Major Japanese national cultural characteristics and management practices

National Culture
● collectivism: group-orientation, a strong sense of community, loyalty to group
● masculine: competitive, ambitious
● endurance: the way of warrior, acceptance of hardship without complaint
● indebtedness: a strong sense of duty and obligation
● absence of horizontal social groupings: vertical stratification by institution or group
● observance of social status: deference to seniors, status clearly signalled in social interactions
● harmony: preference for consensus over conflict
● avoidance of loss of face
● high uncertainty avoidance

HRM and other employee related values and practices

● enterprise-based trade unions, cooperative relationship between employees and company, avoidance
of open conflict
● emotional and dependent relation between company and employees
● ringi method: collective decision making
● quality circles
● implicit discreet performance appraisal
● teamwork: multi-skill work teams, team appraisal and reward
● nenko: life-time (or long-term) employment for regular core employees
● seniority-based pay and promotion
● process-oriented
● a strong sense of obligation to colleagues and supervisors
● discrimination against women
● employee-oriented leadership style
● job-rotation, job-flexibility
● employee loyalty and long-term commitment to company

Major American national cultural characteristics and management practices

National Culture
● highly individualistic: self-focused, preference to act as individuals rather than as members of a group,yet can
be collectivist in the face of a common threat
● small power distance: egalitarian, tend not to treat people differently even when there
are great differences in age or social standing
● masculine: ambitious, competitive, goal-oriented, achievers
● low uncertainty avoidance, risk-takers, entrepreneurial
● low context: directness, expressive in communication, do not talk around things, tend to say exactly what they
mean
● open: friendly, informal
● ethnocentric: believe their culture and values are superior to all others
● future-oriented: strong belief that present ways of doing things inevitably are to be replaced by even better
ways
● readiness to change: try new things, a predisposition to believe that new is good
● ‘can-do’ attitude

HRM and other employee related values and practices

● prefer participative leadership style
● superiors are approachable
● subordinates are willing to question authority
● status based on how well people perform their functions
● performance-oriented
● promotion and reward based on merits as opposed to status, hierarchy, or gender
● live more easily with uncertainty, sceptical about rules and regulations
● value punctuality and keep appointments and calendars
● much more concerned with their own careers and personal success than about the welfare of the organisation
or the group
● value success and profit
● acceptance of conflict
● system-driven: conviction that all problems can be solved, system and energy will overcome any obstacle
● proactive: take initiative, aim high, ‘go for it’
● result-oriented
● professional: educated and well trained
● strong devotion to managerial prerogative
● hire and fire policies
● communications skill, informal, direct, explicit, often aggressive
● emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation
● legalist approach to contracts
● informality yet a preference for written rules and procedures
● dislike of trade unions
● preference for HRM over unionization

Major British national cultural characteristics and management practices

National Culture
● individualism: autonomy, liberty, love of privacy, yet caring for community
● small power distance, yet deference and acceptance of inequality, class conscious
● aggressive, yet caring and friendly
● reserve: shy, self-control, self-discipline
● high ideals of conduct both for themselves and for others
● conservatism: dislike of change and uncertainty, aversion to risk, lack of ambition
● tenacity: resilience, resourcefulness
● pragmatism: social-political realism, compromise, flexible, unwritten constitution, common law, prepared to
bend the law when it does not suit them
● chauvinism: dislike of foreigners, xenophobia
● honesty, trustworthy, and trusting
● past-orientation: love of age-old traditions, the present is a culmination of past developments, ambivalence
towards new technology
● dislike of open conflict

HRM and other employee related values and practices

● preference to have freedom to choose their own approach, using individual skills and abilities
● job satisfaction derived from personal sense of achievement and superior’s recognition of individual
contributions
● leadership style: persuasive
● expectation from subordinate: commitment, initiative, ownership, responsibility, honesty
● deference to authority
● comfortable with minimal amount of rules and procedures
● flexibility yet a preference to work according to the rules
● well educated, skilled and, in certain circumstances, adaptable workforces
● compliance with legislation
● short-term perspective: low expenditure on training and low employee productivity rates compared to many
leading economies
● some evidence of discrimination among employees and job applicants on the ground of age, gender or
ethnicity, ‘glass ceiling’
● formal in communication and interpersonal relationships at work
● ethnocentric attitudes towards foreign counterparts
● conservative approach towards new technology
● contractual, non-emotional relationship with the workplace
● strong trade union tradition
● pragmatic trade unions: fight for better pay and working conditions not ideologically-based class struggle
against managers, absence of serious trade union challenge to management’s prerogatives and right to manage
● class distinction’s reflection within the workplace in the form of hostile them-and-us attitude
● expectation of governmental involvement in employment relationships

Major Arab cultural characteristics and management practices

National Culture
Influence of Islam:
● dedication to work, engagement in economic activities is an obligation
● work a source of independence and a means of fostering personal growth, self-respect,
satisfaction and self-fulfilment
● obedience to leaders, but blind subservience is not condoned
● emphasis on forgiveness, kind-heartedness, harmony, cooperation and brotherly relationships
Arabic legacy, Bedouin way of life:
● highly collectivist within the in-group (tribe or extended family) and highly individualist with the out-group
(non-kin and guest workers)
● loyalty to tribe, pride in tradition, dynasty and tribe
● dependence on relatives and friends
● emphasis on consultation in decision making within the same tribe or extended family but authoritarianism
with non-kin (out-group)
● Wasta: face to face interaction, widespread use of personal networks, connections and coalitions
● high uncertainty avoidance: low tolerance for new ideas, low degree of initiative for bringing about change,
fatalism, unquestioning acceptance of conventional wisdom, and obedience of justified authority

HRM and other employee related values and practices

● a strong preference for participative and consultative style
● dislike of autocratic and authoritarian management style
● but managers tend to adopt an authoritarian management style
● subordinates expect to be consulted about decisions but they do not expect participation in the decision
making process
● the last word is always the manager’s word
● practice of senior managers getting together on a regular basis with employees and supervisors from various
levels
● encourage subordinates to formulate solutions to problems before coming to senior management with a
statement of the difficulty
● management culture based on talking, not writing
● explicit decision-making culture based on interpersonal connections
● network takes precedence over loyalty to the firm
● productivity and performance largely disconnected from pay and promotion
● a strong preference for power and role and less for achievement and support
● respect for seniority
● preference for job security
● a lack of relevant human resource management policies and management development and planning
● a lack of delegation of authority, highly personalised superior–subordinate relationships deriving from loyalty
to individuals and paternalistic and hierarchical organisational relationships
● widespread lack of use of western style management practices such as assessment centres
● extensive use of expatriate managers
● discrimination between locals and expatriates
● gender discrimination and some degree of occupational segregation
● no serious independent labour union movement/trade union

Major Indian national cultural characteristics and management practices

National Culture
● collectivism: clannish, community conscious, large in-group includes extended family, clan, and friends
● low concern for privacy
● large power distance, obedience to seniors and respect for people in position of power, all wisdom comes
from elders
● resourcefulness, hard work, tenacity, ability to cope with adversity
● risk aversion, low tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty
● emotional dependence
● rigid social stratification: caste system
● acceptance of status quo, preference for conformity
● disciplined, self-restraint, yet emotional and display their emotions in public
● honest, trustworthy, yet considerable corruption in public service
● law-abiding but prepared to bend the rules for friends and relatives
● ambitious and materialistic
● high rate of illiteracy, especially among lower caste people and in rural areas

HRM and other employee related values and practices

● entrepreneurial
● preference for paternalistic and authoritarian leadership
● prefer to work under supervision
● contractual relations with the workplace, in-group does not include the workplace, low level of commitment
to organisational interests and objectives
● manual workers are unskilled and uneducated
● well educated and highly skilled managers and high-ranking staff
● national and plant based trade unions, confrontational industrial relations
● pro-workers labour legislation
● strong sense of responsibility
● centralised decision making, little or no job autonomy for middle and low ranking staff and shop floor
workers
● low level of formalisation and use of written instructions and rules and regulations especially at the shopfloor,
mainly because of workers’ illiteracy
● differentiated reward systems and control strategies for white collar and manual workers ‘clannish’ and
community conscious. However, it seems that the ‘community’ to which an

Major Chinese cultural characteristics and management practices

National Culture
Yin and yang philosophy and traditional values:
● opposites are inseparable parts of a larger whole, integrating with each other
● high-context culture: meanings often derive from relationships, authority and context
● reserved, collectivistic, but also individualistic and expressive depending on the circumstances
● personalised loyalty: loyalty to a particular individual
● guanxi: personal networking, using extended family and other developed relationships and connections to
gain cooperation and to get things done
● attitude to time: both long-term and short-term orientation depending on the situation
● ji: a carefully devised scheme with which to cope with difficult situations and gain psychological and material
advantages over the opponents
Confucian values:
● moral cultivation, importance of interpersonal relationships, family-orientation, respect for age and hierarchy,
need for harmony, and concept of face
● li shang wang lai: Confucian attitude toward interpersonal relationships, ‘courtesy demands reciprocity’
Legacy of communism:
● state in full political control, but a great deal of economic liberation especially in coastal regions
● centralised economic planning and control structure, unsophisticated legal system, lack of technology and
capital, underdeveloped infrastructure, large population, low average education level, low to medium per capita
living standard, ongoing reforms, and fast changes
● bargaining as a way of life within bureaucratic institutions

HRM and other employee related values and practices

● workers live and work within a Communist structure
● older employees: not proactive or bold when making decisions, and they often do not offer independent
opinions on particular decisions
● younger employees: basically more adaptable, and have not been subject to traditional working practices
● local government exerts control on internal affairs such as HRM
● managers are reluctant to share information, to take risky decisions, worry much more about political
relationships in organisation, not as much about organisational goals and how to achieve them
● short-term planning horizons
● Communist Party hierarchy in every firm gradually being replaced by the firm’s trade union leaders
● managers, especially the young ones, tend to seek their personal gains first in any decision made within the
company
● reliance on rules and procedures
● management is centralised, authoritarian, charismatic, personalised, hierarchical, and consensus seeking
● employees lack pride in and identity with their employer organisations
● absence of personal contribution to organisational objectives
● time is not of the essence, not much concern for schedule
● short supply of local managerial and technical skills
● high value on morals, discipline, flexibility, and information collection
● interpersonal relationship (guanxi) within the firm
● older managers expect younger members to respect them
● age and seniority are accorded some priority in discussions and decisions
● relationship-oriented approach to conflict management
● social-oriented achievement motivation