Culture, Customs and Business Ethics in Japan
Culture, customs and business ethics in Japan
Differences between cultures we often see and compare in social behaviour, we are already
aware and accept that cultural diversity is huge and heavy. Different ideas of time, space, life
after death, nature and reality of isolated society will have little impact on international
business, but at home there are more people like us, we appear to have similar concepts and
values, but is it so ? Let us take for example Europeans we live at the same continent but yet
for some reason most of the nations do not get along to well, there are irreconcilable
differences between us in communication style, attitude towards time and management style.
This is reason why modern society, and multicultural environment, globalization of business
requires an understanding and adoption of other nation’s culture, customs, values and
business ethics. Geert Hofstede defined culture as “the collective programming of the mind
that distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.”
According to Lewis we can classify different nations and cultures into three groups task-
oriented, highly organized planners (linear-active); people-oriented, (multi-active); and
introverted, respect oriented- listeners (reactive). This kind of categorisation can help us to
predict a cultures behaviour, so we can clarify why people did what they did,
avoid giving offense, search for some kind of unity, standardize policies, and perceive
neatness. Japan belongs to the group of reactive, or listening cultures, they rarely initiate
discussion, rather listen and establish other positions first, and then react to it and formulate
their own. Every culture has a different style of communication, reactive cultures are rather
introvert, patient, respectful, good listener, silent looks at general principles, reacts, flexible
hours and punctual. We can find reactive cultures in
Differences between cultures we often see and compare in social behaviour, we are already
aware and accept that cultural diversity is huge and heavy. Different ideas of time, space, life
after death, nature and reality of isolated society will have little impact on international
business, but at home there are more people like us, we appear to have similar concepts and
values, but is it so ? Let us take for example Europeans we live at the same continent but yet
for some reason most of the nations do not get along to well, there are irreconcilable
differences between us in communication style, attitude towards time and management style.
This is reason why modern society, and multicultural environment, globalization of business
requires an understanding and adoption of other nation’s culture, customs, values and
business ethics. Geert Hofstede defined culture as “the collective programming of the mind
that distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.”
According to Lewis we can classify different nations and cultures into three groups task-
oriented, highly organized planners (linear-active); people-oriented, (multi-active); and
introverted, respect oriented- listeners (reactive). This kind of categorisation can help us to
predict a cultures behaviour, so we can clarify why people did what they did,
avoid giving offense, search for some kind of unity, standardize policies, and perceive
neatness. Japan belongs to the group of reactive, or listening cultures, they rarely initiate
discussion, rather listen and establish other positions first, and then react to it and formulate
their own. Every culture has a different style of communication, reactive cultures are rather
introvert, patient, respectful, good listener, silent looks at general principles, reacts, flexible
hours and punctual. We can find reactive cultures in