The Socio-Economic and Cultural Aspects of Japan - Assignment Example

Introduction In this paper, a personal reflection on the group work exercise that was conducted by Tom, Cloe, and I is given. The group work was a research about the socio-economic and cultural aspects of the country Japan. This topic was selected by our group through the guidance of our teacher and the desire to discus about a developing nation in eastern Asia. Upon selecting this topic individual members of the group decided to work separately on different specific aspects of the research on Japan (MacQueen, 1998). Apart from the common knowledge that the country is popularly referred to as the land of the rising sun that we all had the task, each of us came up with a lot of interesting facts and data concerning several cultural aspects of the country. Each member presented their findings to the group and in the end we were able to integrate the entire information into a single presentation for the group project. The development of this presentation and the overall group project did not come easy without the challenges. Our main finding about the culture of the Japanese people was their evolution from a mix of cultures across the Asian continent. This evolution was evident from the different aspects of their rich culture which included literature, arts as well as the lifestyle of the population that is about 126 million. Skills that we developed from the exercise The task given was about working in groups to come up with a presentation on the cultural aspects of a developing nation. The key concept we were able to learn are related to the working in groups to deliver a project and the ability to conduct research on a specific topic area. Since the topic area was about the culture of Japan, the rich culture of the people of the East Asian country was also acquired in the learning process. All the group members undertook a presentation of the different areas that they worked on and apart from being an enjoyable process; we were able to develop research and presentation skills. Group work is supposed to generate a sense of togetherness even if opinions differed (Anning 2010). The capability of the members of the team is varied and diverse. The level of diversity creates an instance where the members have a varying position on the issues that are raised within a group (Bell, 2012) but still find common ground. This was evident even while we were choosing the topic to take the research on. The main learning objective here is the level of team work which is the cohesiveness of the team in their work. I also realized that it is important to appreciate the input of different members as it can be substantive and informing as well as entertaining. The process of research is also a very interesting exercise. Through research, one can uncover a lot of information that they did not know about the subject being investigated. In our case, each was more than delighted to discover the different cultural aspect of Japan each individual discovered. The whole process was particularly made interesting by the fact that each member was assigned a unique task to carry out about the country Japan. The research culminated in the development of a presentation of the findings. This was also a useful skill that we gained at the end of the exercise. It was particularly interesting to the entire group of Tom Cloe and I to make discovers the different cultural aspect of the people of Japan. Among the most important facts that the group gained included the fact that the people of Japan are friendly and have a group or we culture instead of a high rate of individualism Division of labor in the group Each member was assigned a specific task in the group to complete in order to make the presentation successful. The aim of this division was to make work easier and promote corporation of all the members. My main task as part of the larger group was that of writing the introductory remarks and setting the areas of culture to be covered by the team. From my research, I realized that the cultures that prevail in Europe are quite different from the culture of the Japanese people. While the Japanese believe in a communal or "we" culture, most prevailing cultures in Europe are individualistic in nature. Tom opined that in order to make the Japanese culture more global, the infusion of individualistic culture was necessary (Lieberman, Lau, & Williams, 2000). We also discovered that the people of Japan are not only friendly but also hard working (Adler & Graham, 1989). Their belief in the high quality of life has driven scientific research and innovation which have become the main pillars (Krafcik, 2008) in the economy of the country. The web diagram was not difficult to draw either. I only considered the important aspects of the Japanese culture which involved a variety of historical practices and events like the World War II, the emperor of Japan, Shinkansen and Manga among others. We also learnt that the country has an ageing population that is slowly becoming a problem to the economy. We were able to learn that the economy of Japan is one of the largest (Cusumano 2013) in the Asian continent. While some of us opined that Japan still has the potential to grow this economy further through research and technology (Pilkington, 2005), some felt that this was not possible. The feeling was as a result of the fact there are other major world economies that are giving the country a hard time to grow further. The difference in opinion at every instance made us lean the concept of positive argument. It made everyone appreciate the respect for the personal opinion of the team members (Hewitt 2006). The three of us also approached these arguments with caution so as not to veer of the target of the discussion. Toms work about the hierarchy of leadership in the ancient Japan was amazing. We were all surprised to learn about the different dynasties that existed in the country in the ancient time and even the emperors that controlled the country (Cusumano 2006). Apart from the hierarch in leadership, Tom was able to show us that the Japanese have a lot of respect even for societal hierarchy. This practice is even common within the families where the elderly are respected by the younger members of the society. Within this group discussion, each member was able to come up with different ideas that are positive about the country Japan. Apart from that, individual members also contributed on the negative factors that the nation is experiencing. From our discussion, we came across facts like the general aging population of the country. A part from the aging population we were also able to realise that Japan is going to increase the spending on healthcare and services that are related to aid the elderly. Communication group relation The communication within our group was varied with some ease and difficulty at some point. At a personal level, I did find it easier to communicate with Cloe since we both share a common cultural background. Cloe is a British born Chinese and I ail from China, so the connection was a lot easier. Tom is a native speaker and therefore in some occasions it would take a lot of effort for our group to successfully pass a message between us. Despite all the challenges, our team was successful in delivering a presentation on the cultural likings and practices of the people of Japan (Takahiro 2008). I realised that the aspect of culture and communication is important in this kind of assignments. This realization is especially motivated by my cultural interaction with the members of the group. Tom, Cloe and I all ail from different cultural backgrounds, but we managed to work together and deliver on this presentation. My overall evaluation of the communication within the team is that it was good and had little or no challenges as we had expected we also related well within the group. Most members were calm and tolerant to each other even in the difference of opinion. The difference did not make us non-accommodative as Cloe had expected about I can confirm that this exercise taken by Tom, Cloe and I was an informative exercise. We learnt new things about the culture of Japan and even had a comparison between the cultures to other European nations. The skills that I learnt during the development of this presentation are concerning the need to work in harmony within a group. I was able to realise that every member has a substantive opinion and should be respected. Appreciating members is an important step in managing team discussions as we were able to get to the end of the project. My other evaluation is that the learning was accompanied fun in most of the activities undertaken. References Adler, N. J., & Graham, J. L. (1989). Cross-Cultural Interaction: The International Comparison Fallacy? Journal of International Business Studies, 20(3), 515-537. ANNING, A. (2010). Developing multi-professional teamwork for integrated childrens services: research, policy and practice. Maidenhead, Open University Press. BELL, M. P. (2012). Diversity in organizations. Mason, Ohio, South-Western College. CUSUMANO, M. A. (2006). Small-lot production--key to high productivity and quality in Japanese auto manufacturing. CUSUMANO, M. A. (2013). Manufacturing innovation: lessons from the Japanese auto industry. Sloan Management Review, 29. Krafcik, J. F. (2008). Triumph of the lean production system. Sloan management review, 30(1), 41-51. Lieberman, M. B., Lau, L. 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