NAME

Gaz Monteath


MODULE NUMBER
MBA 12


INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROJECT
Aspects of Japanese Business Culture, and Implications for Anglo-J apanese
Business: A Comparative Study of Attitudes and Core Values


SUPERVISOR
Dr. Charles Hampden-Turner


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September, 2003


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Aspects of J apanese Business Culture, and
Implications for Anglo-J apanese Business:
A Comparative Study
of Attitudes and Core Values







Gaz Monteath
g.j.monteath.02@cantab.net
MBA 2002



2
Acknowledgements
My sincere thanks go to Dr Charles Hampden-Turner, Senior Research
Associate (International and Strategic Management) at the J udge
Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge, for his
supervision of this project.

In addition, this project would not have been possible without the
advice of PhD candidate, Vesa Kangaslahti, also at the J udge Institute
of Management Studies.

Many of the data presented here are reproduced with the kind
permission of INTEC J apan Inc. My thanks go to Sato Tsutomu, Robert
Hilke, Andrew Homer, and Sato Shiori.

I am also grateful to everyone who gave up time to answer
questionnaires, give interviews, and play devils advocate.

If the results shown here do not do justice to the time and energy of
everyone involved, the responsibility rests with me, and I apologise.



Gaz Monteath
Wolfson College
University of Cambridge
14 August, 2003






3
Abstract
There are presently more than 1,400 offices of J apanese companies in
the United Kingdom, with J apanese manufacturers alone employing
almost 65,000 people.
1
As a result, in addition to the significant
amount of import/ export trade and foreign direct investment between
the United Kingdom and J apan, there is also an increasing amount of
cultural exchange. Yet, at the same time, certain differences in
business and communication styles, along with divergences in
underlying value systems, mean that opportunities for optimising
these exchanges are being missed.

This research report looks at primary research conducted in the form
of interviews and questionnaires with J apanese businesspeople in the
UK, Britons in the UK, and J apanese in J apan, as well as relevant
secondary research (for example, Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars,
Hall, Hofstede, and INTEC J apan Inc.). It shows that there are, indeed,
fundamental differences between the values of the J apanese and
British, but that these can potentially be reconciled through training,
leading to heightened levels of objectivity and greater trans-cultural
management and business skill.

1
http:/ / www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/ eng/ business/ bus-ties.html
4



Abstract
1
Tabl e of Contents
4
I ntroducti on
5
Methodol ogy
13
Li terature Revi ew
20
Fi ndi ngs
39
Anal ysi s
60
Concl usi on
70
Bi bl i ography
75
Appendi x A
80
Appendi x B
84
Appendi x C
87
Appendi x D
92
Appendi x E
94
5
Introduction
magine making your way through a crowded city in order to keep an
appointment. People walking in front of you may stop to chat to a
passer-by they recognise, turn suddenly to enter a shop, or spin
around and walk in the opposite direction. Their actions will
sometimes be unpredictable; however, when you are in your hometown,
the pace and behaviour of passers-by are broadly familiar, and you can
synchronise your own actions appropriately. Yet even when you are in
a new city in your own country, some degree of cultural
unpredictability may arise, albeit likely in a mild form. Ultimately, it
depends on the particular people who are walking front of you.
Doing business with people from other cultures who make different
assumptions can be like walking through busy streets. Each party will
proceed differently because of personality and cultural influences.
However, one of the challenges in assessing the impact of culture on
business is the need to get beyond sweeping generalizations to
practical observations and useful conclusions. This report, therefore,
will look at the extent to which cultural differences are relevant in both
a theoretical and a practical sense to business across borders.


I
6
In business, on a day-to-day basis, we are dealing with other
individuals, rather than with large groups or aggregates. However,
these individuals bear the inevitable stamp of their environment. For
example, signing a contract in Australia or Germany would almost
certainly signal resolution, but in Nigeria or Saudi Arabia, it might only
show that sufficient trust had been established to enter into
subsequent negotiations. As Fells (2000) notes, [t]he real difficulty in
working through the phases lies in the situation where the negotiators
can not read the general progress of the negotiation and so get out of
phase with each other one trying to find out more information while
the other is applying pressure to reach a conclusion.

When cultural stereotypes, or archetypes, are used as maps which
help us to navigate in unfamiliar situations, they are necessarily
simply a best first-guess. Subway, road, and topographical maps
provide only generalized and abstract pictures of cities that are
out-of-date as soon as they are printed; in a similar way, we must be
constantly aware that stereotypes are merely a starting point and tool.
Experience and careful observation will help us to use these necessary
and potentially useful generalizations appropriately.


7
The United Kingdom is often used by J apanese companies as a base
within the European Union. According to the Annual Report of
Statistics on J apanese Nationals Overseas issued by the Consular and
Migration Affairs Department in J apan, there were 51,896 J apanese
nationals living in the UK in 2001.
1
As described below, sending
J apanese businesspeople to work in the United Kingdom presents
everyone involved with management challenges. One way of addressing
this is to give assignees and their families training prior to departure
and after arrival, as well as support when they return to J apan. As
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (1998, page 201) note, one of the
key goals of such training is to alert people to the fact that they are
constantly involved in a process of assigning meaning to the actions
and objects they observe. This requires helping trainees to create
functional mental models of individual and cultural differences,
models which will enable them to better read the people and situations
they are faced with, and to adjust their behaviour accordingly.

The main hypothesis of this research paper is that there are important
cultural differences between the British and J apanese, and that these
do have an impact on business. One way of assessing the impact of
cultural differences is to look at expatriate failure rates (i.e., the

1
http:/ / www.jinjapan.org/ stat/ stats/ 21MIG33.html
8
number of assignees who return early from their overseas postings).
Rates appear to be lower for J apanese and European expatriates than
for Americans
2
; however, this metric fails to account for a worse
scenario: a manager who is survives his tour of duty, but who damages
morale and relations at the subsidiary or joint venture.

Although the existence of cultural flashpoints and mutual aggravation
was borne out by the literature, there appears from the primary
research data to be less friction than might be expected from a
theoretical examination. Not only did the J apanese interviewees living
in the UK have few specific examples of significant cultural conflict, but
also British respondents to the questionnaire reproduced in Appendix
D showed apparent similarities with J apanese respondents in J apan.

Nevertheless, there are cultural gaps and misunderstandings, and
these have the potential to undermine the success of Anglo-J apanese
business dealings. In fact, it could be argued that because the majority
of the British respondents to this study had international experience,
they were an unrepresentative sample. Furthermore, in the blithe glow
of apparent similarity, critical differences often go unnoticed, or are put

2
Nick Forster (1997) sceptically (because he believes the actual figures to be higher)
quotes sources such as Tung who claim that the failure rate for Americans is around
10%, or around double that of J apanese and European firms.
9
down to personality clashes. It may be, then, that the J apanese
respondents were in the minimization stage described below by
Elaine Phillips (adapted from the work of J anet and Milton Bennett on
acculturation):
In denial, learners believe that there are no real differences in
cultures: Tokyo is basically just like New York City. The level
of defense follows in which the learner lives in a dualistic
world where differences are perceived as bad. The C1 [own
culture] is exalted; the C2 [second culture] is denigrated. In
the stage of minimization, the learner accepts that there are
differences but focuses on cultural universals and believes
that underneath, we're really all alike. At the stage of
acceptance, the learner recognizes the logic of another culture
and is willing to withhold judgment. She is intellectually
curious and believes that C2 is neither better or worse. It is
important to note that distance between the stages of
minimization and acceptance is great with movement from
stage three to stage four requiring a major shift in perspective
from reliance on absolute principles to an acknowledgment
that other valid realities exist.
3


3
Phillipss paper, IC? I See! Developing Learners' Intercultural Competence, is
available at http:/ / www.sedl.org/ loteced/ communique/ n03.pdf
10
Potential flashpoints and comfort zones must therefore be made
explicit. This is what the consultancy Trompenaars Hampden-Turner
recently termed Cultural Due Diligence. According to Trompenaars
and Woolliams (2000), [t]his provides an operational framework
intended to be facilitated by the HR directorate to make these cultural
differences tangible so that their consequences can be made explicit
and thereby reconciled to ensure benefit delivery. It is based on the
three Rs: Recognition, Respect and Reconciliation.

Although the concept of culture itself is controversial, even the
archetypal descriptions which cultural analysis throws up can be very
useful, as they encompass recognition and the possibility of respect. As
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (1998, page 26) write, [i]n every
culture a limited number of general, universally shared human
problems need to be solved. Furthermore, in any culture there is a set
of dominant, or preferred, value orientations. This applies to national
and ethnic cultures, as well as to corporate cultures.

Nancy Adler (2002, p.35) makes the point even more strongly:
"Cultures vary in distinct, significant, and predictable ways. Our ways
of thinking, feeling, and behaving as human beings are neither random
nor haphazard but rather are profoundly influenced by our cultural
11
heritage...At every level, culture profoundly influences the behavior of
organizations as well as the behavior of people within organizations."
Culture, then, is a critical factor when J apanese work or do business
with Britons, and a more objective understanding of cultural (and
personal) assumptions and attitudes is important.

However, Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars point out that a cultural
analysis runs the risk of describing static points on scales; it must
overcome this to reflect the dynamic, and sometimes even apparently
contradictory nature of culture. Scales affect one another, and at the
same time, one cultural category seeks to manage its opposite[;]
value dimensions self-organize in systems to generate new meanings
(1998, page 27).

This report focuses on some of the models created and explained by
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, Hall, Hofstede, and others. It uses
them to profile the J apanese and British, and then compares the
profiles with primary research data. Finally, it draws some conclusions
and makes some recommendations, both for further research, and also
for businesspeople working across cultural boundaries (particularly
the J apanese in the United Kingdom). Given the limitations of time,
scale, and scope, the description and analysis contained within these
12
pages run the risk of being static and two-dimensional. However, they
should provide a good base for anyone interested in the potential and
actual impact of culture on Anglo-J apanese business, and they should
also be a starting point for recognition, respect, and reconciliation.
13
Methodology
he primary and secondary research for this report was carried
out between J une and August, 2003 in the United Kingdom and
J apan. The report is based on three main strands:

1. A review of relevant literature, in particular the work of
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, Hall, and Hofstede
2. Primary research conducted by the author, including interviews
and questionnaires administered in both J apan and the United
Kingdom (see Findings, Appendix A, and Appendix C)
3. Analysis of data provided by INTEC J apan Inc. (Appendix E)

The author attempted to make the primary research meaningful to the
interviewees and questionnaire respondents, and also to refrain from
reading too much significance into the findings. However, Alvesson and
Deetz (2000) might find fault with the standardisation of the questions
asked of J apanese and British respondents. We feel that it is
important to move from abstract, general categories and efforts to
standardize meaning towards an increased focus on local patterns,
where the cultural and institutional context and meaning creation
patterns are driven by participants or jointly by participants and
researchers rather than being one-sidedly, indeed authoritarianly,
T
14
decided by the researcher (page 59).

Easterby-Smith, Thorpe, and Lowe (2002), on the other hand, might
argue that the hypothesis-testing approach used here has drawbacks.
Although its advantages include a certain clarity of purpose and
method, the disadvantages are that its contribution may be quite
trivial: confirming what is already known. And if the results are
inconclusive or negative, the approach can give little guidance on why
this is so (page 47). They argue for use of the grounded approach,
which means looking at the same event or process in different settings
or situations (page 46).

This report, though, starts with the hypothesis that there are
important value contrasts between the UK and J apan which can have a
detrimental effect on business between the two nations unless those
contrasts are recognised and respected, and then attempts made to
reconcile them. A wealth of literature points to the differences and
ways of dealing with them.

Literature Review
This report focuses on the work of two of the worlds best known
intercultural thinkers, Charles Hampden-Turner and Fons
15
Trompenaars, co-founders of Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, a firm
specialising in cross-cultural consulting services (http:/ /
www.thtconsulting.com/ ). It also draws on the work of Geert Hofstede,
the most widely quoted writer on intercultural business, and Edward T
Hall, regarded by many as being the godfather of intercultural
communication. In addition, other sources have been cited.

Primary Research
The primary research contained in this report falls into four categories:
1. Interviews with J apanese businesspeople living in the UK,
including their assessment of their J apanese and British
organisations, and themselves, using Hampden-Turner and
Trompenaarss seven dimensions (see Appendix A)
2. Questionnaire responses from British businesspeople working in
the UK (Appendix C) the questions matched those put to
J apanese businesspeople in J apan
3. Questionnaire responses from J apanese businesspeople in J apan
(results shown in Findings)
4. Interviews with HR professionals in both J apan and the United
Kingdom, including those in the food catering, trading, automobile
manufacturing, and consumer electronics sectors

16
In addition to the more theoretical concerns of writers such as
Alvesson and Easterby-Smith, there are potential practical problems
with the primary research methodology as outlined above.
Nevertheless, the data point to some interesting differences between
the J apanese and British, and many of these are consistent with the
literature.

One possible objection is that only six J apanese people living the UK
were interviewed for this research project. None had prior familiarity
with the seven dimensions. However, the author took care to explain
the dimensions so that each interviewee understood their application
to work situations. The subjects also underwent a qualitative interview
before they heard an explanation of the seven dimensions, and as all
but one were directly known to the author, the conversations were
reasonably frank.

The next objection might be that the questionnaire given to British
businesspeople (see Appendix C) was inadequately supported by
contextual information. The respondents therefore brought too many
of their own assumptions to the exercise, and as a result, the data may
not be reliable. However, all 15 respondents were direct acquaintances
of the authors, and they were free to ask questions. All had experience
17
working either overseas or with non-Britons, and so another objection
might be that they were unrepresentative of the general British
white-collar workforce.

The questionnaire responses from J apanese working in J apan were
gathered during a series of seminars with different companies and
groups. It could be argued that the author sub-consciously directed
the respondents to certain answers. However, although the data show
some clear patterns, there is no absolute conformity.

Finally, no data were gathered from the authors interviews with
Human Resources professionals in J apan and the UK. The comments
that they made, though, have informed this report, and have also
provided several illustrative case studies or anecdotes.

There may be other objections to the research methods used, and given
the essentially qualitative nature of the report, this is perhaps
inevitable. No sophisticated statistical tools were used to analyse the
data, and sample sizes were small and irregular. Despite these failings,
the findings are suggestive, and largely in line with other research in
the field.

18
Analysis of Third Party Data
As noted above, the data in Appendix E come from a third party, INTEC
J apan Inc. INTEC is a J apanese firm which specialises in intercultural
communication training and consultancy. Its clients include major
J apanese corporations from the automobile, electronics,
pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and food services sectors. Increasingly, it
also deals with J apanese subsidiaries of foreign firms (gaishikei) in
J apan, and overseas subsidiaries of J apanese firms (genchi houjin).

The data reproduced in this report were collected at seminars and
lectures from J apanese businesspeople, the great majority of whom
were men. Their ages covered a wide range, but most were junior or
middle managers in their thirties. At each seminar, there were typically
two instructors, and although the composition of the team changed
from time to time, one member was ever-present. In addition, it was he
who asked the questions, so there was consistency in the way in which
the items were presented.

Finally, comparisons have been drawn between the answers given to
the same questions by J apanese and British businesspeople. As the
setting, method, and degree of explanation were different, it could be
argued that the results should be treated with some scepticism.
19
However, despite the limitations of the research methods and size of
the sample sizes, the data still have value in that they not only point to
differences between British and J apanese white collar workers, but
they also suggest areas in which more research is needed.
20
Literature Review
ccording to Martinko (1999), in the early 1990s, Robert March
estimated that 70% of senior and middle management
personnel employed by J apanese firms outside J apan were J apanese.
While there has been only limited research into the failure rate of
J apanese expatriates, and the cost of ineffective management and
cultural incompatibilities, more detailed data exist for American firms.
Hogan and Goodson (1990) put the failure rate for American
expatriates at almost 40%, while others (see Forster, 1997) have
claimed around 10%. Martinko (1999) quotes Naumann in saying that
the estimated direct cost for each U.S. multinational expatriate who
returns early is between $55,000 and $150,000. Meanwhile, he cites
other sources such as Ashamalla and Crocitto to claim that indirect
costs outweigh direct costs in many cases.

The rate for Europeans and J apanese is said to be lower than for
Americans. For example, Forster (1997) quotes Tung, who claims that
it is around 5%; Forster himself believes it to be higher. Any failure, of
course, is costly, and companies must take measures to help their
expatriates flourish overseas. One way of doing this is to help them
prepare for the challenges of intercultural communication so that they
are able to anticipate and integrate value contrasts. The ability to
A
21
integrate, or reconcile, such contrasts is at the core of what
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (2003) have termed
trans-cultural competence.

A review of the literature suggests that there are many significant
cultural differences between the J apanese and British. Here the author
has used the Seven Dimensions of Difference presented by
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars. In addition, the author has used
Halls low context/ high context and monochronic/ polychronic scales,
as well as Hofstedes Power Distance Index.

Hampden-Turner and Trompenaarss seven dimensions are as follows:
1. Universalism Particularism
2. Individualism Communitarianism
3. Specificity Diffuseness
4. Neutrality Affectivity
5. Achievement Ascription
6. Outer-Directedness Inner-Directedness
7. Sequential Time Synchronous Time

This report focuses most strongly on universalismparticularism,
specificitydiffuseness, and sequential-timesynchronous-time. It
22
touches more lightly on the other four scales.

The first of these dimensions, universalismparticularism, contrasts
the unswerving application of (the most relevant) rules to situations
with a case-by-case consideration of, and response to, the situation.
For example, at one large shipping company in Tokyo, smoking was
banned in meeting rooms starting in 1999. However, at some meetings
in which the most senior participants were smokers, one of the junior
members would take an ashtray from the telephone table unit in one
corner of the room, and then turn on the air purifier in the opposite
corner. This practice came to an end in March, 2003 when the
company specifically designated one room as a smoking meeting room.
The ban on smoking in other rooms is apparently now being respected.

The second scale places individualism up against communitarianism.
In the Human Resources department of a well-known J apanese
semi-conductor testing equipment manufacturer, vacuum cleaning
used to be done at 17:00 several times a week, but because of the noise,
members of the department complained. Hearing their complaints, one
of the department members took it upon himself to come early two or
three times a week in order to vacuum the office before the others
arrived, thereby solving the problem. He wasnt the most junior
23
member, but he did feel that he was in a position to contribute to the
communitys welfare.

Next come specificity and diffusion, with the former representing the
tendency to reduce phenomena to specific data points, and the latter
referring to the tendency to find diffuse relationships and patterns. In
negotiations, British businesspeople sometimes complain that
J apanese are unable to deal with each issue separately, but instead
jump around between issues, even revisiting those that the British
think have already been settled. Some J apanese, on the other hand,
report that the British are too rigid and linear, and that they miss
important links between different areas of the negotiation. After all,
they say, how can a delivery schedule be negotiated without constant
reference to price?

The fourth of the dimensions is the neutralaffective scale. Neutral
refers to dispassionate detachment, while affective can be defined as
communicating feelings in full, even in business. As Hampden-Turner
and Trompenaars (2003, chapter 3) point out, the issue is complicated
by the fact that people who try not to express their emotions openly
may still expect others to be able to read their mood: The J apanese, for
example, are very neutral in their verbal expression, yet take subtle
24
signs of emotional disturbance very seriously indeed and pride
themselves on being attuned to one another. On the other hand,
J apanese clients can be quite affective, and expect a flood of apologies
when they feel that they have been wronged, even if only in some trivial
way.

The fifth scale is achievementascription. In an achievement culture, it
is peoples recent results that matter most, whereas in an ascription
culture, it is their history, including education, family, job title, and
track record. For example, in J apan actual academic results while at
university are less important than the rank of the university itself, and
partly as a result of this, former J apanese prime minister, Nakasone
Yasuhiro, famously opined that J apanese universities were a lotus
land.

Officially, information about a graduate trainee candidate's university
is sealed, i.e., looked at blind. However, Human Resources staff in
J apan often receive information through the backdoor, perhaps via
comments made by current company employees who know the person,
or through tell-tale comments during the interviews. By contrast,
many British employers of new graduates demand a reasonably high
academic minimum (second class, first division honours degree),
25
regardless of the university.

The penultimate Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars scale is inner-
versus outer-directedness. For the former, sense of responsibility is
focused on the person herself, while with the latter, far more credit is
given to factors such as fate and the environment. For example,
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars have shown in their research
(1998, page 148) that 77% of British businesspeople feel that they
control what happens to them, while only 63% of J apanese and 39% of
Chinese responded in this way. With the continued poor performance
of the J apanese economy and increasing M&A (particularly involving
foreign buyers such as Vodaphone and Ripplewood), it seems likely
that even fewer J apanese now feel in control of their destiny.

Finally, Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars consider differences in
time orientation, including short-termism and long-termism,
past-present-future orientation, and sequential time and synchronous
time. People who have a sequential view see time as a series of events
that can be planned and ordered in a linear fashion. Things are done
one by one with intense concentration. On the other hand, for people
with a synchronous time structure, tasks and events can run in
parallel, with the result that plans and schedules must have some
26
flexibility. After all, in a changing world, plans must also change.
Toyotas just-in-time system appears to combine both, as parts are
pulled through the system and staged tasks undertaken as necessary,
while at the same time, each staged task is carefully timed in a linear
fashion, with markers on the floor of the factory showing the worker
how far along he should be with the task.

In addition to the seven dimensions described above, the author has
applied two scales created by Hall (low context/ high context and
monochronic/ polychronic
1
), as well as one from Hofstede (power
distance
2
). As Table 1 below shows, to some extent these map on to the
seven dimensions.
Scale Originator Reflection in THTs 7-D
Low/ High Context Edward T Hall Universal/ Particular
Specific/ Diffuse
I nner-/ Outer-Directed
Monochronic/ Polychronic Edward T Hall Sequential/ Synchronic
Short-Term/ Long-Term
Specific/ Diffuse
Power Distance Index Geert Hofstede Specific/ Diffuse
Achievement/ Ascription
Individual-Communitarian
Table 1: Comparison of Hall, Hofstede, and THT Dimensions

1
See, for example, Beyond Culture and The Silent Language
2
As described in Cultures Consequences, for example; see bibliography for details
27
Contexting and (mono-/ poly-) chronicity are both extremely powerful
models for explaining communication and business attitudes in J apan.
The former refers to the amount of information that is made verbally
and literally explicit in communication. According to Hall (1990, page
7), the elements that combine to produce a given meaning events
and context are in different proportions depending on the culture.
Under his classification, J apanese, Arabs and Mediterranean people,
who have extensive information networks among family, friends,
colleagues, and clients and who are involved in close personal
relationships, are high-context (page 6). On the other hand,
"[l]ow-context people include Americans, Germans, Swiss,
Scandinavians, and other northern Europeans (page 7). Based on this
description, the UK is in the middle between the J apanese and Swiss
extremes.

When it comes to negotiating, it is clear that the impact of
communication style can be detrimental. Brett and Okumura (2000,
page 101), for example, note that while J apanese negotiators tend to
use more indirect communication than American negotiators, in
intra-cultural negotiations, similarly efficient outcomes are achieved
(regardless of whether it is Americans negotiating among themselves or
J apanese). However, when J apanese expatriate managers negotiated
28
with US managers, agreements were sub-optimal. The J apanese
understood the direct approach of the Americans, and tried to adapt,
but their efforts were ineffective. J apanese who have not had training
experience something similar when doing business in the UK.

The second scale borrowed from Hall is chronicity. In monochronic
cultures, time is experienced and used in a linear wayMonochronic
time is divided quite naturally into segments; it is scheduled and
compartmentalized, making it possible for a person to concentrate on
one thing at a time. In a monochronic system, the schedule may take
priority above all else and be treated as sacred and unalterable
Western cultures Switzerland, Germany, and Scandinavia in
particular are dominated by the iron hand of monochronic time (Hall,
1990, pages 13 and 14).

Despite the failure of its trains to run on time, Britain attempts to be
monochronic. J apan, however, is at the other end of the scale (its
trains run on time in order not to inconvenience customers and lose
their trust). In almost every respect, polychronic systems are the
antithesis of monochronic systems. Polychronic time is characterized
by the simultaneous occurrence of many things and by a great
involvement with people. There is more emphasis on completing
29
human transactions than on holding to schedules (page 14). Business
in J apan is still dominated by human relationships and great
involvement with people.

The third of the additional scales is the Power Distance Index (PDI).
Adler (2002, pages 56-57) defined power distance as follows. How
willing are employees to accept that their boss has more power than
they have? Is the boss right because he or she is the boss (high power
distance) or only when he or she knows the correct answer (low power
distance)? Do employees do their work in a particular way because the
boss wants it that way (high power distance) or because they
personally believe that it i s the best way to do it (low power distance)?

Hofstede (2001, page 215), the originator of the scale, draws a
distinction between this and his Individualism Index (II): power
distance is emotional dependence on powerful people, whereas
individualism is independence from groups.





30
Country II Level (Rank) Country PDI Level
USA 91 (1
st
) Malaysia 104
Australia 90 (2
nd
) J apan 54
Great Britain 89 (3
rd
) USA 40
J apan 46 (=22
nd
) Great Britain 35
Guatemala 6 (53
rd
) Austria 11
Table 2: Individual Index and Power Distance Index (Hofstede; abridged)

It is perhaps not surprising that there are differences between white
and blue collar workers within cultures, and this has ramifications for
the findings of this report, as all those interviewed were white collar
employees. The lower-education, lower-status occupations tended to
produce high PDI values, and the higher-education, higher-status
occupations tended to produce low-PDI values. Education was by far
the dominant factor (page 87).

In 1983, INSEAD professor Andr Laurent provided further support for
the idea of power distance. He put the following statement to managers
from around the world and measured the percentage of people who
agreed with it (quoted on Adler, 2002, page 49):
The main reason for a hierarchical structure is so that
everybody knows who has authority over whom.
31
Some of the results of his study are represented in Graph 1 below.
Once again, J apan scores more highly than the United Kingdom. This
has important implications for the role of the boss in two countries.
British subordinates might feel that their J apanese superior is
interfering, while J apanese subordinates might see their British boss
as cold or incapable.
17%
26%
34%
43%
50%
70%
83%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
United
States
Germany Great
Britain
France Japan People's
Republic of
China
Indonesia
Country
Agreement with Laurent's Statement about Hierarchy

Graph 1: Hierarchy Shows Authority in Organisations

Globally competent managers require a broad set of transnational
skills in order to be effective. According to Adler and Bartholomew
(1992, page 52), these include global perspective, collaboration, local
responsiveness, and synergistic learning. Underlying all of these is
awareness of cultural and individual differences, and self-awareness.
32
The following classification (Table 3) is one tool for helping J apanese
and British managers to gain the necessary level of objectivity, as they
can gauge where they lie in comparison with others.
Scale J apan UK
UniversalistParticularist Particularist Universalist
IndividualistCommunitarian Communitarian Individualist
SpecificDiffuse Diffuse Specific
NeutralAffective Neutral* Neutral
Achievement-OrientedAscriptive Ascriptive Achievement-Oriented
I nner-DirectedOuter-Directed Outer-Directed I nner-Directed
SequentialSynchronous Synchronous Sequential
Low ContextHigh Context High Context Medium Context
MonochronicPolychronic Polychronic Monochronic
Low PDI High PDI Medium PDI Low PDI
*While Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars classified J apan as a neutral culture in
Riding the Waves of Culture, by 2003, they had qualified this.
Table 3: Classification of J apanese and British Cultures

Additional criteria that could be used to compare the cultures are
haptics (touching), proxemics (space), competitiveness, action/ being,
structure, and thinking. These are included in the list overleaf, which
highlights areas of similarity, mild difference, and potentially strong
conflict between stereotypical British culture and stereotypical
J apanese culture.

33
Similarities
?? Space: In both cultures, there is little haptic behaviour:
Haptics deals with touching behavior in different societies.
While haptics can be hostile (kicking), more often haptic
behavior is used to indicate the degree of intimacy.
3
Proxemics
are equivalent, too, with people standing about 75 centimetres
from one another when speaking. However, there is more
private office space in the UK than in J apan, perhaps because
British business people need to shut out the world in order to
concentrate on the task at hand, as they tend to have a single
focus time orientation (see below).
?? Competitiveness: Hofstede classified J apan as being very high
on the masculine scale, meaning that recognition and status
within an organisation are important. The UK is also quite high
on this scale.

Possible Areas of Light Conflict
?? Context: Both the British and J apanese have a tendency towards
nuance and indirectness (this tendency is far more pronounced in
the J apanese than the British, though). People in both cultures are
expected to look for meaning in the context and medium of a

3
http:/ / www.stephweb.com/ capstone/ 1.htm
34
message, as well as in the words; in essence, the words can be
semantically superseded by other non-verbal elements, including
shared knowledge. However, the British are less diffuse than the
J apanese, who go from the general to the specific. Both cultures
are quite formal, with a lot of attention being paid to customs and
protocols.
?? Inner-/ Outer-Direction: The British tend to believe that the
environment can be shaped and controlled. The J apanese, on the
other hand, are less certain. Although they have poured concrete
over mountainsides and riverbanks throughout the country, and
worked hard to limit earthquake and typhoon damage with flexible
building foundations, they still feel at the mercy of the elements.
?? Power: Hofstede rated the UK as low on his Power Distance Index,
with the correct gap between boss and worker as perceived by
both parties being small. In J apan, PDI was reported to be
somewhat higher (in the middle of the scale).

Possible Areas of Heavier Conflict
?? Time: The British are sequential, as they concentrate on one task
at a time, and consider the schedule to be of importance.
Punctuality is clearly defined, so they have a fixed time orientation,
and they place emphasis on the past and future (Hampden-Turner
35
and Trompenaars, 1998, page 130). Finally, the British are quite
short-term. By contrast, the J apanese are synchronic: they are
comfortable performing various tasks simultaneously, and they
are more likely than the British to place the needs of the schedule
behind those of their clients or in-group. The J apanese are
therefore more flexible, and they have a present and future
orientation (both present and future overlap with the past,
however). The J apanese are also more long-term.
?? Action: The British have a doing orientation (i.e., they place
importance on achievements and action), whilst the J apanese have
more of a being tendency (in other words, they look for satisfaction
in personal and work relationships; they ascribe status; and they
tend to be more process-oriented than action-oriented).
?? Individualism/ Collectivism: Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars
see a gap between the UK and J apan, with the former being far
more individualistic. This is in broad agreement with Hofstede.
?? Rules: The UK is seen as being a universalistic culture in which
rules, legal systems, and contracts are strictly set and policed. By
contrast, J apan is more particularistic. Relationships and trust
are paramount and may take precedence over the rule.
?? Structure: J apanese tend to seek to avoid uncertainty more than
Britons, with the result that J apanese managers are less willing to
36
stick their neck out. The management structures and
decision-making processes reflect this.
?? Thinking: The J apanese are inductive and holistic (or systemic)
thinkers, whereas the British are more deductive and linear.

What are the implications for business? For one thing, British and
J apanese business people tend to deal with the dilemma of schedule
versus situation differently, and this can cause friction. As
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (1998, page 123) note, [I]f only
because managers need to coordinate their business activities, they
require some kind of shared expectations about time. In addition, the
need for consensus before a decision is made, and the tendency to
caucus informally outside meetings (nemawashi), can place the
J apanese in conflict with British counterparts who complain that the
J apanese use opaque and slow processes that often leave the British
out of the loop. Furthermore, Britons sometimes complain that
J apanese managers lack the ability or willingness to act on their own
initiative.

J apanese are also more likely than Britons to look to an organisation to
meet their developmental and social needs. Although lifetime
employment has been challenged since the Bubble burst twelve years
37
ago, employees at major J apanese companies still expect to work for
the same firm until retirement, believing that if they demonstrate their
loyalty to the company, the company will reciprocate. It is these large
firms that are most likely to send personnel overseas; in Britain,
J apanese overseas assignees will find counterparts who expect to job
hop four or five times during their career. Levels of loyalty, a sense of
shared responsibility, and the effort made to fit in may therefore all
differ and so be a source of conflict.

Another flashpoint could be power distance. As PDI is higher in J apan
than in the UK, J apanese may be reticent about correcting a superior
or making suggestions in front of a senior manager. As cross-cultural
meetings are likely to be conducted in English (particularly in the UK),
language ability is likely to be a major factor here, too.

Rules, structure, and thinking are the last of the major friction points
outlined above. The British tend to enshrine and protect rules more
vigorously than the J apanese (i.e., they are more universalistic); they
feel comfortable with less structure than the J apanese (they are lower
on Hoftstedes uncertainty avoidance scale); and they tend to use
deductive, linear thinking to make sense of problems and phenomena,
whereas the J apanese are more inductive and systemic. For example,
38
in response to the question (asked in J apanese), Is this dish
delicious?, a J apanese waitress told the author, Well, its very
popular with our other customers. When the same question was
repeated to her (I see, but is it delicious?), she answered, Its selling
very well. These responses seem consistent with the question to
J apanese, but not so to many Britons.
39
Findings
ased on the primary research carried out for this report,
J apanese and British business cultures have the following
characteristics:
Scale J apan UK
UniversalistParticularist Particularist (Mildly) Universalist
IndividualistCommunitarian Communitarian (Mildly) Individualist
SpecificDiffuse Diffuse (Mildly) Specific
NeutralAffective No Results No Results
Achievement-OrientedAscriptive No Results No Results
I nner-DirectedOuter-Directed Outer-Directed I nner-Directed
SequentialSynchronous Synchronous Sequential
Low ContextHigh Context High Context Medium-Low Context
MonochronicPolychronic Polychronic (Mildly) Monochronic
Low PDI High PDI Medium PDI Medium-Low PDI
Table 4: Primary Research Findings

Some of the seven dimensions were conflated for part of the project
(particularly the research reproduced here and in Appendix E), with
low/ high context (Hall) relating to universalist-particularist, and to
some degree, specific-diffuse. The latter dimension overlaps with
monochronic-polychronic (Hall), which also includes sequential-
synchronous. Elements of individualist-communitarian can also be
found here, coupled with power distance (Hofstede).

B
40
Many of these observations match those in the literature. As expected,
there are gaps between the two cultures, and yet there is little evidence
from the interviews conducted for this report of significant conflict
between J apanese working in the UK and the local workforce.

One reason for this is that the distance between the two cultures on
each of the scales may not be as large as the contrasting words suggest
(hence the qualifications in Table 4). In fact, although the United States
has a similar profile to that of the UK, its cultural gap with J apan is
significantly larger. It would therefore be helpful to assign a level to
each of the cultures and represent them on a scale in order to give a
fuller picture. In this respect, the comparative tables, graphs, and
diagrams provided in the work of Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars,
Hall, and Hofstede are instructive.

There are two conflicting ways of further accounting for the lack of
significant conflict. The first, which is detailed in the introduction to
this report, is acculturation. It could be that the J apanese interviewees
had not yet fully internalised what Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars
call value contrasts, and so they were oblivious to underlying
tensions. At the same time, their staff and colleagues may have been
attributing differences to personality, particularly as the number of
41
J apanese at the operations investigated was small.

On the other hand, the J apanese subjects may in fact have been
skillful at resolving the contrasts. All of those interviewed had
undertaken some kind of orientation prior to departure, after all.
Trompenaars (2003, page 31) describes the importance of reconciling
differences. This involves the understanding of differences, and also
flexibility and adaptation to change by these different cultures, without
compromising values and beliefs. He gives as an example the ability
shown by Dell Computers to integrate high quality with a low price
using powerful customer databases, mass customization, and
just-in-time component delivery.

The research differences and similarities are detailed below using
broad headings which describe the most powerful dimensions for
understanding J apanese business culture.

Time Orientation and Personal Relationships
The J apanese have a relatively long-term approach to business, as
exemplified by many of the data gathered. One clear example of this
comes from a trading company that has been doing business in J apan
for almost a century. Although its owners are European, it is, at core, a
42
J apanese company.

The company in question handles imports into J apan, mainly from
Europe, as well as some exports, also largely to Europe. It deals with
close to 100 principals (typically producers of the products themselves).
According to research carried about by the firm, the longer the
relationship with an overseas principal, the greater the income from
sales of that principals products. This suggests that it takes a long
time to gain the trust of clients in J apan, but that once that trust has
been won, the pay-off is good.
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
Sales (bn)
Number of Years
Development of Principals
Sales (bn) 278 1387 2270 3113 3555
0-2 3-7 8-14 15-24 25 and up

Graph 2: Development of Principals (J apan)

43
This emphasis on relationships and trust is in contrast with cultures in
which the schedule takes precedence. For the J apanese, the schedule
is less important than preserving relationships and dealing with
changing circumstances. For many J apanese businesspeople, the
schedule is a framework, a goal to be achieved if the situation allows.
For example, we can see from Graph 2 below that section meetings
usually begin on time
1
.
Graph 3: Start of Meetings (J apan)
Results from the British respondents in Appendix C show a broadly
similar trend, with most meetings beginning on time. However, for the
J apanese, meetings do not usually finish on time, and there is a slight
gap here with the UK data (British meetings are more likely to end on
time).

1
Authors survey of 57 J apanese businesspeople from three companies for both
graphs
Do Your Section Meetings Start on Time?
Never
7%
Sometimes
13%
So so
23%
Usually
54%
Always
3%
44
Graph 4: Meeting Ending Time (J apan)

The reason often give by J apanese for not finishing meetings on time is
that despite the schedule, there are still important issues that need to
be discussed, and so rather than wasting everyones time by trying to
arrange another meeting, it seems easier to try to continue until
everything has been resolved satisfactorily.

However, the J apanese are often admired for their apparent
punctuality, and this can cause misunderstandings. For example, a
J apanese employee of an imaging company told the author the
following story as an example of how attitudes towards time differ
between J apanese and Europeans (in this case, Germans, who are
extremely time-sequential and monochronic).
Do Your Section Meetings End on Time?
Never
5%
Sometimes
33%
50/50
37%
Usually
23%
Always
2%
45
The storyteller was sent on a business trip to have meetings
with the sales division of the German subsidiary. Due to
tailbacks resulting from a traffic accident, it became clear to
him that his taxi would not arrive in time for an important
afternoon meeting. He therefore called the subsidiary, telling
the receptionist he would be ten minutes late. Her response
was immediate. She told him that she understood the problem,
thanked him politely for his call, and said she would rearrange
the meeting for a later date after she had checked everyones
schedule. The J apanese man was flabbergasted he had
expected to be told that the meeting participants would wait for
him. In J apan, they almost certainly would have done,
particularly as he was a visitor from the parent company.

It is not the schedule to which the J apanese attach so much
importance, but rather the implied respect shown by keeping to the
schedule in order not to inconvenience others. For this reason, the
J apanese will almost always go to a meeting with a client on time, and
the shinkansen bullet train will run to schedule; at the same time,
meeting participants will wait for a key member to arrive, and meetings
will finish when the situation dictates (which may be when the most
senior or respected member deems the discussion to be over).
46
A corollary of this is that many J apanese businesspeople will make
adjustments to reflect the reality of a business relationship. When the
research results shown in Graph 5 below are taken in tandem with
INTEC J apan Inc.s data in Appendix E (Graph 36), it is clear that
attitudes are different in the UK; this is still a source of potential
mutual misunderstanding, particularly when the two companies
involved are J apanese to non-J apanese, changing the contract may
appear to be cronyism, when really it is a question of trust.
Graph 5: Changing a Contract


Are You Willing to Change a Contract to Help Another Company?
Contract Cannot
Be Changed
30%
Revision Very
Rarely Possible
21%
It Depends
21%
Some Effort
Necessary
7%
Will Do Best to
Help
21%
47
Research results shown below give further proof of the importance of
personal relationships in J apanese business. When 61 J apanese from
three firms were asked whether they preferred to work with (as a
colleague or client/ supplier) someone with whom they had a good
personal relationship, the J apanese answered as per Graph 6. The
contrast with the British is clear, as more than half of the Britons
answered either that it really made no difference (33%), or that the
difference was minimal (20%). This is not surprisingly when working
hours are shorter in the UK, and colleagues drink and eat together
outside work infrequently.
Graph 6: Preference for Working Relationships



Working with Clients and Colleagues
It Doesn't
Matter Either
Way
5% It Depends to a
Limited Extent
21%
A Friend is
Sometimes
Better
45%
A Friend is
Better
26%
A Friend is Best
3%
48
One J apanese respondent working in the UK for a multinational oil and
gas company made the point that the system in the UK encourages
workers to take their annual leave, but not to work overtime, while that
in J apan is almost the opposite. This is one reason, perhaps, why
J apanese put in so many more hours than the British, and also why
they take less annual leave.

In the UK, companies are forced to compensate [white collar]
employees for unused leave, but they do not have to pay for
overtime. But in J apan, while people can claim overtime, they
need to drop unused leave beyond an agreed portion which
they can carry over.

So people in UK can enjoy all of the leave which they are
allowed, but they do not have any incentive to stay late at their
office. On the other hand, J apanese cannot enjoy as much
annual leave, and they do not have so much incentive to leave
early. Of course, there are surely other factors.

The other factors that this J apanese man alluded to include the
perceived need to be around when colleagues have questions, as well
as the fact that others in the office remain late (there is tacit peer
pressure).

After a discussion of the salient features of the scale, the J apanese
respondents in J apan were asked whether they felt their section or
49
department (61 people from three firms), company (86 people from four
firms), and J apan (79 people from four firms) were monochronic or
polychronic. There are, unfortunately, no comparative data for the
British. As we have seen, these terms, borrowed from the work of Hall,
map to some extent on to specific/ diffuse and sequential/ synchronic.
They stress the dilemma caused by balancing a schedule with dynamic
human relationships and dynamic situations.
Graph 7: Section and Chronicity (J apan)

It not surprising that more people characterised their section or
department as polychronic than did their company (Graph 8), as their
socialising is often done at the section level. J apanese society as a
whole, though, is viewed as being very polychronic (Graph 9), with
human relationships and trust playing a crucial role.
Is Your Section/Department Monochronic or Polychronic?
Monochronic
5%
Basically
Monochronic
7%
Both Aspects
16%
Basically
Polychronic
36%
Polychronic
36%
50

Graph 8: Company and Chronicity (J apan)


Graph 9: J apan and Chronicity


Is Your Company Monochronic or Polychronic?
Monochronic
0%
Basically
Monochronic
16%
Both Aspects
37%
Basically
Polychronic
27%
Polychronic
20%
Is Japan Monochronic and Polychronic?
Monochronic
1%
Basically
Monochronic
11%
Both Aspects
14%
Basically
Polychronic
33%
Polychronic
41%
51
There are, then, clear differences here between J apan and the UK.
Although no specific research was conducted for this report with
British businesspeople, it is reasonable to expect that the majority of
British people see themselves as being monochronic, working to a
schedule and being careful to maintain an arms length approach to
clients and colleagues alike.

To make the contrast clearer, the author asked J apanese
businesspeople to imagine the following situations:
1. You are on a five-day vacation. Your boss calls you and asks
you to return to the office to help with an emergency.
2. You are on your honeymoon within J apan. The same thing
happens.

Although the response for the two questions was different, many
respondents said that if their boss were to call, it would be a true
emergency. He wouldnt make that call lightly, and if he were to, he
would lose the respect of people in the organisation.

The responses to situation one (17 respondents from the same
company) are shown in Graph 10. The contrast with the British
respondents (Graph 28) is especially strong for this scenario.
52
Graph 10: Called Back from Vacation (J apan)

The responses in J apan to number two (16 people from the same
company) are shown here in Graph 11, and differ from the UK data
(Graph 29) in that some people answered that they might return:
Graph 11: Called Back from Honeymoon (J apan)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
No Way!
Very Unlikely to Return
Consideration Necessary
Return Possible
Return Inevitable
Your Boss Asks You to Return from Your Domestic Honeymoon for an
Emergency
Response 64.7% 17.6% 0.0% 17.6% 0.0%
No Way!
Very Unlikely to
Return
Consideration
Necessary
Return Possible Return Inevitable
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0%
No Way!
Very Unlikely to Return
Consideration Necessary
Return Possible
Return Inevitable
Your Boss Asks You to Return from Vacation for an Emergency
Response 6.3% 12.5% 50.0% 31.3% 0.0%
No Way!
Very Unlikely to
Return
Consideration
Necessary
Return Possible
Return
Inevitable
53
Power Distance Index/ Specificity-Diffusion
The PDI scale was created by Geert Hofstede. J apan ranks in the
middle of the PDI scale, with the UK in lower half. There is some
overlap with Hampden-Turner and Trompenaarss Specific-Diffuse
scale, since in that model the power and prestige of a superior at work
both carry over into arenas not related to work.

For the purposes of this research, the author asked 17 J apanese
businesspeople to imagine that their boss was about to move house,
and asked them two weeks in advance to help. Would they refuse or
agree? As the graph shows, the majority would consider it carefully.
Graph 12: Helping Boss Move (J apan)

Your Boss Asks You to Help Him Move Next Weekend. Do You?
0%
0%
12%
24%
65%
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0%
Definitely not
Probably not
Maybe
Probably
Definitely
54
Part of the reason for this might be J apans PDI ranking; crucially,
though, this is further proof of the importance of human relationships
in J apan. Some of those surveyed even commented that they would
help their own staff in the same way. For some people, the question in
the UK would elicit the response, Here are the Yellow Pages. Good luck
finding a decent moving company. Others might offer to ask around to
get a recommendation for a trustworthy company. As the results in
Appendix C show, though, a surprisingly large percentage of those
asked might, or probably would, help (60% in total).

Next, the J apanese groups were asked to imagine that their bosss boss
had made a mistake in a meeting. Given the difference in PDI levels, it
is not surprising that fewer J apanese than Britons would correct him.
Graph 13: Correcting Bosss Boss Publicly (J apan)

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0%
Say nothing directly
Rarely say anything
Sometimes say something
Often say something
Always say something
Would You Correct Your Boss Directly in a Meeting with Others Present?
Response
Response 26.3% 26.3% 15.8% 15.8% 15.8%
Say nothing
directly
Rarely say
anything
Sometimes
say
something
Often say
something
Always say
something
55

Contexting, Universalism/ Particularism, and Specificity/ Diffusion
It is evident from conversations with 29 top managers at a major
J apanese catering firm that senior J apanese managers feel a
contexting gap with their juniors (kohai).
Graph 14: Contexting Gap (J apan)

Similar comments were voiced by 12 middle managers at a J apanese
life insurance company (the data are not reproduced here). One of the
reasons for the gap is that younger J apanese are less willing to work
long hours, and so the amount of time and experiences shared is lower.

The importance of being in the same place at the same time can be
understood from J apanese meetings. In order to create and maintain
Do You Feel Your Juniors are Lower Context Than You?
3%
0%
24%
31%
42%
Same Level
Marginal Difference
Some Difference
Clearly Lower
Much Lower; It's a Problem
56
the ability to communicate in a high context way, it is necessary to
spend time together. Perhaps for this reason, J apanese people report
that they go to meetings without knowing either the specific purpose of
the meeting or their role (survey of 38 J apanese middle managers from
three different companies). This seems like a waste of time and
resources to the British. After all, meetings are expensive, as they
entail opportunity cost, salaries, depreciation, and many other
expenses.
Graph 15: Attendance at Meetings (J apan)

Differences in the legal systems of the UK and J apan also illustrate the
specific-diffuse, universalistic/ particularistic, and low/ high context
tendencies of the two cultures. In the UK, trial by jury has a long
tradition, whereas the J apanese judicial system has not allowed
Do You Go to Meetings and not Know the Purpose of the Meeting and
Your Role?
36.8%
36.8%
18.4%
7.9%
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0%
Never
Rarely
50/50
Often
Always
57
citizens to participate in trial processes since the J apanese jury law
was suspended in 1943.
2
In addition, J udges are expected to bring
outside knowledge to the case in reaching a decision, whereas in the
UK, verdicts must be made in the context of the specific and allowable
evidence of that case.

Table 5 here shows the graphs in this report and their relation to the
various dimensions.
Graph Page Notes
1: Hierarchy/
Authority
30 J apan as medium power distance (also
ascription), the UK as lower (also achievement)
2: Development of
Prin-cipals (J apan)
39 J apan as a polychronic culture in which
long-term relationships are crucial in business
3, 23, 34: Meeting
Start-ing Time (J apan,
UK)
40,
87, 95
Both the J apanese and British fairly polychronic
4, 24, 35: Meeting Ending
Time (J apan, UK)
41,
88, 96
J apanese a little more polychronic than the
British, but no great difference
5, 26, 36: Changing
Con-tract (J apan, UK)
46,
88, 97
No clear difference between the J apanese and
Britons questioned
6, 27, 37: Working
Rela-tionships (J apan,
UK)
47,
89, 98
J apanese clearly more polychronic than Britons
in this respect
7-9: Chronicity and
Section/ Company/ J apan
49-50 Perception of J apanese sections/ departments as
being more polychronic than company, but less

2
Ohtsubo, Fujita, and Kameda (2001). How Can Psychology Contribute to Designing
a Mixed J ury System in J apan? Ongoing Debates and a Thought Experiment. Progress
in Asian Social Psychology (Volume 4).
58
than country
10, 28: Recall from
Vac-ation (J apan, UK)
52, 90 No great difference apparent, and suggestion for
both cultures medium PDI and Individualism
11, 29: Honeymoon
Re-call (J apan, UK)
52, 90 J apanese slightly more likely to return than
Britons, but majority of both answered No way!
12, 30, 38: Helping Boss
Move (J apan, UK)
53, 91 J apanese much more likely to help than Britons,
showing diffuse nature (and perhaps higher PDI)
13, 31, 39: Correcting
Bosss Boss (J apan, UK)
54, 91 Britons much more likely to speak up, showing
greater Individualism and lower PDI
14: Contexting Gap
(J apan)
55 Generation gap perceived in this respect by
senior J apanese managers
15, 25: Attendance at
Meetings (J apan, UK)
56, 88 J apanese much more likely to go regardless,
suggesting higher PDI and higher context
16-22: 7 Dimensions
(J apanese in the UK)
80-83 Inconclusive overall, but strong suggestion of
J apanese communitarianism and British
indi -vidualism;
32, 33: Enjoyment and
Importance of English
(J apan)
93, 94 J apanese dislike of English, but realisation of its
importance as a business tool now and in the
future
Table 5: Summary of Graphs and Research Findings

Clearly, the scales outlined in this report need to be used in a dynamic,
complex, and interactive way in order to provide a reasonable and
useful representation of reality. The influence that one scale has on
any other and the relative depth of each tendency are important factors
to consider, and should be reflected in any cultural analysis of a
country, organisation, or person.

59
Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars talk of a helix that spirals up to
reach a temporarily optimal resolution of any given dilemma. It is
temporary because the resolution will inevitably lead to a new dilemma
in a never-ending story of adjustment, ideally even progress. The
various scales in this paper are necessary starting points to be able to
understand the construction and operation of the helix. Ultimately, it
is the helix, the dynamic representation of the symbiotic relation
between an entity and its environment, which provides us with the best
insight into the impact of culture on our daily lives and business.
60
Analysis
he literature, then, suggests that there are significant differences
between stereotypical British and J apanese business cultures.
This is borne out to some extent by the primary data, although the
contrast is less clear than was expected. Nonetheless, it still suggests
that there are gaps in assumptions and values that will cause
problems for J apanese and Britons working together, particularly if
those assumptions and values are not explicitly recognized and
respected, and some reconciliation sought.

Comments made in an interview with the author by the managing
director of the British subsidiary of a major J apanese electronics
manufacturer allow application of some of the models described in this
report.

We and our UK customers expect:
1. Decision-making ability. J apanese seem to find this
tough.
2. Managers to be interested in people (too often J apanese
people seem to hide behind a facade).
3. J apanese not to talk in J apanese when there is a
foreigner present. It smacks of not being part of some
T
61
secret society (even if they are just talking about the
drinking session last night!).
4. An ability to say "I do not know, but I will find out.
There is no loss of face so long as a sincere effort is
made.
5. People not to say yes when they mean no. It will be
resented later by customers and staff.
6. J apanese people not to have one policy for J apanese
staff and another for Europeans. If there must be two
policies, then do not make it obvious.

The first comment is commonly made about J apanese by Europeans
and North Americans. Because of the importance of human
relationships, the organic nature of decision-making, and both ringisho
(official agreement by managers signified by their seals on documents)
and nemawashi (informal caucusing), the process of choosing a
solution and building consensus around it takes time. However, once
taken, decisions tend to be relatively robust.

The second comment can be explained by the gap between the
62
J apanese and British in terms of the so-called illusion of equality,
1

and perhaps also by the language barrier. The linguistic gap helps to
explain the third comment, too.

Face, of course, is an important issue that is often used to explain
differences between Occidental and Oriental cultures, and it covers the
fourth point. It is also partially explains why the question and answer
session of a J apanese business presentation is typically less than 10%
of the total time taken. Another reason for the fourth point is the
J apanese education system, which follows a Confucian pattern of the
teacher (or presenter) having all the necessary information and then
transmitting it in a uni-directional manner to the students (or
audience) who listen carefully and absorb the information like
sponges.

J apanese presenters tend to provide substantial documentation for
their audience, and both they and their audience expect that all of the
relevant points will be covered in the talk itself. All involved see even a
few questions as proof that the presentation was somehow incomplete

1
This concept was developed by Robert Hilke of International Christian University,
Tokyo. According to Hilke, cultures that have an illusion of equality, such as
Australia and the United States, work hard to create an atmosphere of equality (for
example, hands in pockets and use of first names and jokes), whereas those which
exaggerate inequality, such as J apan and Korea, try to maintain a vertical
relationship (for example, through the use of titles and formal language).
63
and therefore unsuccessful, and this involves a loss of face on the part
of the presenter. On the other hand, Britons are more likely to expect,
and plan for, a significant number of questions after a presentation,
and this is often construed as evidence that the content and deli very of
the presentation were good enough to stimulate a wider discussion.

The fifth point can be understood in the light of the contexting model.
Although the word is yes, the intended meaning could be no, and
another J apanese would pick up on this. For example, the J apanese
word muzukashii is translated into English as difficult, and yet it
often means impossible, depending on the context in which it is used
and the various non-verbal inputs present. Similarly, maemuki ni
kentou shimasu can be translated literally as consider something
positively, and yet is typically used by officials to signal that a
proposal will not be accepted. Although Britons are no strangers to
nuance and reading between the lines, they are typically neither as
adept at it as the J apanese, nor do they fully understand the J apanese
context in which messages are fashioned and interpreted.

The final comment is often levelled against expatriates by local staff,
regardless of nationality. Human Resource departments at large
J apanese companies, though, claim that they are moving towards
64
hiring more managers locally, and this may ease tensions.

Overall, it is clear that the J apanese are high context, particularistic,
communitarian, polychronic, and diffuse. They have a synchronous,
long-term time sense and place a lot of emphasis on maintaining and
developing personal relationships. This is apparent from the case of the
Australian-J apanese sugar contract dispute in the late 1970s (see
Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2003). The story is summarised
here because the British and Australians have a similar profile,
although the extent and relative impact of each tendency is different.

J apanese refiners had signed a ten-year contract with
Australian cane sugar growers fixed at the market price at the
time of the negotiations, less five dollars. When the market
price dropped a full ten dollars, the J apanese found themselves
facing the prospect of making bulk purchases at five dollars
more than the new level. They therefore asked the Australian
growers to renegotiate the contract. After all, the Australians
could not possibly wish their partners to lose money! Mutual
satisfaction and lasting relationships were surely the ideal
(Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2003, chapter 8).
However, the Australians were unmoved, as they felt that the
65
contract should be respected regardless. The J apanese had
given their word. Fluctuations in the world price of sugar were
not unusual. All business involved risks. Had the price risen,
not fallen, the Australian growers would have been the losers
(source as above).

The roots to this dispute lay in key cultural value contrasts. The
Australians saw the contract, the letter of the law, and the universal
rule, whereas the J apanese were concerned with the relationship
between the parties, the spirit of the agreement, and an unfortunate
but critical exception to the rule. In terms of the seven dimensions, the
two sides were poles apart in four respects.
Australians J apanese
Universalism Particularism
Individualism Communitarianism
Specificity Diffusion
Achievement Ascription
Table 6: Australian and J apanese Profiles

Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (2003) use their dilemma theory to
suggest a way out of this situation for both sides through reconciliation.
They describe five steps towards helical reconciliation:

66
1. Processing (i.e., seeing values as processes rather than things, a
stream rather than a stone)
2. Framing and Contextualising (i.e., placing each process in the
frame of its purpose and meaning)
3. Sequencing (i.e., not choosing between apparent contradictions,
but instead doing one after the other)
4. Cycling (i.e., creating a learning loop)
5. Synergising (i.e., creating the right circumstances for the opposite
ends of the dilemma to be mutually optimizing)

As the first step, contracting, legislating, making exceptions, and
relating to the other party can be taken to be the key processes. Making
exceptions can then be seen in the light of rendering the contract more
durable, and the dilemma can be sequenced in order to redraft the
contract to account for volatility. The opportunity to create a cycle of
learning can then be taken so that a strong relationship between the
parties allows increasingly fair and long-lasting contracts to be drafted.
Finally, with the benefit of synergies, the two sides can achieve an
evolving relationship that is cleverly captured by written agreements
(better achievements through better contracting and better
67
contracting through better relating).
2


Although the J apanese work hard to understand the people with whom
they do business, particularly Oubeijin (European-American people),
the literature and the primary research conducted for this report show
that they are not always successful, as the following story told by an
engineer at an imaging company demonstrates:

16 years ago, that was my first experience working with a
small American venture company. My project had been delayed
due to some problems on the American side, so I made a trip to
their office to re-coordinate the project. I wanted to fix the
problem in a week because my marriage was to be one month
from then. However, discussions there made no progress
because the focus was always about the precise division of
responsibility. I tried hard to re-arrange the contract or to do
anything else I could to resolve the problem.

A week passed, ten days passed, 2 weeks passed, but nothing
went well. Then one evening, while having dinner with them, I

2
Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2003, chapter 8; the bold italics are the
original authors
68
said, I have to leave here next Friday or I will not be able to
prepare for my own wedding. After 3 seconds of long silence
during which they stared at me, I felt that everything started to
move 100 times faster than before. Also, they became more
friendly than before. I could not understand why their attitude
had changed. I had had an infantile stereotype, namely that
business is business in America.

Most of the problems were fixed in that week, so I was able to
leave LAX on Saturday, and arrive at Narita Airport on Sunday
(just one week before my wedding). Of course, I was in time for
my marriage the following Sunday, and I arrived at LAX again
on Monday...for my honeymoon.

The man who told the story saw this as an example of American
polychronic, diffuse, communitarian behaviour. However, by telling
them a personal story, he played on their sense of illusion of equality,
and in addition, his deadline was clear and logical, which gave the
essentially monochronic American side something to work towards.
Furthermore, the fact that they went for dinner with him suggests that
for some reason, they felt some extra responsibility towards him.
Unconsciously, he was able to capitalise on these factors. In the UK, he
69
would likely have been able to do the same.

Another interpretation might be that as employees of a small start-up,
the Americans tended towards the polychronic end of the scale.
However, the fact that they were trying to work out the precise
boundaries of responsibility for each side in the negotiation suggests a
monochronic approach to problem-solving they put the task before
the people involved, but in the end, were able to resolve the problem by
combining concern for people with concern for task.

It is clear, then, that the J apanese and British are separated by value
contrasts, just as the J apanese and Americans, J apanese and
Australians, and indeed the British and Americans or Australians, also
are. Each element in a cultures profile is affected by the other elements,
and their relative depth is different; in addition, cultures differ in their
ability to reconcile various dilemmas. The primary data, for example,
suggest that many Britons may often be willing to try to reconcile the
letter of the law with the spirit of the law; this also appears to be the
case for the J apanese interviewed.
70
Conclusion
t is apparent that there are some significant differences between
J apanese and British business cultures. However, not all J apanese
people living or working in the UK notice these differences, suggesting
that they lack sufficient objectivity and training. As a result, it may well
be that they fail to achieve their potential while in Britain; to confirm
this, more research could be conducted in British host organisations to
try to measure results and canvass opinions.

In order to mitigate potential problems, firms need to implement
training for assignees, their families, and hosts. Prior to departure, the
assignee and his family should be given an orientation about issues
such as education, housing, law, and immigration rules; in addition,
they should all receive language training, and perhaps most
importantly, pan-cultural training to help them to prepare mental
frameworks. Assignees should also learn about local employment and
management norms, while host organisations need to have equivalent
cross-cultural training. Post-arrival, all parties should have a chance
to match their mental models to the reality they perceive under the
guidance of an experienced facilitator. Finally, after return to their
home culture, assignees and their families should receive counselling
I
71
to help them deal with reverse culture shock.
1


In addition, firms need to share information throughout the overseas
host organisation in order to shape expectations. Part of that may be to
show that foreign cultures are not arbitrarily or randomly different
from one another. They are instead mirror images of one anothers
values, reversals of the order and sequence of looking and learning
(Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 2000, page 1; original authors
italics).

The theoretical arguments for training need to be supported by
evidence of the positive impact of effective global managers and the role
of training in honing those peoples skills. When people throughout the
firm perceive a resultant improvement to the bottom line, they are more
likely to be supportive and cooperative. Creating appropriate metrics,
of course, is a challenge, and such metrics are still likely to be
qualitative (for example, case studies taken from the company intranet
and newsletters). The expatriate failure rate is often used, although
Harzing (1995) has argued that this measure needs to be qualified by
considerations of the damage done by inappropriate managers not
returning early: completion of an assignment does not necessarily

1
http:/ / www.evergreen.edu/ advising/ abroad/ reverse.htm
72
indicate success. This danger may be larger for J apanese assignees
than American or European ones, as the stigma of failure and impact
on future career may both be greater in J apan, where there is less
job-hopping between companies.

One further way of measuring the impact of global managers is to look
at their potential achievement of performance-related goals before
training, and then to compare it with outcomes during and after
training. Once again, this is qualitative, but if used with other metrics,
it can still provide a useful indication.

Information sharing, work exchanges, visits by relevant people in both
organisations, and training are important steps to creating conditions
conducive to synergetic learning and dilemma reconciliation, and also
to linking unique resources in order to achieve a sustainable
competitive advantage. After all, as Pucik and Saba (1998) note, the
keys to success for global managers are professional and technical
competence; relational abilities; leadership factors; family situation;
and cultural awareness. Without successful global managers,
J apanese companies will struggle to perform in an increasingly global
economy.

73
A key issue therefore, is the development of global managers through
dedicated programmes. It is apparent that the company should work
with a trusted partner to create, refine, and continue to develop the
best intercultural business training for its personnel. These
programmes must be clearly linked with the strategy of the firm.

The following steps can be taken by J apanese companies:
? Confirm strategy and competitive advantage with senior
management
? Develop a list of competencies that complement the strategy, and
distinguish between base competencies that are a prerequisite for
training and competencies which will be developed through the
training (including the ability to analyse and reconcile dilemmas)
? Have department managers nominate people who match, or have
the potential to match, those competencies
? Explain the programme and its goals to all employees
? Make it explicit that the global manager programme is open to all
who have the necessary base competencies, and so encourage
employees not selected initially to do some groundwork in order to
have the chance to quality later (for example, by improving English,
Spanish, or Mandarin language skills)
? Work with a vendor to develop an appropriate programme and
74
materials (including company- and country-specific case studies)
? Start the programme, and monitor outcomes in various ways
(including participant satisfaction, performance improvement,
impact on general morale, resolution of dilemmas, and relations
with foreign counterparts and clients)
? Revise the programme as necessary (kaizen) and start the process
again for a new batch of global managers
? Keep graduates of the training in touch so that they can share
experiences, information, and ideas, including how they have
resolved company- and country-specific dilemmas

With such training, many J apanese firms should move much closer to
achieving their broad goal of becoming global companies with
significant revenues earned outside J apan. As the United Kingdom is
often a base for the European Union as a whole, it is clearly vital for the
J apanese to be able to function effectively within its national
boundaries.
75
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79










80
Appendix A
Survey of J apanese in the UK (Seven Dimensions)
he following graphs show the answers of six J apanese
businesspeople residing in the UK. After an explanation of each
of the seven dimensions, the surveyees rated themselves, their
J apanese organi sation, and their British host organisation on a
one-to-ten scale, with the first of the two labels being 1, and the
second being 2. For example, a rating of 7 for the J apanese
organisation the Neutrality-Affectiveness scale shows that the
respondent thought it leaned towards the affective side of the scale.

Graph 16: Universalism-Particularism
T
Universalism-Particularism
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Respondents
A
s
s
e
s
s
m
e
n
t
Self
Japanese Co.
British Co.
81

Graph 17: Individualism-Communitarianism


Graph 18: Inner-Direction/ Outer-Direction

Individualism-Communitarianism
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Respondents
A
s
s
e
s
s
m
e
n
t
Self
Japanese Co.
British Co.
Inner-Directed/Outer-Directed
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Respondents
A
s
s
e
s
s
m
e
n
t
Self
Japanese Co.
British Co.
82

Graph 19: Specificity-Diffuseness


Graph 20: Achievement-Ascription


Achievement-Ascription
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Respondents
A
s
s
e
s
s
m
e
n
t
Self
Japanese Co.
British Co.
Specific-Diffuse
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Respondents
A
s
s
e
s
s
m
e
n
t
Self
Japanese Co.
British Co.
83

Graph 21: Sequential-Synchronous Time



Graph 22: Neutrality-Affectiveness
Neutrality-Affectiveness
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Assessment
Self
Japanese Co.
British Co.
Sequential-Synchronous Time
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Respondent
A
s
s
e
s
s
m
e
n
t
Self
Japanese Co.
British Co.
84
Appendix B: THTs Scales
The following dimensions introduced by Trompenaars and
Hampden-Turner in a number of books, including Riding the Waves of
Culture, Seven Cultures of Capitalism, and Building Cross-Cultural
Competency. Read the brief descripti on for each one, and place J apan
and the UK on the scale. Each uses a simple one-to-ten gradation.

Universal Particular
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A universalistic culture creates and applies rules that always hold,
whereas a particularistic culture will consider each situation on its
own merits. A corollary of this is that universalistic people will try to be
precise and literal with language, whereas particularistic people may
leave more to interpretation based on the context (see also
specific-diffuse below).


Individual Communitarian
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
An individualistic culture will place emphasis on the rights of the
individual, whereas a communitarian culture will give greater priority
to the group.
85
Neutral Affective
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
In a neutral culture, people will disguise their feelings, but in an
affective culture, feelings play an important role in society and
business.


Specific Diffuse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
People from a specific culture put things into mental boxes to the
extent that public and private, business and pleasure, do not overlap.
By contrast, for diffuse people the boundaries are blurred, so that your
boss at work might be accorded special respect in an entirely different
context, such as on the golf course.


Achievement Ascription
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Some societies accord position and ability on the basis of actions and
results, while others ascribe these based on being factors such as age,
experience, and education.

86
Sequential Synchronic
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
In a sequential time system, plans are made and carried out
chronologically. Punctuality is vital. By contrast, a synchronic system
allows activities to happen in parallel, and punctuality may suffer as
circumstances change.


Inner- Outer-Directed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Inner-directed people are confident that they can shape their
environment, whereas outer-directed people see themselves as being
subject to larger forces which sweep them along.
87
Appendix C
Survey of British Businesspeople
he following research was conducted in J uly, 2003 by asking
British businesspeople to answer a questionnaire (see Appendix
D) using a one-to-five scale to indicate what they would do in a series of
situations. The same questions were put to J apanese businesspeople
during interviews and intercultural communication training sessions
during J une and J uly, 2003 (see Findings for those results).
Graph 23: Start of Meetings
T
Do the Meetings in Your Section/Department Begin on Time?
20%
10%
20%
50%
0%
Never
Not so often
50/50
Usually
Always
88
Graph 24: End of Meetings


Graph 25: Purpose of, and Role in, Meetings


Do the Meetings in Your Section/Department End on Time?
0%
30%
30%
40%
0%
Never
Not so often
50/50
Usually
Always
Do You Go to Meetings and not Know the Purpose of the Meeting and
Your Role?
20%
60%
0%
20%
0%
Never
Rarely
50/50
Often
Always
89
Graph 26: Changing a Contract Mid-Term


Graph 27: Friendship in Business Relationships

Do You Prefer to Work (as a Colleague, Client, or Supplier) with
a Friend?
20%
30%
20%
20%
10%
Doesn't Matter Either
Way
Depends to a Limited
Extent
A Friend is Sometimes
Better
A Friend is Better
A Friend is Best
Are You Willing to Change a Contract Mid-Term to Help Another
Company?
20%
40%
30%
0%
10%
Contract Cannot Be
Changed
Revision Very Rarely
Possible
It Depends
Some Effort Necessary
Do Best to Help
90
Graph 28: Return from Domestic Vacation


Graph 29: Return from Domestic Honeymoon


Your Boss Asks You to Return from Domestic Vacation for an
Emergency. Do You?
0%
50%
20%
30%
0%
No Way!
Very Unlikely to Return
Consideration Necessary
Return Possible
Return Inevitable
Your Boss Asks You to Return from Your Domestic Honeymoon for an
Emergency. Do You?
70%
30%
0%
0%
0%
No Way!
Very Unlikely to Return
Consideration Necessary
Return Possible
Return Inevitable
91
Graph 30: Helping Boss to Move House


Graph 31: Correcting Boss in a Meeting

Your Boss Asks You to Help Him Move next Weekend. Do You?
20%
20%
50%
10%
0%
Definitely Not
Probably Not
Maybe
Probably
Definitely
Would You Correct Your Boss Directly in a Meeting with Others
Present?
10%
10%
50%
20%
10%
Say Nothing Directly
Rarely Say Anything
Sometimes Say Something
Often Say Something
Always Say Something
92
Appendix D: Questionnaire for UK British Isles
1. Do the meetings in your section or department start on time?
2. Do the meetings in your section or department end on time?
?? Never
?? Not so often
?? 50/ 50
?? Usually
?? Always

3. Do You Go to Meetings and not Know the Purpose of the Meeting and
Your Role?
?? Never
?? Rarely
?? 50/ 50
?? Often
?? Always

4. Are You Willing to Change a Contract Mid-Term to Help Another
Company?
?? Contract cannot be changed
?? Revision very rarely possible
?? It depends
?? Some effort necessary
?? Do best to help

5. Do You Prefer to Work (as a Colleague/ Client/ Supervisor) with a
Friend?
?? Doesnt matter either way
?? Depends to a limited extent
93
?? A friend is sometimes better
?? A friend is better
?? A friend is best

6. Your Boss Asks You to Return from Domestic Vacation for an
Emergency. Do You?
7. Your Boss Asks You to Return from Your Domestic Honeymoon for an
Emergency. Do You?
?? No way!
?? Very unlikely to return
?? Consideration necessary
?? Return possible
?? Return inevitable

8. Your Boss Asks You to Help Him Move Next Weekend. Do You?
?? No way!
?? Probably not
?? Maybe
?? Probably
?? Definitely

9. Would You Correct Your Boss Directly in a Meeting with Others
Present?
?? Say nothing directly
?? Rarely say anything
?? Sometimes say something
?? Often say something
?? Always say something
94
INTEC JAPAN INC.

Appendix E: Survey of J apanese Businesspeople
The following data were gathered from J apanese businesspeople during
training seminars in J apan by the firm INTEC J apan Inc., a Tokyo-based
consultancy specialising in intercultural communication. They are
reproduced here by kind permission of the INTEC management, but
remain the intellectual property of that company, and may not be further
reproduced without written consent.

List of Graphs
A) Do You Like English? 1072 respondents
B) Is English Important for You and Your Career? 1060 respondents
C) Do Your Sections/ Departments Meetings Start on Time? 822
respondents
D) Do Your Sections/ Departments Meetings Finish on Time? 818
respondents
E) Are You Willing to Change a Contract Mid-Term to Help Another
Company? 927 respondents
F) Do You Need to Work with People with Whom You are Friends? 927
respondents
G) Your Boss Asks You to Help Him Move Next Weekend. Do You? 288
respondents
H) Would You Correct Your Boss in a Meeting with Others Present? 212
respondents

INTEC J apan Inc., Tanaka Building Karukozaka, 2-16-1 Kagurazaka,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo-to, J apan 162-0825
www.intecjapan.com Tel: 81-3-3267-5988 Fax: 81-3-3267-5986

95
Graph 32: Enjoyment of English


Survey of 1072 J apanese businesspeople; data from INTEC J apan Inc. (2003)
Do You Like English?
4%
25%
45%
22%
4%
Not at all
Dislike
Neutral
Like
Very much
97
Graph 34: Start of Meetings

INTEC J apan Inc. survey of 822 J apanese businesspeople (2002-2003)
Do Your Section's/Department's Meetings Start on Time?
3%
14%
32%
45%
5%
Never
Not so often
50/50
Usually
Always
98
Graph 35: End of Meetings

INTEC J apan Inc. survey of 818 J apanese businesspeople (2002-2003)
Do Your Section's/Department's Meetings Finish on
Time?
8%
40%
41%
10%
1%
Never
Not so often
50/50
Usually
Always
99
Graph 36: Changing Contract Mid-Term

Survey of 927 J apanese businesspeople; data from INTEC J apan Inc. (2002-2003)
Are You Willing to Change a Contract to Help Another Company?
5%
20%
45%
24%
6%
Contract Cannot Be Changed
Revision Very Rarely Possible
It Depends
Some Effort Necessary
Will Do Best to Help
100
Graph 37: Preference for Good Personal Relationships in Business

Survey of 927 J apanese businesspeople; data from INTEC J apan Inc. (2002-2003)
Working with Colleagues and Clients
5%
20%
45%
24%
6%
It Doesn't Matter Either
Way
It Depends to a Limited
Extent
A Friend is Sometimes
Better
A Friend is Better
A Friend is Best
101
Graph 38: Helping Boss Move


Survey of 288 J apanese businesspeople; data from INTEC J apan Inc. (2003)
Your Boss Asks You to Help Him Move Next Weekend. Do You?
10.6%
19.2%
20.8%
30.6%
18.8%
Definitely not
Probably not
Maybe
Probably
Definitely
102
Graph 39: Correcting Boss

INTEC J apan Inc. survey of 212 J apanese businesspeople (2002-2003)
Would You Correct Your Boss in a Meeting?
18.5%
23.3%
22.0%
25.4%
10.8%
Say Nothing Directly
Rarely Say Anything
Sometimes Say Something
Often Say Something
Always Say Something