Cross Culture Free Essays

string(51) " hinder what are otherwise promising partnerships\." Introduction: Introduction Communication is the process by which information is transmitted between individuals and/or organizations so that an understanding response results. Simply we can say, Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more person. The transmission of the sender’s ideas to the receiver and the receiver’s feedback or reaction to the sender constitute the communication cycle. We will write a custom essay sample on Cross Culture or any similar topic only for you Order Now SENDERRECEIVER InputOutput [pic] Feedback Brain drain Brain drain Brain drain Fig- 01: Communication Cycle Culture is an idea in the field of management which describes the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values (personal and cultural values) of an organization. Culture is a complex concept. In other words, culture is central to what we see, how we make sense of what we see, and how we express ourselves. Objective of the Report: The Primary Objective of this report is to analysis of cross cultural communication in IBM. The report has accumulated information to know about company’s cross cultural communication, to find out its positive and productive communication in their organization and does the work effectively. Methodology: Sources of data: †¢ Secondary Data: All the data and information are collected from secondary sources. Cross-Cultural Communication: The success of a business depends on its ability to communicate. Communication serves as the medium for instruction, assessment, interpersonal relationships, group interactions and all other interaction that takes place in business. With globalization, business is no longer constrained within the boundaries of a single country. Large business organizations have corporate offices in different parts of the world. They need to communicate in order to promote coordination. Also in multinational companies people from different parts of the world are employed. The way an individual communicates, is influenced by his or her culture. Hence in today’s increasing global economy, it is important for managers and employees at all levels to understand, appreciate, and manage the impact of cross-cultural communication in the workplace. As our world grows, expands and becomes increasingly more interconnected by various technological advances, the need for effective communication among various cultures is increasing. People from different backgrounds tend to perceive information differently. Hence, misinterpretation of information can lead to conflict. Cross cultural communication is of great importance through out the world. Though in our country, due to the lack of cultural diversity, cross cultural communication is not treated with that much importance. But still with the advancement of technology we have to interact with businesspeople in faraway countries and for this we need know about effective techniques of cross cultural communication Definition of Cross-Cultural Communication: To understand cross cultural communication first we need to know what culture is. Culture refers to a group or community with which we share common experiences that shape the way we understand the world. Cross-cultural communication looks at how people, from differing cultural backgrounds, endeavor to communicate. It is more frequently referred to as Intercultural communication. (Ramsey, 1999). Culture refers to all the knowledge and values shared by a society. The word culture is often considered in terms of nationality or one’s country of origin. Other more specific distinguishing characteristics of culture are region, orientation, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation and preference, age, marital and parental status. Another approach to understanding the concept of culture involves the beliefs, values and norms that exist to guide an individual’s behaviors in solving common problems. Culture is the acquired knowledge people use to interpret experience and generate behavior (Porter, 1991). Culture is the shared customs, beliefs, and social structures that make up a society, including languages, rules, myths, family patterns, and political systems. (Boone et al. 1997). Cross cultural communication is a symbolic, interpretive, transactional, contextual processing tool with which people from different cultures create shared meanings (Berko et al. , 1997). When we speak to someone with whom we share little or no cultural bond, it is referred to as cross cultural communication. Our need to communicate across cult ure can be very beneficial personally and professionally. Within an intercultural setting, nonverbal and verbal communications are both prevalent in emphasizing the differences in cultures. The way we act and the things we say determine whether or not we belong in a certain culture. Nonverbal communication systems provide information about the meaning associated with the use of space, time, touch and gestures. They help to define the boundaries between the members and nonmembers of a culture (Hofstede, 1991). Hence, Cross Cultural Communication is the communication that takes place among people from different cultures. Cross cultural communication does not only mean face to face communication it includes all forms of written and oral communication. History of Cross-Cultural Communication: The need for Cross-Cultural communication was felt with the spread of global commerce. It is very tough to get the specific date when cross-cultural communication started. Initial initiatives in cross-cultural communication were taken in different countries in different time period. One of the pioneers of the computer industry, IBM started cross cultural communication in 1953. It was introduced by the CEO of that time Thomas J. Watson Jnr. According to Thomas it was the policy of IBM to hire talented people regardless of race, color and background. During 1978-83, the Dutch cultural anthropologist Geert Hofstede conducted detailed interviews with hundreds of IBM employees in 53 countries. Through standard statistical analysis of fairly large data sets, he was able to determine patterns of similarities and differences among the replies. In the year 1991, Geert Hofstede undertook the first global studies on how a specific business culture, at the time one of the most widely distributed companies, interacted with the local cultures of some 39 different countries. Another professional development initiative is IBM’s Shade of blues – a more in-depth program for managers who are engaged in cross-cultural business interactions or have multicultural teams. Recent Research on Cross-Cultural Communication: As people from different cultural groups take on the exciting challenge of working together, cultural values sometimes conflict. We can misunderstand each other, and react in ways that can hinder what are otherwise promising partnerships. You read "Cross Culture" in category "Papers" Oftentimes, we aren’t aware that culture is acting upon us. Sometimes, we are not even aware that we have cultural values or assumptions that are different from others. One of the major barriers in business communication is cultural diversity. Many communication researchers are trying to find out new and effective ways to improve cross cultural communication. In many cases patients face problems with both translation difficulties and not being able to see the type clearly. As a result they are sometimes unable to take their prescriptions correctly. Many of the pharmaceuticals around the world have been trying to solve this problem. Recently they have come up with a tool which can print instructions for taking medicine in 11 different languages on the prescription bottle labels. Patients no longer have to depend on translation from a friend or relative to make sure they are taking their prescriptions correctly. The languages include English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Polish, Russian or Portuguese. The tool is also equipped to print a 20- point type versus the typical smaller type, for those patients who prefer larger printed labels on the bottle labels to easily identify their medicines and how to take them. On July 6, 2005 Mark Nash, an American entrepreneur created a cross-cultural website created especially for non-resident Indians and offshore call center personnel (Nash, 2005). The website www. intro2america. om was designed to provide information about American culture. It was also designed to provide information to call center personnel who speak with Americans on a daily basis as part of their job responsibilities. The site is designed to make the transition to American lifestyle easier and reduce the difficulties misunderstandings upon first moving to the States. The site provides useful information, which is related specifically to cross-cultural types of issues. Moving from an Asian culture to a Western culture can be challenging. The site was designed for the specific purpose of easing the transition to American way of life, for those who are moving to the United States (See Appendix for the sample of the website). To serve customers from diversified cultures, they have taken a great deal of effort and time to analyze what their customers around the globe want. To achieve this they are trying to understand their customer’s behavior, cultural and spending patterns when they fly with Malaysia Airlines. The airliner has successfully catered to the demands of wide variety global customers around the world. Application in the work place: IBM, the leading business organization in computer sector, has a huge diverse workforce from the very beginning. They have concentration to manage the cross cultural communication among these employees. Here we have selected IBM’s Australia branch to present as an example of cross cultural environment where employees are working together with their cultural differences. IBM has developed their cross-cultural program based on the legal requirements of Anti- Discrimination Act Racial Discrimination Act and corporate values. IBM’s policies on cultural diversity are based on years of corporate experience. It is a long-held view that by valuing diversity, it uncovers new perspectives, taps different knowledge and experience and generates innovative ideas, suggestions and methods. Three pillars that are in place to make up IBM’s diversity strategy are: †¢ Creating a work/life balance: Their strategy is to find the average working age of general Australians through statistical findings and fix age limit for average Australians. †¢ Advancement of women: They think women should contribute more to the workplace. So, they encourage participation of women. †¢ Integration of people with a disability: IBM authority thinks that they have a social responsibility for physically and mentally disable people. The authority always tries to create some opportunity of employment for those people. IBM’s most effective diversity programs combine ‘push and pull’ strategies. They have made good headway through company-led, top down practices such as formalized training or policies like floating cultural holidays. However, IBM’s progress comes about through the contributions by individuals who are passionate about diversity issue. Aside from IBM’s diversity team within human resources, three other groups within IBM have formally identified roles in the implementation of the company’s overall diversity strategy. These are IBM’s Diversity Council, diversity contact officers and diversity champions. The Diversity Council The main objective of the IBM’s Diversity Council, is to ensure that the contribution of employees from different background is properly encouraged and valued. Its key objectives are to enhance employee awareness, increase management awareness, and encourage the effective use of IBM’s diverse workforce. This is achieved through personal commitment, regular communication, by gaining support for the program from other IBM managers and influencing decision making. Under the guidance of the Diversity Council, a series of cultural diversity employee roundtables have been held to gather more face-to-face feedback and ideas from staff. These meetings have generated many practical ideas for increasing awareness of cultural diversity within IBM. Professional development IBM has a professional development program. The objective of this program is to ensure that the employees within the organization can identify and remove psychological barriers of diverse workforce and communicate effectively. The main focuses of this program are: †¢ Understanding the cultural bias of each team member and their impact on mutualperceptions. †¢ Determine the reasons why certain behaviors and communication styles fail in somecultures. †¢ Identifying approaches to address cultural gaps that could lead to misunderstandings. †¢ Handling issues about team decision-making, giving or receiving feedback and conflict resolution. Findings: IBM, One of the pioneers of the computer industry started cross cultural communication in 1953. †¢ They think women should contribute more to the workplace. So, they encourage participation of women. †¢ IBM authority thinks that they have a social responsibility for physically and mentally disable people. The authority always tries to create some opportunit y of employment for thosepeople. Recommendations: Considering research and the case of IBM, we have some recommendation here which will decrease discrimination and increase production by making the flow of cross-cultural communication fluent. Those recommendations are as follows: ? IBM should compare their policy for cross cultural communication with others, so that they can get some new ideas to implement in their organization. It will help them to update existing policies as well. ? Not only the HR department of IBM, but also all other employees of the organization should be involved in the process of making cross cultural communication easier. It will help the whole organization to become a good team. ? Training and raising awareness can improve mentality of the employees towards others. They will learn to respect and honor others differences. Place people from different cultures as team leaders. If diverse employees get opportunity to work and share success they will be highly motivated. Discrimination will be dissolved from them and the communication process will work freely. ? A good idea can be to focus different segments one after another so that every segment can achieve expected mentality. This process will form unity and emotion among the employees of the organization. Discrimination will be terminated and the total organization will work as one body. ? Each program introduced in the organization should honor the basic values of the organization. Every program should ensure that none of the employees are discriminated in terms of race, national origin or religion. Conclusion: From the above research we have seen that cultural communication plays a vital role for effective communication for companies around the globe. In our country due to the lack of cultural diversity we do not have to face the problems related to intercultural communication. Many of the successful companies having corporate offices have been able to coordinate their activities through out the world through the successful implementation of cross cultural communication. One of the fore runners in this sector is definitely IBM. IBM has independent division to come up with new policies and strategies to improve cross cultural communication in the workplace. Reference: Boone, L. E. , Kurtz, D. L. , Block, Judy R. (1997). Contemporary Business Communication (2nd ed. ). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentince-Hall. 67. Ramsey, James (1999). Available: http://encyclopedia. localcolorart. com/encyclopedia/Cross-cultural_communication/ (July, 17 2005). Carbaugh, D, (1990). Cultural Communication and Intercultural Contact. New York: Pergamon Press. 19. Berko, R. , Rosengeld, L. , Samovar, L. (1997). Connecting: A Culture Sensitive Approach to Intercultural Communication. Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace. 121. Porter, R. , and Samovar, L. (1991). Communication Between Cultures. Belmont:NTC Publishing Group. 273. Payne, C. (2001). Culture and Communication. Available: http://www2. mhc. ab. ca/users/cpayne/portfolio/cultcomm/default. htm (July, 29 2005). A ppendix [pic] A sample website dedicated to understanding cross-cultural types of issues. [pic] ———————– Idea Letter, Fax, Phone call, E-mail etc. Idea How to cite Cross Culture, Papers Cross Culture Free Essays Improving the efficiency of Japanese-American Seating Inc. Students: Shi SU (Roy) 2807992 Azam Hayat Bosan 2879742 Jiale Chen (Carlos) 2804167 Subject: International Business – Cross Cultural Management – 7928IBA Date: 24th April 2013 Word Count: Executive summary – 242words Report – 3246words Executive Summary In 1987, Banting Seat Corporation and Kasai formed a 35-65 joint venture, Japanese-American Seating Inc. (JASI) in Canada. We will write a custom essay sample on Cross Culture or any similar topic only for you Order Now This report analyses the key management issues which influencing the company’s high-efficiency production. Our report identifies three management issues. First, JASI was producing under â€Å"kanban† system. This system was relatively new in North America. Cooperation from suppliers and workers would be necessary for this system. However, due to some historical and cultural difference, JASI was not adaptive enough to â€Å"kanban† system. As a result, unfamiliarity with â€Å"kanban† system was weakening JASI’s efficiency of production. Secondly, decision-making is an important part for any business organization which make organization going. As a joint-venture, Japanese and American have significant difference in their decision-making environment. In Japanese culture, decisions are made by upper level. While in American culture, decisions are taken from down to up. The cultural difference is making the process of decision-making slow and weakening the efficiency of organization. Third, despite there is still some different opinion between Japanese managers and American managers, as the reason of the conflict of their different culture of the hierarchy, JASI has already decided to hire a project administrator. the more time JASI spend on this management issue the less time they can use to solve other issues, and this leads to the reduction in company’s efficiency. After the managment issues analysis we came to the conclusion and some effective recommendations. Table of Contents: Title page†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1 Executive Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 Purpose†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Scope†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 Case background†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 Outline †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Key management issues †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 Implementation of â€Å"kanban† system†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 Efficiency of decision making weakening JASI’s performance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 0 Project coordinator†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 14 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 18 Summary of recommendation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 20 Appendix†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 21 Reference†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 22 Introduction Purpose Based on the operating situation of Japanese American Seating Inc. (JASI), this report will identify three management issues which are weakening the efficiency of JASI. In order to improve JASI’s efficiency, recommended solutions to these issues will be given as well. Scope During our analysis we have been careful to consider that Japan and America are significantly different with regard to culture. These differences are reflected not only between countries, but also conflicts between Japanese and North American managers of JASI. There may be other management issues in JASI but this report will only focus on three issues that related to the efficiency. Moreover, the recommendations in this report are solutions for current issues. Case background For maintaining Banting Seat Corporation’s position of leadership in the automobile seating industry and expanding Kasai’s products overseas, these two companies formed a 35-65 joint venture, Japanese-American Seating Inc. (JASI), to exclusively supply seats on a JIT basis to Orion Manufacturing Corporation in 1987 and the plant was located in Canada. At the start-up period, the problem that JASI faced was caused by its production system, â€Å"kanban† system. This Japanese production system was considerably new in North America and it needed skilled workers and cooperation from suppliers. However, JASI did not get these supports so it was weakening the efficiency of production. After Needham took the position of general manager, the conflict between Japanese managers and North American managers appeared. Department managers were Japanese and they were looking for consensus when they made decisions. Nevertheless, it was hard to get to. As a result, this issue made the decision-making process of JASI considerably long. It was weakening JASI’s efficiency of making decisions. Japanese managers claimed that the company should hire a project coordinator who was able to make new projects smoother, less costly and better quality. Needham did not agree because this position would increase budget and the responsibility of project coordinator could be separated into pieces, then handled by different employees in the company. This issue was weakening the efficiency of decision-making as well because there were some problems, which were more important, need to be settled and it increased the conflict between department managers and general manager. Outline These three issues will be separated. In relating to JASI and comparing perspectives of history, culture and character between Japanese and North American, analysis of each issue will be given respectively. Following the analysis, solutions and recommendations will also be found. Key management issues Implementation of â€Å"kanban† system Analysis JASI adopted the JIT production system known as â€Å"kanban†. However, since it was a new production model at that time in North America, workers and suppliers were not familiar with this model. As a consequence, JASI was not producing in the expected way and thus, the efficiency of production was weakened. There were three reasons for this issue. The first reason was Japanese and American companies adopted kanban system in different time. JIT was originated in Japan by the Toyota motor company in 1950s (Beasley n. d. ). The philosophy of JIT system is producing â€Å"only what is needed, when is needed, and in the amount needed† (Just-in-Time n. d. ). For meeting the requirement of JIT, kanban system was generated. Kanban system is a classic tool to achieve Just-In–Time production and the core value of JIT is the core value of kanban system. Kanban system helped Toyota become a world-class and successful vehicle manufacturer in the world. After the success of Toyota, kanban system spread to other Japanese companies (A Brief History 2005). However, kanban system, as well as the philosophy of JIT, was introduced into America in 1980s (Aycock 2003). American companies started to conduct under kanban system approximately 30 years later than Japanese companies. As a result, at the time the joint venture was formed, American companies were beginners of kanban system. The second reason was the different philosophy to achieve cost control between Japanese and American enterprises. Due to the abundant resources of North American, companies held the believe that mass production was the effective way to reduce cost (Chandler 1977). Mass production is able to reduce the fixed cost of every product so the unit cost decreases. In contrast with North America, Japan is a country that is lacking of natural resources. This situation determines that mass production is not suitable for Japanese companies. This was why Toyota recognized that copying American model was not appropriate for them and generated kanban system. The core value of JIT are minimizing inventory and maximizing quality. In this way, waste of production minimizing and cost decreases naturally. The third reason is the different culture between Japanese and North American. Kanban system requires a lot of training, for workers and suppliers. Workers need to monitor inventory levels and suppliers need to operate under JIT principles. In a word, clients, manufacturers and suppliers have to cooperate as a whole team. Kanban was easier to be adopted in Japan because Japanese character is featured by cooperation and obedience (Ishida 1974). Unlike Japanese, North American is more independent and this was why Nomura found it difficult to persuade North American suppliers to operate in JIT model. Solutions Two possible solutions are identified: 1. JASI stopped adopting the kanban system and switch to the mass production model or, 2. JASI insisted on operating under kanban system. Whereas, JASI offered trainings to workers and suppliers to help them to be more adaptive to kanban system. Recommendation It is recommended that JASI should insist on operating under JIT basis. Since most managers were from Japan, they were familiar with the kanban system. In consequence, it would be easier for them to manage the company under a familiar system. Moreover, Kasai Kogyo Ltd was the bigger share holder of JASI, so they would hardly change the production model. Thirdly, JASI was the exclusive supplier on a JIT basis to Orion Manufacturing Corporation. If JASI was not producing under JIT principle, it might not be able to deliver the required products to Orion or increase the risk of high inventory. Actually, as the deepening of product diversification, mass production would not be flexible enough to meet the requirement of vehicle manufacturing industry. In contrast, kanban system is able to produce small batches of goods with low cost. In a word, kanban system would be more suitable for vehicle industry in the future. For implementing the kanban system, cooperation of workers and suppliers is vital. Skilled workers help to reduce defects. Defects increase the cost of JASI while high quality is the core value of JIT. As a result, negotiations with Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) would be very important during this period. Negotiation strategy needed to be carefully prepared in order to avoid the loss of skilled workers. In terms of suppliers, training would be necessary. It was necessary for JASI’s suppliers to recognize the concept and the core value of kanban system and JIT. JASI could compare mass production and JIT production and point out the future and advance of kanban system. In other words, JASI needed to persuade suppliers that they were able to benefit by operating under kanban system. Efficiency of decision making weakening JASI’s performance Analysis First of all significant difference in the decision making process of American and Japanese is because both countries have different culture background and those culture difference are reflected in their communication and decision making process Richard (Pascale t Richard 1978). Because of the different culture background there have different management system or different working environment, for example American prefer individualism (country individualism 2009) and Japanese prefer collectivist (country collectivism 2009), American prefer informal and Japanese prefer formal. Japanese culture is formal. With its historical background, hierarchy prefer (Country hierarchy 2009) slow decision and formal communication. Japanese do their work in prescribed way after thinking a lot in that matter. They are more dependent on each other and study suggests that amongst Japanese people there is much more harmony (country collectivism 2009). When Japanese make a decision they have many ideas from so many perspectives. In Japan there is little room for opportunity their planning is in a prescribed manner. Mostly Japanese prefer hierarchical (Country hierarchy 2009) in which there are more workers and decision making process is centralised to top position manager, everything is in their hands. Japanese people are fond of the formal way of communication and it takes time to take any decision irrespective of the value of the real time. American is informal, less hierarchy (Country hierarchy 2009), fast decision and Informal communication. Americans are less conservative and usually saves time and make their decision so quickly. They have narrow span of control they don’t have centralised decision making they are more inclined towards decentralization in which they distribute the responsibility to their lower staff as well. They encourage innovation and new ideas and which they think will be their key assets in future. They prefer informal communication in which they use to negotiate freely to others. They don’t depend on others and want to work independently (country individualism 2009) . American and Japan have other major differences. For example, America has more resources; they don’t think too much and don’t waste time in their planning. They make quick decision after realising that it’s a best decision they will make. Japan on the other hand have, lack of resources, they have to import goods, which is a time consuming process. They don’t want to take risk in fast decision making, instead they will research any product before a deal is finalised. By Hofstede (1980, 1984, 2012) (Appendix 1), studies clearly illustrates that culture affects people’s beliefs and behaviour. The distinction in mindsets for decision making authority is the actual point in the problem of JASI’s chain of command. Mostly decision making in Japan is centralised and hence there is narrow span of control within companies. Hofstede (1980, 1984, 2012) suggests that Japan is famous for their strong hierarchy culture therefore the managers believe that JASI wants a professional manager to direct the linkage between several departments. America has dispersed its rights for any decision making to lower level of workers within any organisation. Furthermore, America is more focused towards decentralized their decisions making and pay more emphasize on providing feedback and giving recommendations and to distribute the information with the employees. Solution Given that the two decision making styles of the JASI Japanese and North American Management are quite different, it would be hard to accommodate both the methods. A good alternative to reach a solution is to formulate a middle ground between the two processes. This means finding a decision making process that is a mix of the two and at the same time takes the advantage of efficiency of the North American style and combines it with the positive team spirit and drive created by the consensus style of the Japanese. While there may be some initial resistance, in this manner, neither parties feels that their ways are being set completely aside in favour of the other and it may also foster a more cohesive unit as both decision making styles are merged. Recommendation One way to resolve this is to make use of a method of decision-making that is a voting based majority style. Here the entire team takes a vote when a decision is put forward and each person gets a single vote, if the decision manages to gain two-thirds majority vote in its favour, it is passed. If there is less than two-thirds of the majority it is then reworked and voted again, similar to the way it is done in a consensus. This acts as a midway decision-making style that falls between the North American and Japanese style. In this manner, it incorporates the consensus method of the Japanese to a certain degree but at the same time allows the North Americans to keep a certain amount of their flexibility in terms of quick decision making, since it is not everyone who has to be made amenable to the decision. The North Americans are already used to decision making through advice taken from the subordinates. The Japanese management’s consensus is only different because everyone must agree so while there are likely to have some misgivings on the matter, they will not likely find it too difficult to adjust to. Project coordinator Analysis The debate on the issue of that whether company should hire a project coordinator may likely to cause harm to efficiency of JASI. They have agreed to hire a project coordinator to launch projects and follow them through to completion, however, differences still exist. Japanese managers believe that they should expand the role of the materials department and restore its original position. They also think that as a commercial production company, a lot of responsibility of the material department has been dispersed in various other departments, and the key of a better project management is to focus on the function of the materials sector. Therefor, they strongly agreed with to hire a project coordinator. Creating such a position would mean that everyone will know the status of the ongoing projects. Moreover, it will be smoother to start a new project with low cost and better quality. However, Needham do not want to break the budget in the early stages of his inauguration. Secondly, the project coordinator as a new employee in company can not immediately into the role of coordinator to services for the company. Third, the hierarchy and the right of this position can not be easy divided in company. Last, this position is fundamentally no longer necessary. The main reason for this difference is the different culture of the hierarchy and the right in Japan and US company. Peterson (1995) think that culture and the role stress are closely linked, it often derived from a confusion of roles and always led to conflict of roles. Robert (2005) supports this notion, he think the right distance and individualism of the cultural elements are all closely linked with role stress. The hierarchy and the right problems are common in all cultures, but its value and impact showing a big range of different. According to Hofestede (1980) the hierarchy is closely linked with the cultural environment, attaches great importance to the authority tend to have a complex hierarchy structure Hofstede (1980, 1983, 2001) (Appendix 1) and Trompennars (Trompennars and Hampton-Turner, 1998, 2000) indicated that culture influences behaviours and beliefs. The difference in attitude to authority is the main point of the JASI’s hierarchy problem. In Japan, hierarchical of right is vertical highly centralized by decision-making of the company, but in United States, the hierarchical of right is diffused by every part of the company (Country hierarchy 2009). Also that Japan was the fourth country which have a strong hierarchy culture (Country hierarchy 2009), so Japanese managers think JASI need such a project coordinator to concerned the situation and coordinating the relationship between the various departments. However, the United States is inclined to neutral about hierarchy, and attaches great importance to consultation and information sharing with employees. Solutions There are a number of solutions that will address the problems in JASI. Firstly, it should first understand the true idea of the employees from different cultural backgrounds, and through discussion to appeal to different ideas, learn from each other, and then to know each other. Secondly, company can organize staff training. Staff can understand the company’s corporate culture by training in a cross-cultural company. At the same time, staff which from different cultures can share their culture towards integration of culture, which they respect and understand the culture from each other. This cultural infiltration based on a learning organization. Recommendations First of all, the company has decided to hire a project coordinator, it would have to refine the functions of this position. Manager should explained the scope of management and functions of this position to the staff. It is aim to avoid unclear or overlapping of functions so as to achieve the goal of improving the efficiency of the company. Second, company can use decision-making meeting or video conferencing which hold include Japanese managers, Needham, project coordinator, chief financial officer and other important sectors to discuss and solve the company’s current situation and problems of production to achieve the goal of increased efficiency of the company. Conclusion There are three main issues which are negatively affecting efficiency of JASI. These three issues which are, the question of the implementation of kanban, the decision-making processing at JASI and whether or not to hire a project manager at JASI. While these issues continue they are a cause of friction between the Japanese and American management which may be related to other deeper issues, but these are the particular issues that this paper was focused on. While there are multiple solutions to these issues, the recommendations are as follows. For the question on the implementation of the kanban system, which is the process that the Japanese have been using and were trying to implement in JASI, the recommendation given was to continue to implement it as it allows for greater production at lowered costs. In the case of the second issue that of the differing decision-making processes of the Japanese and American management. The Japanese management follows a consensus style of decision-making which is a lengthy and time-consuming process. The American management, on the other hand, follows a less lengthy process where they only seek advice from their subordinates before coming to a decision. The recommended method of decision-making is a voting based majority style. If there is less than two-thirds of the majority it is then reworked and voted on again, until a majority is reached. It also acts as something similar to both the North American and Japanese styles making it easier for both to adopt. The decision to hire a project manager has been made; however, there are still questions between the two managements on how best to proceed. The difference lies in that the Japanese want to expand the role of the incoming project manager while the Americans are hesitant as that would give a lot of responsibility to a new employee. Given this the best solution is to clarify the functions of the role to avoid overlaps and to initiate discussions designed to improve the efficiency of the organization as a whole. Given the implementation of these suggestions the overall efficiency of JASI is likely to improve as production and decision-making are streamlined and the organization structure and roles are more clearly defined and the company moves towards a more efficient new phase in its progress. Summary of recommendation 1. JASI should use the a method of voting which based majority. Decision will be passed when they gain two-thirds majority vote. 2. JASI should use a midway decision-making style that falls between the North American and Japanese style. 3. JASI should insist on operating under JIT basis. Kanban system is able to produce small batches of goods with low cost. 4. For implementing the kanban system, JASI should focus on cooperation of workers and suppliers. 5. JASI should refine the function of the position of project coordinator, such as scope of management. . JASI should use decision-making meeting or video conferencing which include all managers and project coordinator. Appendix: [pic] United States in comparison with Japan Source: Geert-hofstede. com/united-states. html Reference: A Brief History of (Just-in-) Time (2005), viewed 5 April 2013, http://www. strategosinc. com/just_in_time. htm Aycock, J (2003), A Brief History of Just-In-Time, ACM Computing Surveys, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 97 -113, viewed 4-7 April 2013, http://web. csie. cgu. edu. w/~jhchen/course/PL2/A%20brief%20history%20of%20just-in-time. pdf Beasley, J, E (n. d. ), Just-in-time (JIT), viewed 5 April 2013, http://people. brunel. ac. uk/~mastjjb/jeb/or/jit. html Chandler, A, D (1977), The visible hand: the managerial revolution in America business, Belknap Pr. Engle, Robert L. , and Melvin Prince. 2005, â€Å"The impact of role strain on work and life: A cross-cultural comparison† Insights to a Changing World Journal, (1):1-13 Hofstede, G. H. 1980, â€Å"Culture’s consequences: international differences in How to cite Cross Culture, Papers