VALUES OF JAPAN

BUSINESS CULTURE AND

Bhavesh
Darshan
Ankit
Neha
Tanmay
Samruddhi
 INTRODUCTION
• Japan is an island country in East
Asia, located in the northwest Pacific
Ocean.
• Japanese culture is multifaceted and
very distinctive, having evolved
rapidly in the past century. The
advancements of technology, the
government’s adoption
of democratic rights and the
country’s population boom have
introduced new lifestyles to its
people.
• Japanese culture classically
emphasizes a patient, gentle and
harmonious way of life
CULTURE AND VALUES
• Belonging
• Harmony
• Group orientation
• Politeness
• Modesty
• Gentleness
• Patience
• Formality
BUSINESS CULTURE OF JAPAN
• Meeting and greeting
• Exchange business cards
• Business etiquette in Japan
Hierarchy
Respect
• Making contact
• Communication
• Meetings and negotiations
• The ability to give gifts
 Toyota’s Organizational Culture Characteristics: An
Analysis
Features of Toyota’s Organizational Culture
• Teamwork
• Continuous improvement through learning Quality
• Secrecy
 CASE STUDY
•Haruto was a Sales Manager for an Industrial Products company and got promoted to the Product
management team. After a week in his new role there was a meeting headed by the VP Mr. Itsuki
which included all the Product Managers. Haruto's new boss (Product Manager Saito) was not able
to attend due to some other preoccupation. Hence, the Marketing Director, Kai - asked Haruto to
attend the meeting as this would give him an exposure into his new role. At the beginning of the
meeting, Kai introduced Haruto very briefly to the VP. The meeting started where Itsuki got into a
series of questions from him to every Product Manager. He was known to be pushy and a blunt
veteran in the field.
•When Itsuki started grilling Haruto, being new to the product, he was quite confused and fared
miserably. Kai immediately understood that Itsuki had possibly failed to remember that Haruto was
new to the job. As he was thinking to interrupt Itsuki and making him aware of the situation, Itsuki
strongly commented on his disappointment from Haruto’s lack of knowledge. Haruto was visibly
angry at the treatment meted out by Itsuki but he also chose to keep silent. After the meeting Itsuki
asked Kai to stay back and questioned him whether he was too hard on Haruto. Kai disclosed the
original matter to him then. On hearing this, Itsuki called perplexed Haruto to his room and
apologized for his behavior. He further stated, “For everybody, time is required for learning. I will
expect you to know all the nuances of your product in three month time. Until then you have my
complete confidence" and ended the conversation with a big reassuring handshake.
 NEEDS

1. Formal Workplace 2.Travel Reimbursement

3. No Watercooler
chitchat

4. Strong Sense of 5. Lot of Nomikai

Teamwork (Drinking Parties)
Practices followed by the organizations to
motivate employees
•1.Private recognition-Japanese don’t like public recognition, they do like private recognition.
•2.Being part of a team-With their strong group orientation, Japanese are highly motivated by feeling included in a group.
•3.Being on the winning team-Japanese want to feel that the group they belong to is a prestigious one.  
•4.Inspiring corporate missions-Japanese employees also care about the perceived social value of their work.  They feel more motivated if
they believe that their company is doing something useful for society.
•5.Stability- Japanese place a high value on stability in their work. 
•6.Variety-In an environment where employees stay with the same employee for long periods in time, in order to maintain motivation it’s helpful
to give employees the opportunity to take on new tasks.  
•7.Listen and pay attention-Spending more one-on-one time with each employee to learn about their concerns and to nip in the bud any
sources of dissatisfaction will ensure the motivation of the employees.
Root culture adopted by Japanese
organizations
• Japanese Harmony: where the welfare of the society is the prime goal
• Loyalty/ Obedience: Switching companies is almost a taboo
• Silent communication: speaking too much is a sign of immaturity and/or
an absence of ideas
• Tradition: group culture is the prime source of maintaining harmony
 MEASURES

Importance of business cards: The way

Difference in communication you handle your own cards. They should
methods: People are almost incapable be carefully kept in the jacket pocket,
of saying no not in the hip pocket, not in your pants,
only the jacket pocket
• Resistance to deadlines: No deadlines are accepted unless they are
absolutely sure that it can be met under most circumstances.
• Long planning time: It is not to be expected of them to make
decisions right in the meeting or even the same day when the
proposal has been presented
• Resistance to paperwork: The Japanese believe more in trust and oral
agreements, and like to be flexible.
CONCLUSION