Expanding Business In Japan: Understanding Cultural Essay For Success.

The Importance of Japanese Culture and Business Etiquette

Emily has a dream of expanding her business on a global scale. She has decided to make the first move by expanding her business in Japan. However it is really a tough situation for Emily because she has never been to Japan before this and so she has the least idea about the basic rules that she needs to follow.

In order to make her work easier Emily will have to do a lot of research based on the Japanese culture. She will have to study extensively and gather a vast knowledge about the social, cultural and political norms of Japan.    She will have to learn and use the Japanese rules and regulations of b behavior and business ethics. Emily is a native of Australia and has been living and working here since her childhood. She has been exposed to the business etiquettes and ethics of Australia only. However she must remember that the Japanese and Australian cultures are way different from each other and she needs to apply the Japanese business ethics and mannerisms while trying to expand her business in Japan. She will have to learn the Japanese language in order to interact with the Japanese clients (Rothlin and McCann 2016). Emily will be meeting with Mr. Hamasaki a store manager in Japan in order to talk about the prospect of expanding her business. I order to do this; the first basic thin g that Emily will have to keep in her mind is using the proper Japanese etiquettes (Eckard Marchiori et al 2014).

As she is going to meet Mr. Hamasaki for the very first time, she will have to use some of the basic Japanese greetings. Keeping in mind that Mr. Hamasaki is a middle aged Japanese man, Emily will have to be very gentle in her behavior. Japanese people are very much observant towards behavior (Church et al 2014). She must use a simple greeting message called Ojigi (that signifies a hello or a bow in the Japenese tongue). This will make Mr Hamasaki have a positive and pleasant impression about Emily. Japanese people are concerned about humility and bowing down before someone of a higher status will show Emily’s modesty and will help in building a good rapport. As this is a business meeting, Emily must strictly abide by the Japanese dress code. She must wear some colors other than black and white because this is considered to be the funeral attire in Japan. Emily must at all costs be on time. She has to maintain punctuality while meeting with her Japanese business client because they value punctuality lot and they also consider late arrivals as a rude behavior.

Social, Cultural and Political Norms of Japan

Emily must also remember to give a good explanation about her professional background and her work experience because Japanese business clients usually rely a lot upon the work experience for entrepreneurs. Emily must also remember to use her body language in a proper way. Japanese clients do not really appreciate the act of holding hands right in the first meeting. So, Emily must be careful about this fact. Japanese clients do not really appreciate shaking hands as it makes them uncomfortable rather they encourage the act of bowing down.

As Emily will be meeting Mr. Hamasaki for business purpose, she will have to explain about the nature of her business. She will have to talk about the products that she deals with in The Aromatic Condiment Shop’. She will have to talk about herself and also about her family and how she got the idea of stating this business. Lastly she will also have to share her view behind her intention of expanding this business in Japan and what prospects does it hold for Mr. Hamasaki to enter into this partnership with (Emily Hsu et al 2013). However Emily cannot use her Australian techniques for these business demonstrations. While meeting with her Japanese client, she will have to restrict her facial expressions. She must avoid using frequent hand gestures, sarcastic comments, and dramatic facial expressions. These usually do not have a good impression on the Japanese clients. Japanese clients rarely use hand movements while talking. Emily must also keep in mind to not use the term OK throughout her conversation. This might signify “all right” In Australia but in Japan it signifies “money”. So, if Emily uses this sign too much then it might create a totally different impression on her client than what she actually meant.

Emily must also know how to express her excitement. She must never pat her Japanese client on his back or shoulder. This is something very unusual and offensive in Japan. When all the business transaction is settled, Emily must be patient enough to understand the way Mr.Hamasaki talks with her. Emily must be able to make use of the usage of Japanese words. If Mr. Hamasaki uses statements like “I will think about it”, it means he might say yes whereas if he says “I might consider it” It signifies a no. Emily might set her expectations accordingly. If Mr.Hamasaki agrees then Emily will have to wait till the exchange of business cards or meishi takes place. Exchange of meishi marks the commencement of business in Japan.

Using Japanese Rules and Regulations of Behavior and Business Ethics

Areas of potential cross cultural miscommunication (Hofstede model)

Emily is very likely to face many cross cultural issues while negotiating in Japan.

Power index of Australia’s culture is 36 which show that they are open towards equality in society. They have a lower power index which shows that they value equality among all professional fields whereas the Japanese culture has a higher power index which shows that there is unequal distribution of power (Tanaka and Kleiner 2015). Some over there have high power whereas some have very low power. Japanese people are okay towards the hierarchical structure. So, if initially the business clients try to show more power over Emily, she must be tolerant towards them and must not lose her control. She must try and adopt her ways as per the Japanese culture (Bain et al 2015). Japanese people often consider that people who are superior as per their social status, personal achievements are more powerful in comparison to others.

Australia has an index of 90 showing that they value individual opinion. Australian society encourages people to voice for themselves and put forward their own ideas. So, it has an individualistic approach whereas Japan follows collectivism. So, it mainly gives importance on group decisions, group harmony and mutual decisions. Owing to this Emily must try to follow the aspects of mutual understanding and cooperation. She must know how to take all the decisions collectively by gathering opinion from everyone. She cannot follow her individualistic Australian approach while doing business in Japan.

Japan has a masculinity index of 95 whereas it is 61 for Australia. This ration shows that Though Japan is a culture that that abides by the principles of group harmony and mutual understandings but it is considered as a masculine culture. On the other hand Australia culture is one which believers in giving equal rights to both men and women (Yang et al 2016). So, Emily must keep these differences in mind while trying to expand her business in Japan. She must not lose her calm if she is asked to follow the directions that will be given by Mr. Hamasaki or by any other male business partners of business clients. She might initially feel that she is being dominated because of her gender but she must keep this in mind that there is a striking difference in Australian and Japanese culture and if shed is to carry on with her business here then she will have to abide by some of the social conventions and pre defined norms of Japan.

Building a Positive Relationship with Your Japanese Clients

Australian society has an uncertainty index of 38 which shows that they are more open towards accepting the opinions and viewpoints of others. The Australian society will try to lower the uncertainty chances by making them more comfortable and allowing them to come forward with their ideas. On the other hand, Japanese people believe in making the uncertainty index high. They believe in the loyalty of the employees towards their companies and their employers. They encourage the employees to stay with their employers for as long as possible and show their commitment towards their employers. They believe in abiding by the opinions of their superiors. So, Emily will have to abide by this norm and show her loyalty and her commitment towards Mr. Hamasaki or any other Japanese business clients. Emily might feel that her opinion is not being taken into consideration and she is being dominated by her employer. However she must remember that as per the Japanese culture and social norms, this is not domination but it is a good opportunity for her to prove her loyalty and commitment towards her employer. 

The Australian culture is basically a short term oriented culture whereas Japan is a long term oriented culture. Japan usually pays more importance on the long term aspects in aspect of business. In other words, Japanese people are more concerned about the long term research and development process rather than focusing on the short term goals. However in Australia, the scenario is different. In Australia, the managers even get fired if they are unable to accomplish any short term goals. So, Emily will have to remember that if she is trying to do business in Japan, then she will have to be patient and will have to carry on an extended R&D process to expand her business in several other countries rather than trying to rapidly increase the profit margins only in her own area.

So, In order to be successful in Japan, Emily will have to abide by all the Japanese social norms and the basic business etiquettes. 

References

Bain, P.G., Kroonenberg, P.M. and Kashima, Y., 2015. Cultural beliefs about societal change: A three-mode principal component analysis in China, Australia, and Japan. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(5), pp.635-651.

Church, A.T., Katigbak, M.S., Ibáñez-Reyes, J., de Jesús Vargas-Flores, J., Curtis, G.J., Tanaka-Matsumi, J., Cabrera, H.F., Mastor, K.A., Zhang, H., Shen, J. and Locke, K.D., 2014. Relating self-concept consistency to hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in eight cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 45(5), pp.695-712.

Eckard Marchiori, B., E. Carraher, C. and Stiles, K., 2014. Understanding and overcoming business etiquette differences in Japan, Turkey, and the United States of America. Journal of Technology Management in China, 9(3), pp.274-288.

Hsu, S.Y., Woodside, A.G. and Marshall, R., 2013. Critical tests of multiple theories of cultures’ consequences: Comparing the usefulness of models by Hofstede, Inglehart and Baker, Schwartz, Steenkamp, as well as GDP and distance for explaining overseas tourism behavior. Journal of Travel Research, 52(6), pp.679-704.

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Tanaka, A. and Kleiner, B., 2015. Cross-Cultural Business Etiquette. Culture & Religion Review Journal, 2015(1).

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