Cross cultural bussiness

1. A German-Japanese (ad)venture
Cifatte, Chiara
Colmenero,Shanti
Franken, Monique
Pirttiniemi , Janne
Sakowsky, Marc-Denis
Zelionka, Rolandas

2. Content
 Don´t rock the boat
 If you can´t beat them, join them
 If the going gets rough, the tough guys get
going
 The pillars & core values of Japanese
business life
 Helpfulness of pillars & values during
economic downturns

3. Don´t rock the boat
Advantages Disadvantages
• Use an attitude more cooperative
• Predictability of the consensus
• Lack of strong/minority opinions
• Not showing emotions can cause
misunderstandings
 This sentence refers to the warning of
not destabilize a situation by making
trouble.

4. If you can´t beat them, join them
Advantages Disadvantages
• Allows weaker parties to survive
• Provides more power, influence
• Helps to fight other adversaries
• Helps to achieve goals easier
• Could be hard to collaborate
between parties
• Could be opinion disagreements
between parties
• Smaller party could lose their
identity
 Idiom used to describe the overwhelming power
of one’s adversaries and therefore it is
recommended to join their cause rather than
fight for your own in order to survive in the
surrounding environment.

5. If the going gets rough, the tough
guys get going
Advantages Disadvantage
• Motivation to reach the goal
• Continue and adjust
• Decisiveness
•The possibility to loose the
contribution of people who are not
tough
• Lost of flexibility
 When situation gets difficult the most
competent and strongest characters are
more prone to act

6.  According to Hofstede Japan is a collectivistic culture
 No individual efforts are made to change their plan
and get tough in rough situations
 The problem is rather solved as a group
 The Japanese are not straight forward in their
business communication, therefore though language
in tough situations is not likely to be shown
If the going gets rough, the tough
guys get going

7. The pillars & core values of
Japanese business life
 Long-term orientation
◦ Company is like a family for employees
◦ Long-term strategies
 Principle of harmony
◦ “Wa” is the harmony, the preservation of good
relationships despite differences in opinion
 Consultation system
◦ “Ringi seido” is a collective way of taking decision in job
 Lack of trade unions
◦ No welfare system
◦ No strikes

8. Helpfulness of pillars & values
during economic downturns
Helpful Detrimental
•The employees have security
because of responsibility of
employer
• Employees are very loyal to the
company
•The employees have the ¨know
how¨ of the company
• Economical planning is not short
sighted
• During downturns the company is
reluctant to make employees
redundant
• During changing situations the
company needs to train own
employees which takes time and
effort
• Sudden changes in economical
situation
Long-term orientation

9. Helpful Detrimental
• Comfortable atmosphere for the
employees
• Discussion until agreement is
reached
• Discussions to reach agreements
can cause irritations and takes a lot
of time (unable to make fast
decisions)
Principle of harmony

10. Consultation system
Helpful Detrimental
• Every employee has a say, ideas and
suggestions are taken in
consideration
• Ideas from all hierarchy levels in the
company
• Process takes a lot of time and
acquires involvement of a lot of
individuals
• Inflexible system

11. Lack of trade union
Helpful Detrimental
• Companies are able to make
unpopular decisions and there is no
opposition to the company power
• Employees have no association
who might be able to help them in
case of reducing the staff

12. Thank you for your attention