Differences between Organizational Culture and Corporate Culture - Assignment Example

CASE STUDY By Student’s Name Course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date Question 1 Differences between organizational culture and corporate culture From the case study, we have a number of organizations and corporate provided by Japanische Industrie-und Handelskammer Zu Diisseldorf that exhibit differences in their working. We have 31 Japanese Companies in Germany of which includes 3 financial service firms, 7 huge trading companies, 2 heavy manufacturing firms whose responsibility is to carry out marketing research in Germany, 1 engineering firm and finally, 8 other manufacturing corporations. In the working environment, differences in social-culture are eminent and they combine with organizational styles thus highly complicating the working relationship between the Germany and Japanese employees. The organizational life approach by the Germans and the Japanese employees are deep-rooted in customs and social values while the industrialized practices of the German and Japanese firm’s accounts for another reflection of differences. These makes the cross nationality between the Germans and the Japanese relations more complex within the working environment though the institutional differences are far way less fundamentally as well as more amenable to adjusting thus permitting a more conducive ordinary and general ground. Germany corporate structures, economic organizations as well as management practices bears a strong similarity to patterns in Japan and yet the Japanese and the Germans seems far much apart. Based on specialism and generalism; Japanese companies were well structured amongst themselves though they lacked lot of stock traits as compared to Germans (Western formal) organizations. The employees of the Japanese are employed as generalists other than specialists and at times, the job environments to which they shift to, have shifting boundaries as well as little descriptions. In addition, the Japanese managers are somehow reluctant to carry out evaluations of its foreign employees hence depriving the local employee’s precise signals of the organizations expectations for the performance and the reward. On the other hand, German employees have job specializations and they share the western proclivity to classify commitments and roles to the organization basing on specialization and circumscribed responsibilities. Question 2 Social and cultural barriers between Japanese and German and how these barriers benefit Japanese expatriates and the problems they create in the minds of some Germans We have Diisseldorf Community which is one of the oldest Japanese residents in Europe connoting their social setup in a foreign nation. The trading and steel companies between the Japanese and the Germany huge industry in Ruhr, gives an account for the origin of this noble Japanese community in Germany. During a Germany tour of duty by the Japanese, Japanese lifestyle is maintained by the Japanese expatriate families through provision of facilities, services as well as support to these Japanese families. The Japanese owned stores and restaurants offer Japanese foodstuffs, home furnishing, and clothing while the enclave schools do enable the expatriate kids to pursue Japanese education without any disturbance by an oversea stay. They further have cultural activities such as art, tea ceremonies, music and classes in flower arranging among many others that aid in preservation of Japanese cultural ambience as well as provision of outlets in aid of Japanese managers’ clubs, spouses, associations as well as neighbors giving supportive networks of the friends and the acquaintances. There are self contained expatriate societies in German who offer real benefits to the rotating Japanese managers within North Rhine subsidiaries of Japanese firms in Germany. This allows assignment within the region with less upset and distress to family life other than the usual Japanese corporate-based transfer occasion. Despite this, negatives are eminent too whereby these Japanese having been insulated from authentic exposure to German societies, beyond their encounters within the firm with the average expatriate Japanese learning far less when in a German tour of duty than she/he otherwise might, even if the advantages of a globalizing experience were perhaps a factor within the initial company’s decision to dispatch him in a foreign country in the first place. On contrary, isolation as well as the size of the Dusseldorf enclave permits suspicions based on the side of the German than that of Japanese by nature of reclusive and clannish. Following the recent epidermis of antiforeigner sentiment in Germany, the deficiency of actual exposure to German societies and culture aggravates Japanese apprehensions over German racial discrimination even though the Diisseldorf Japanese have enormously ran away from harassment through aid of German right-wing groups in that Germans spoken English is very rich in that it is their native language thus many of them enjoy facilitation in English that a few of Japanese can have/share. Most of the Japanese attempt speaking English awkwardly and struggle while trying to verbalize some ones thoughts in presence of a Japanese and a German subordinates though it seems somehow humiliating but prefer so other than seating back and being confined to a conversation to other Japanese only. In addition, Germans and Japanese contrast greatly basing on the organizational and societal culture thus posing trouble if interesting challenges to flow of information (communication) as well as understanding. These communication challenges are more challenging in Germany other than in the Anglo-American nations in that the Japanese investments there are narrower in scope as well as more recent in time. Question 3 The reasons as to why English is seen as a language of workplace for Japanese firms operating in Germany and how it is a communication problem for some Japanese managers in Germany. English language is a problem by the Japanese managers yet their corporate in European Union as well as in the GAIT is the thriving eroding regulatory and other national setbacks to foreign investment and trade. English language is seen as the language of the workplace amongst Japanese-based firms in Germany and their reasons are quiet clear. For one, the same firms are engaged in other European Nations as well as North America where English language is their native language and secondly, all graduate in Japan possess substantial English training although highly uneven practical expertise in the sense that they are not comparable with German born citizens whose English language stands to be their native language. Thirdly, most of the Japanese corporations based in German do not have employees from different regions of the globe i.e. they are neither Germans nor are they Japanese i.e. most of these corporations have citizens from more than a dozen countries working in Dusseldorf. Documented studies based on Japanese firms in the Aglo-American economies shows clearly that communication is a challenging setback and to some extent, tension between the Japanese expatriates team and the local hires. In addition, language figures significantly in the challenge in that English spoken by the Japanese is mainly mediocre and rarely does western staff speak Japanese at all. English is not the native language of the expatriate staff or the locals thus these challenges are exacerbated in Germany and all other parts of the Europe. For instance, the Japanese experience great problems in grasping what a Germany native might have spoken. The Germans still holds the English linguistic edge with many of them enjoying the English language unlike most of the Japanese. For instance, most of the Japanese staff experienced communication in English as a setback and thus most of the German informants frequently complained of this aspect and at times, most of the Japanese felt somehow humiliated when struggling to verbalize one’s thoughts in presence of a group of Germans though this was pride to the Japanese audience. Question 4 Politeness amongst Japanese and Germans managers The concept of politeness is but another prominent and consequential contrast in Japanese and German cultural traces. In the first instance, Japanese are commonly known of taking politeness to extremes i.e. the ritual-based gestures of differences and humility, the verbal endings and types of address that differ with the status of the individuals as well as the formality of the occasion i.e. the regular insertion of apologetic expressions in a normal speech. In addition, Japanese have a politeness setback that tends to cause confusion to the foreigners whereby they are very much reluctant to saying no with finality, clarity and firmness. When a Japanese is expressing refusal for something, he/she expresses it in what Westerners refers to as disingenuous tending to be rude in some manners i.e. a tendency to ignore other than acknowledging uncertainty or rather appeal to which the Japanese person prefers not to consent. All these challenges in communication are attributable to the unclearness of the Japanese language and to some extent, Japanese contempt for dull and contractual commitments. On the other hand, Germans are commonly known to be blunt, curt, arrogant and very rude in some instances. They tend to lack civility within their hierarchical ranks and particularly irritable of retail clerks, other employees as well as petty bureaucrats i.e. what is referred to as “Service with a scowl.” For instance, some of the rough and unfriendly treatment meted out by lower-level German employee for instance service workers mainly originates from a social democratic dislike to the sort of pleading by service individuals and this is still widespread in Japan. There is a usual trend in the Japanese and German unfriendliness politeness whereby they dislike easy informality in the early relationship. Japanese and Germans are similarly averse to the usage of given names with all but intimates with both being significant for Americans for their persuasive familiarity as well as superficial friendliness. Question 5 Non-cultural reasons/instances within the case study Despite having cultural aspects, German and Japan exhibit a wide range of non-cultural reasons that has improved business within these nations. For instance, both nations value deep and lasting relationships in business as well as in politics though they are defiant forming them with outsiders. Information sharing is one other aspect that has made investments thrive among Germany and Japan. This connotes information sharing among the employees, employers and the unions through consultation committees as well as collective bargains among the parties involved. The strength of enterprise unions is one way a guarantee that the company or/and investment is towards success and for instance, German works councils as well as unions is protected by broad legal safeguards against arbitrary management actions. In addition, there is a common trend based on Japanese politeness and German brusqueness that is likeable for easy formality early in a relationship between Japanese and Germans. Japanese and Germans are alike averse to the usage of particular names with all but intimate though both are critical of Americans for their glib superficial and informality friendliness. Japanese says that it is rare for a German to accept blame. The Japanese have what is called “Ritual Atonement” which is an institutionalized conflict resolution approach in their society. For instance, the Japanese admire and expect one to admit to guilt and make a prompt approach in trying to apologize where posible. In addition, it is a key role and obligation of higher-level managers in the Japanese firms is the reflexive acceptance of symbolic roles for their failures of their divisions and/or rather the errors of their juniors (subordinates). This happens whether the managers’ own actions were in any way implicated or not implicated and this has improved the ties between the Germans and the Japanese in their business and investment ventures. Reference List Lincoln. James R, and Arne L, Kalleberg (1990). Culture, Control, and Commitment: A Study of Work Organization and Work Attitudes in the U.S. and Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Read More