Cross-Cultural Differences - Japanese and German Management Styles from the German Perspective

Cross-Cultural Differences - Japanese and German Management Styles from the German Perspective PDF

Author: Markus Richwien

Publisher: diplom.de

Published: 2002-08-07

Total Pages: 139

ISBN-13: 3832457186

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Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: As the idea of Japan as a leader in management styles and the mythos 'collectivism' as a key to high quality performance and productivity is still in mind of German managers, this work tries to compare actual leadership styles of Japanese and German managers on the level of cultural dimensions. In the study the sample consisted of 119 persons in middle management positions (82 male and 37 female), 60 persons with work experience in Japan and 59 without experience. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding 52 leadership characteristics (e.g. the ability to assert oneself, to cooperate or to delegate) within five cultural dimensions. Participants then rated the importance of this characteristic for the specific category. Findings of the study showed significant differences in experienced and estimated management styles between the countries as well as significances regarding management traits of the german culture after working in Japan. Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: CHAPTER ONE9 1.1INTRODUCTION9 1.2STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM11 1.3RESEARCH QUESTION14 CHAPTER TWO15 2.1INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND ITS CULTURAL CONTEXT15 2.1.1Culture15 2.1.2Cross-cultural Communication22 2.2.2Cross-cultural Management25 2.2.3Significance for Organization29 2.3SUCCESS FACTORS OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS31 2.4CULTURALLY COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH35 2.4.1Management-oriented Cultural Research36 2.4.2Cultural Dimensions according to Hofstede40 2.4.2.1Dimension of power distance41 2.4.2.2Dimension of collectivism versus individualism43 2.4.2.3Dimension of masculinity versus femininity44 2.4.2.4Dimension of uncertainty avoidance46 2.4.3The Dimension of the Confucian Dynamic47 2.4.4Further Dimensions of Culture51 2.4.4.1Basic dimensions of culture according to Adler52 2.4.4.2Dimensions of culture according to Trompenaars54 2.5THE SOCIO-CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF JAPANESE MANAGERS57 2.5.1Japanese Confucianism58 2.5.2Corporate collectivism: The uchi mentality60 2.5.3Consensus and participation in management63 2.6THE PRESENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GERMANY AND JAPAN63 2.6.1General and political relationships63 2.6.2The Economic Relationships65 2.6.2.1Relationships to the European Union (EU)65 2.6.2.2Foreign Trade between Germany and Japan66 2.6.2.3Special Features67 2.6.3Cultural Contacts69 2.7LEADERSHIP STYLES70 2.7.1Definition and aspects of leadership70 2.7.2Differencies in the leadership [...]

Analysis and comparison of German and Japanese culture with special focus on leadership

Analysis and comparison of German and Japanese culture with special focus on leadership PDF

Author: Andreas Schmidt

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2018-08-23

Total Pages: 23

ISBN-13: 3668781400

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Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 2,0, University of applied sciences, Munich, language: English, abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyze the differences in business leadership in Germany and Japan, based on widely known and academically respected cultural frameworks. This is particularly important for globally operating firms in order to have the greatest possible success, to motivate the employees, and avoid business failure due to cultural clashes. The intention of chapter 2 is to provide the reader with an understanding of the terms culture and leadership. Furthermore, this chapter focuses on the description and explanation of the cultural theories of Edward T. Hall, Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner, as well as the Globe Study. Chapter 3 focuses on the description of Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. In order to distinguish the German and Japanese culture and its leadership styles, two selected dimensions of his theory will be applied. At the end of this chapter, both cultures are differentiated again, and it is determined which style of leadership suits to which culture. Finally, the term work in chapter 4 comes to a conclusion that refers to the gained knowledge of the previous chapters.

Managerial Styles

Managerial Styles PDF

Author: Veronika Minkova

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2011-11

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13: 365604760X

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Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Communications - Intercultural Communication, grade: 1,3, Furtwangen University; Villingen-Schwenningen, language: English, abstract: The paramount goal of intercultural management is to revise organizational patterns in order to provide an understanding of the different approaches used by managers worldwide. Identifying significant differences in management in Germany and China is established through comparison of socio-cultural and managerial variables. Chinese leadership is characterized by more authorial rather than participative management style. This is explained by Chinese historical and cultural background. The Confucius heritage, legacy of communism, synthetic view of the world and interrelatedness of life in China are some of the essential determinants of managerial styles and social roles at all. Rationalism and objectivism, search for certainty, traditional individualism and analytical thinking are some of the key variables to shape the German managerial styles. Socio-cultural differences are examined in terms of way of thinking and perception of the world; contextual meaning and degree of group-orientation. Managerial differences are divided into three categories: organizational structure, managing processes and interpersonal relations.

German Business Management

German Business Management PDF

Author: Toshio Yamazaki

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-05-28

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 4431543031

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How are German capitalism and German business management to be understood from the perspective of Japan? Both Germany and Japan as defeated nations in World War II received significant American leadership and support after the war. Both countries developed their enterprises, industries, and economy by deploying and adapting technology and management methods from the United States while establishing systems of industrial concentration in their own ways. By these means, both nations became major trading countries. However, current economic and business conditions differ greatly between Germany and Japan. In trade, American influence on Japanese business is still strong. Japan could not and cannot establish a complementary relationship with American industrial sectors and their products in the American market. In addition, a common market structure like the E.U. does not exist in Asia. In contrast to Japan, Germany developed independently from the American influence and became part of a well-integrated regional economy. What were the driving forces that created those differences? That question is approached from a Japanese point of view in this book, based on the assumption that the origins of distinct characteristics of German business management after World War II were developed in the 1950s and ’60s. The book analyzes the transformation of business management in Germany and explains the characteristics and structures of German management. The author describes how the development of German companies determined the current German condition— “the Europeanization of Germany”—while the world faced the globalization process. Demonstrating the basic foundation of European integration by analyzing market factors in Europe as well as the internal structural transformation of management in Germany, this book is a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate students, educators, and researchers in the fields of business management, business history, and economic history.

Cultural Dimensions in Germany and Japan

Cultural Dimensions in Germany and Japan PDF

Author: Julia Hangst

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2012-07-02

Total Pages: 16

ISBN-13: 3656228612

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Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, Furtwangen University, language: English, abstract: In today’s business society the “increasing importance of global business” (Adler 2008, p. 5) can no longer be ignored. Executives need to be “skilled at working with people from countries other than their own” (Adler 2008, p. 13) because “only those who really understand their foreign colleagues and themselves can achieve success in international business” (Schroll-Machl 2003, p. 9). Geert Hofstede, a Dutch organizational sociologist, conducted a worldwide study on the influence of national cultures on organizational cultures. One of the dimensions he found during his study was uncertainty avoidance. This dimension “deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. [...] It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures.” Moreover they are often guided by the “belief in absolute Truth: there can only be one Truth and we have it. [...] Uncertainty accepting cultures are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible” (Hofstede 1994, p. 4). This paper deals with the influence of this uncertainty avoidance dimension and the accompanying appreciation of rules and regulations on doing business in Germany and Japan.

Cultural Differences in Business Life. Understanding German and American Business Culture

Cultural Differences in Business Life. Understanding German and American Business Culture PDF

Author: Ulrike Ditzel

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2006-10-25

Total Pages: 27

ISBN-13: 3638560740

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Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 1,3, http://www.uni-jena.de/ (Philosphische Fakultät - Lehrstuhl Interkulturelle Wirtschaftskommunikation), course: Interkulturseminar USA-Deutschland, language: English, abstract: Globalization has led to remarkable changes in the way we conduct the world’s business. International Mergers and acquisitions are en vogue today. The advantages quoted by managers include advantages of scale, increased shareholder value, access to new markets, lower overheads and so on. The number of international mergers and acquisitions between German and American companies increased a lot during the last years, as well. At the beginning there are high hopes and elation connected with the deal. But the long-term reality, however, is much the opposite. At least 50 percent of all international mergers and acquisition activity fails, no matter how the success is measured. There are also lots of companies who failed, who are therefore not able to benefit from some positive synergy effects like cost reductions. Why did that happen? A survey tried to analyze the reasons for this. The surprising result was that just 30% of the failures were attributed to the “hard factors” of business, like planning, finance or technology. For the rest, the reason lay in the so-called “soft factors”, which contain cultural and organizational behaviour. Somewhat less acknowledged, although hardly disputed, is the positive and negative impact of cultural aspects on the success of M&A activity. The following work reveals the differences between American and German business culture and also analyzes its historical and social background. Thereby, the main goal is to disprove that American and German business styles are almost similar. Furthermore, at the end the reader should know more about the existing differences between the two nations, because their unawareness leads to the failures of M&A. In the second chapter there is theoretical basis information which helps to reach a better understanding of this work. Thereafter comes the main part about the existing differences between Germans and Americans. Because there are plenty of them, it is just possible to take a brief view on a certain field of life. For this reason the author picks a few, those which seem to be the most relevant differences between the German and American business world. In every part, the author is going to illustrate the differences by means of examples . The main question which is answered in this work is: WHY do these different characteristics exist? Where do they come from?

Organizational Psychology in Cross Cultural Perspective

Organizational Psychology in Cross Cultural Perspective PDF

Author: Colin P. Silverthorne

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0814739865

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The last two decades have seen an explosive increase in the ethnic diversity of the workforce, growth in international business, and the emergence of many more multinational companies. The potential for problems as companies operate across borders and managers manage in countries which have different values, norms and cultural behaviors is great. By looking at organizational psychology in a cross-cultural context, we can gain an understanding of the challenges facing organizations and business today. This text breaks new ground in introducing organizational psychology from a cross cultural perspective. It provides a foundational overview of the current major theories in organizational psychology, and illuminates the impact of cultural differences on organizational dynamics. It also makes available specific research concerning our current understandings of how these dynamics play out in particular regions and countries, such as autocratic versus democratic leadership styles in Africa and Europe or conflict management in Asia. The volume offers a welcome introduction to the topic to those in industrial/organizational psychology, international relations and management, and international business/MBA programs focusing on international issues.

Playing By The Rules: Understanding German Business Culture

Playing By The Rules: Understanding German Business Culture PDF

Author: Michael Staudacher

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2021-11-03

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 9811233438

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'Why they are complaining?' 'Why do they treat me this way?' 'Why are they offending my team?'Intercultural misunderstandings are a pain. Fact-oriented cultures and relationship-oriented cultures clash. They have different styles of communication, different views on the same things, and contrary core values. The Germans are fact-oriented. Their habits make doing business with them a challenge. This book educates managers and professionals on how best to work with Germans and helps them avoid intercultural misunderstandings. It reveals the three key characteristics for consideration to make business with Germans a success: directness — adherence — commitment.

Cross-cultural Management

Cross-cultural Management PDF

Author: Terence Jackson

Publisher: Digital Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 423

ISBN-13: 9780750619332

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Transcultural management ; Management styles ; Intercultural communication.