The American and Japanese Workplace Assertiveness Strategies - Essay Example

Assertiveness Strategies 1 A Comparison Between The American and Japanese Workplace Assertiveness Strategies . Assertiveness Strategies 2 Abstract: The assertiveness strategies have become an essential aspect in the workplace so as to get an effective outcome in the business as well as from the labor side. In recent years the significance that is felt towards implementing the need for assertiveness has been followed in management studies in many counties, but the point that whether these strategies are really applied in the Nations becomes a doubt. Japan is seemed to be viewing the business as part of their culture, as a result the preference for assertiveness is comparatively low, while United States supports. But the issue over the workplace environment, as, being controlled by higher officials still remains in both. In the sense both the nations give importance to result oriented and production outcome, but the favors intended for the workers appear to be just pretence. Because whatever benefits the workers receive are given with the intension of getting back an improved result in the production and profit and labor strength. While comparing Japan and American strategies, America stands in a better level giving at least a meager importance to workers, where as individual attention is very less. Introduction and Literature Review: Workplace should be managed in such a way that both the employers and the workers should go hand to hand. To attain this status the cooperation between the both stands to be a necessary one. Assertiveness strategies play an important role in helping to attain this status. But so far to what extent the Japanese and the American assertiveness in the workplace have been successful remains a concept to be reviewed. Assertiveness is the skill of being able to communicate your opinions, thoughts in an honest manner. It also links valuing our opinion as well as that of the others. Assertiveness Assertiveness Strategies 3 helps at times where pressure is faced under workloads, and demands importance to personal feelings. It also helps in understanding the self according to the situation. Assertiveness needs communication with appropriate body language so as to support the opinion or message, accepting both kinds of feedbacks, positive and negative etc. These outcomes will in future help to maintain an effective atmosphere in the workplace. Developing self –understanding is another important function of the assertiveness strategy. One has to maintain the emotions in the workplace, and needs to be identifying the feedback of his or her thought in the workplace. Body language is yet another important concept in maintaining the strategies. To regulate a healthy atmosphere Lowe, S. Graham [2004] says that “Creating change and achieving results, healthy jobs, and workplaces benefit workers and employers, customers and shareholders, citizens and society”. Dealing with people by using appropriate body language is another aspect of the strategy. In a workplace environment all the departments need to maintain the strategies. While comparing the Japanese and the American assertiveness and strategies in the workplace, it gives the impression that Americans do a lot to manifest, where as Japanese are culturally bound and look at the workplace also as a place of cultural importance. Americans pay concentration on assertiveness through verbal behavior, apply the newly learned skills in the job situation. Why does the workplace environment need to follow strategies? has to be answered first. There are chances of many problems and difficult situations to come in the work place, such as over work load, lack of cooperation, pressure from the higher authorities etc. While these remain as common in all the nations, there are Assertiveness Strategies 4 certain problems that seem to be significant for different places such as the discrimination of sex and race in America. In what ways does the assertiveness strategies help people to come out of these problematic situations take the lead? Literatures say that Japan is still found out to be surrounded by the cultural values, and the workplace in not an exception from this. The Japanese tend to view the workplace in terms of what they follow in their culture. They learn business as how they have been taught their culture. Where as the Americans look up the workplace as a place of equality and competence. Japan was in the peak of its business during the 1970s and 1980s , but later in 1990’s Japanese companies have failed to maintain this level, they were tightly bound up with the question what kind of competence and strategy they perform?. While America seems to continue keep up the strategies better. Japanese tend to look after things with harmony as they are culturally bound up. They treat their work as part of their of their organization. They emphasis on hierarchy where as the Americans emphasis of equality. They depend on being competitive where as the Japanese depend on being cooperative. Japanese’ assertiveness are formal, unlike American’s whose is of an informal. Aclcchi, Yumi [2006] has noted that “Americans think in a long time that emphasizes the present and the short-time future, while the Japanese think in a long-term range. These conceptual differences cause different perspectives between CEO’s in the United States and in Japan”. He also adds that “Japanese see current profits as a long-term benefit rather than in a one-time-only benefit” While reviewing the literatures the American’s assertiveness Assertiveness Strategies 5 appears to be stronger than that of the Japanese’s who uses a language in an indirect manner. The reason might be due to the fact that the Japanese language is very difficult to understand by others, while English, is a Universal language in which the possibilities for achieving positive feedback is more. Communication becomes easier through English while they tend to be assertive with other native speakers; where as Japanese language needs a translated version. The Japanese tend to concentrate on decisions as a long term process, keeping in mind the future, so they do not take decision immediately. Where as Americans depend on quick decision making as they need present time profit more than what might be achieved in future. Americans seem to get into details while understanding any information where as Japanese see or review the information as a whole thing, or harmony. Aclcchi, Yumi [2006] has noted that “Leadership in Japan Is not based on assertiveness or quick decision making but on the ability to create consensus taking into account the needs of subordinates” There seems to be a sort of harmony and participation in group activities, not only on the job but also in after –houses socializing. Though unemployment is comparatively low in Japan than in other countries the theme of assertiveness is not as effective as that in America . However the weaker section of the workplace are trained and are made to accept as the strength of the companies, this seems to miss in America. Mourdoukoutas, Panos and Papadimitriou , Stratos [1998] has quoted one of the statements made by Besser [1995] who found that “One of the factors that is different, for instance, between the ways Assertiveness Strategies 6 Japanese companies and US companies from groups is management’s attitude towards the weak members of a group. In Japan, weak members become a challenge for the manager and their co-workers who assist them to catch up with their strong members; in the USA, weak members become the target of warnings from management and complaints from co-workers and eventually they are expelled from the group and the organization. Besser.t [1995], “Rewards and organizational achievement a case study of Toyota motor manufacturing in Kentucky Journal of management studies vol 32 No 3 may. Corporate Patent Strategy [2006] says that “in American company, the intellectual property department will be headed by a patent attorney, and many of the people in the department will be licensed attorneys such that the company has a strong staff, fully capable of handling intellectual property administration from the legal side. By contrast, the Japanese company usually separates the general –issues legal department and the intellectual property legal department. The company does not employ many lawyers in-house and legal issues are usually handed over to an outside legal office.” Methodology and Results: This is going to be a qualitative analysis. The Methodology also includes questionnaires and interviews, data bases collections, analysis of the data bases and literature reviews. Reviewing of the details received from questionnaires and interviews. The people to be interviewed are those who work in Japanese organizations and American organizations. The workers include both American and Japanese natives who work in their respective nations and also workers who work are non residents of Japan and America. The questions Assertiveness Strategies 7 will be based on how much assertiveness they have in their workplace, in what ways they have been trained to develop these assertiveness techniques etc. Results would be purely based on the influence of language and culture over the concept of assertiveness, and the strategy level that is maintained in both the countries and the employee’s concern towards the strategies that they find in their workplace. Finally their opinion towards what kind of environment they expect in their workplace also needed to be considered. REFERENCES Adachi,Yumi [2006] “Business Negotiations Between the Americans and the Japanese” .Weber State University. Online available from http://www.mgmt.purdue.edu/centers/ciber/publications/gbl/GBL%20-%201997/2a.2%20Adachi%20Yumi.doc Besser.T [1995], “Rewards and Organizational achievement: a case study of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Studies, Vol.32 No.3, May. C Papadimitriou , Stratos and Mourdoukoutas, Panos [1998] .Do Japanese Companies have a Competitive Strategy?. Online available from http://www.apmforum.com/japanccomplete.pdf Corporate Patent Strategy [2006] .online available from http://www.wipo.int/freepublications/en/intproperty/834/wipo_pub_834-ch4.pdf . Read More