p 57). Japanese spontaneous sociability and nature of family structures affect the relationships at work. Japan has a high power distance and individuals in the society are not equal. The poor workers in Japan expect power not to be distributed equally within the organization and will submit to abusive language, yelling and unpleasant work in order to earn a living (Inceoglu, 2002). Japan is a hierarchical society and final decisions are made by the top management. Accordingly, the companies are centralized in control and large gaps in compensation exist due to high perceptions of authority of the management to determine the pay scales of the subordinates (Jacobson, Hood & Buren, 2014, p 49). Another cultural aspect of Japan that has facilitated workplace bullying is the masculinity nature of the society. Japanese people are driven by competition, achievement and success and these values starts from the education system that emphasis on the need to the winner (Gordon, 1998). At young age, children learn to compete in aggressive sports such as judo and learn how to appreciate the workaholism that is associated with the culture of masculinity. Japanese society sticks to the traditional males and females roles, values and women in managerial levels are likely to be bullied than their male counterparts in managerial positions (Gordon, 1998). Accordingly, bullying in Japan is common in nursing and childcare professions. Japan has a collective culture that embraces harmony rather than individuality. Group work is appreciated and the concept of ‘wa’ ensures that common greater good is more important that individual own needs. The cultural values embrace strong cohesion and sharing of responsibilities within teams through demonstrating high group loyalty and respect for other members of the team (McCarthy, 2001). In this case, the inferior members within the team relationships will downplay their ideas and thoughts in order to avoid humiliating the senior or superior members of the team. The cultural concept of ‘amae’ ensures that the bosses owe protection to employee and the longer the employee has remained with the company, the higher is the pay regardless of productivity (Gordon, 1998). The employees are expected to remain loyal to the company and thus subordinates will passionately accept transfers to undesirable work locations or unpleasant tasks in order to demonstrate their commitment to the organization. There is an expectation that employees will put in extra unpaid hours due to the stereotypes such as ‘robot worker’ who has no passion for self-fulfillment or life (Jacobson, Hood & Buren, 2014, p 58). Japanese culture has a Confucian philosophy that values the long-standing traditions and values thus employees are expected to deliver on their social obligations of avoiding annoying their boss and remaining submissive regardless of any verbal or physical assaults. The older employees have more authority than younger employees and high value is placed on the years of training undertaken in the company (Gordon, 1998). In this case, the companies reward loyalty and perseverance and subordinates avoid any actions that may cause disturbance of the good relations with their superiors such as reporting instances of bullying to trade unions (Jacobson, Hood & Buren, 2014, p 59). Another cultural factor of Japan that facilitates workplace bullying is the high uncertainty avoidance since Japanese people are anxious about the future. The people will try to avoid ambiguous situations in order to reduce the perceived risk through following the established rules, policies and code of behavior. For instance, absenteesm or lateness in work is not tolerated. This aspect of modern Japanese culture is reinforced by the fact that Japan is constantly faced with threats of natural disasters such as tsunamis, volcanic eruption, and earthquakes and thus individuals have led to prepare for uncertainties. In this case, differences with managers are not tolerated and managerial directives contain high levels of expression and emotions (Inceoglu, 2002). The changing work environment such as stiff competition, globalization and performance –based systems have led to high demand for better results. Economic changes have led to bullying behaviours such as yelling at subordinates, assignment of unpleasant tasks and harsh criticism in front of colleagues. Many Japanese admire authoritarian bosses who use angry outbursts due to the cultural aspects of the country (Chappell & Martino, 2006). Other background causes of workplace bullying in Japan include the overwork and stress caused by frequent staff retrenchment, lack of efficient communication between the management and subordinates, diverse types of employment such as the preference of non-permanent and agency workers, the pressure to attain better results due to performance-based systems, the changes in business structures and low wages in the industry (Inceoglu, 2002). The weaker human relations and lack of trust between the subordinates and bosses and perceptions of power lead to bullying since managers are autocratic in their leadership style (Gordon, 1998). Japanese managers make negative verbal comments and their behavior can isolate an employee or humiliate and degrade the dignity of the affected employee. The managers in Japan often exert their position power through aggression and demand total obedience and submission from their subordinates (Tehrani, 2001). The perpetrators will physically abuse or threaten abuse or continuously change the work guidelines in order to intimidate their victim. I have selected the topic since bullying at the workplace is widespread across Japan and threatens the welfare of the individual employee and productivity of the organization. Bullied workers exhibit various negative effects such as anger, frustration, difficulties in sleeping, loss of confidence, stress, lack of concentration, anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms like stomach pains thus leading to decline in job morale and low productivity (Inceoglu, 2002). The organizations that have unhealthy workplace that encourages bullying will experience high worker absenteeism, decline in productivity, high recruitment costs, negative corporate reputation and increase in workplace accidents (Rigby, 2002). Japanese cultural phenomenon has created belief systems that influence employee abuse such as the ideological link between work and religion, hierarchical power and profit as the ultimate goal of any business. In 2012, Japan recorded 51, 670 cases related to bullying and harassment in workplace and some cases involved psychological injuries and suicide due to bullying at the workplace. According to Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) survey in 2012, 25.3 percent of all respondents experienced workplace bullying in the past three years while males were more likely to be bullied. According to a survey conducted by All-Japan Prefectural and Municipal Workers Union (JICHIRO) in 2010, the prevalence of bullying at the workplace was 32.5 percent while about 3.5 percent of the employees were seriously bullied. In addition, bullying was high among employees aged 30-39 years and lowest in the age group of 20-29 years. The non-permanent and agency workers were more likely to experience bullying than permanent employees. The JICHIRO survey singled out nursing, childcare and welfare occupations as some were bullying was highest (Rigby, 2002). The situation in Western countries such as United States and Canada is different since bullying at workplace is associated with personality differences and racial differences. The cultural phenomenon of United States encourages subordinates to participate in decisions due to the low power distance and individualistic nature of the culture (Tehrani, 2001). The subordinates do not perceive any inequalities in power due to the flatter organizational structures, efficient communication and ability of the managers to delegate tasks to the subordinates. Most of the cases on bullying in the US are reported on the basis of discrimination and harassment that is mainly physical and do not entail cultural elements (Rigby, 2002). The US companies emphasis on formation of meaningful teams and shared decision making since the leadership style of the managers aim at articulating a shared vision and influencing the efforts of subordinates towards attainment of the overall organizational goals without coercion (Inceoglu, 2002). The management of US companies considers the welfare of subordinates and job design ensures that employees perform challenging and meaningful tasks that contribute to the overall organizational goals. Accordingly, promotions are linked to performance and not years of service or age of the employee. The US companies encourage individual freedom and respect individual privacy through avoiding unethical actions such as spying on the private lives of the employees. Accordingly, the US culture has a high degree of individualism and employees are accorded the opportunity to exercise their creativity in problem solving and implement innovative ideas that lead to self-fulfillment (Inceoglu, 2002). The US culture appreciates gender equality and women have equal opportunities of ascending to higher levels of management. Accordingly, the cultural phenomenon in US encourages change and uncertainty and thus managers are willing to take risks that will lead to high productivity and success of the organization in the future (Rigby, 2002). The organizations have no formal rules or procedures and dress code is in some cases informal. The managers do not respond to uncertainties in emotional manner and will remain calm even when handling difficult employees or dealing with challenging situations in the workplace (Tehrani, 2001). Although Japan lacks formal legislation to address workplace bullying, the government launched the ‘Round-table Conference and Working Group’ in 2011 that later published ‘Recommendations for Prevention and Resolution of Workplace Power Harassment’ in March 2012. The report recommended employers and trade unions to exert efforts in eradicating bullying and the top management of corporate organizations to foster a culture that does not tolerate power harassment. The individual workers must be aware of their personality differences and respect others in order to ensure mutual understanding and avoid isolating others. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has started implementing countermeasures that will address the increase in bullying such as encouraging the employers to provide telephone lines were bullied workers can make complains and encouraging the labor tribunals to investigate cases of bullying. The government has encouraged the employers to implement and employee code of behavior that prohibit bullying (Tehrani, 2001). Conclusion Workplace bullying consists of wide range negative psychological acts that may present psychological harm and indirect behaviors that impair the performance of the employee at the workplace. Bullying includes harassing, offending and excluding an employee thus negatively affecting their tasks, social relationships and interactions within the workplace. Japanese cultural phenomenon has led to aggressive and communication that ensures bullying is rewarded with promotions and access to leadership through blaming or making people fearful of experimenting new ideas in the workplace. The consequences of bullying in the workplace include decreased worker job commitment and productivity high job turnover, loss of morale and high recruitment costs. References: Chappell, D & Martino, V. (2006). Violence at Work. New York: International Labor Organization. Gordon, A. (1998). The Invention of Japanese-Style labor Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Inceoglu, I. (2002). Organizational culture: Team climate, workplace bullying and team effectiveness: an empirical study on their relationship. Muchen: Verlag. Jacobson, K.L., Hood, J.N & Buren, H.V. (2014). ‘Workplace bullying across cultures: a research agenda’, International Journal of Cross cultural management, April 2014, vol 14, no 1, pp 47-65. McCarthy, P. (2001). Bullying: From Backyard to Boardroom. London: Federation Press. Rigby, K. (2002). New Perspectives on Bullying. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Tehrani, N. (2001). Building a culture of respect: managing bullying at work. London: Taylor & Francis. Read More