Japan Cross Cultural Management

Japan

1. Fashion trend in Japan is quite fast and unpredictable. Japanese usually does not owe things more than necessary, but there are several areas in Japan, where young generations are purchasing any things that appear to be part of the new trend and disregard what is not in the trend line. So Japan is another destination why several companies plan to invest in. The four mains companies that are planning to invest in Japan are Spanish company (Zara), Swedish company (H&M), French company (Louis Vuitton), and American company (Tiffany & Co.).

From Figure 6-3, the Swedish and Spanish companies lie in the section called an Incubator and Family perspectives. The similarities that they’ve shared are that they care on the feeling of other people, focus on the relationship, and warm atmosphere in the working environment. On the other hand, the situation in the workplace is not similar for Swedish and Spanish. Swedish people are more of an equally working people, while Spanish believe in the hierarchy. So in the workplace, Spain culture believes that parent figure is the most powerful person at work, while Sweden culture believes that status have to gain from the individual success. Also, in Spain, people would prefer orders from their boss rather than Sweden, who do not prefer the direction, no bossy. Since Spain has a high power distance, we can see that they are more of the obeying the superior countries. Teamwork is less important in Spanish business (“Spain Business Hierarchy,” 2013). Moreover, Sweden has a low power distance, so they would prefer the centralized organization structure in the company. According to Swedish Business Culture, Swedish workplace is usually based on the team-playing and individual responsibility, and the hierarchy is largely absent, as everyone’s role is seen to be important (“Swedish Business Culture,” 2014). While Swedish people are in a meeting, manager would want a feedback from their colleagues.

Swedish company is called...