INB372 CASE 1

Group:3

Naffisur Rahman Subha 1921401030

Mohammed Junaid Hasan 1912064630

MD Salauddin Imran 1911371030

H M Reasat 1921674030

1. What problems do you see in HSBC’s effort to penetrate the Japanese market in 2007?
Answer: The problems are:
 Communication barrier: Due to the difference in culture, HSBC faces language barrier as
a key challenge.
 Recruitment process: Challenges are there to recruit bilingual employees or locals at
Japan’s increases the operation cost.
 Technical Incompatibility: Japan is fixed to their existing technical system, whereas HSBC
wants to use the same technology which they are using world-wide in terms of ATM and
internet banking system.
2. Is HSBC adopting an ethnocentric, polycentric or geocentric attitude towards its business in
Japan?
Answer:
 HSBC is adopting polycentric attitude towards its business in Japan.
 They want to hire people who can speak and understand Japanese language fluently.
 Also due to the Japan’s lifetime employment policy the company is facing problems.
3.What obvious cultural differences between the HSBC task force and local Japanese
employees do you see in this situation?
Answer:
 Social structure is differed between HSBC officials and the Japanese locals.
 The sluggish and steady way of interaction is adopted and followed by the Japanese as
opposed by HSBC in terms of quick decision making ensuring quick returns and feedback.
 Locals attempt to reach a true consensus rather than a compromise between managers and
employees.
4. While HSBC claims that it is the “world local bank”, can it become the local bank in Japan?
Answer: HSBC can’t become local bank in Japan, because:
 Japan’s lifetime employment: HSBC can’t fire and recruit employees at anytime they want
since they have to follow the Japanese rules.
 Technical incompatibility: HSBC can’t use their own technical system which they use
everywhere like ATM and online banking.
 International communication: Most Japanese people can’t understand and translate
English language which makes the decision process time consuming.
5. What should HSBC have done before they considered a full-scale penetration into Japan’s
retail banking market?
Answer: To do a full-scale penetration in Japan’s retail banking market:
 Do PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technology) analysis using local Japanese
individual so that a clear picture of Japan’s retail banking market is reflected so that
strategies and decisions are more accurate and effective.
 Hofstede later added a fifth dimension which is called the Confucian dynamism or the
long-term orientation which implies capturing the behavior and attitude towards time, the
culture and traditions, degree of interaction within individual.