Essay Example Exploring Differences in Business Culture

Case Study 1: Question-What was the impact of the culture change activities?

The primary mission of the Kids and Young People Trust Southampton is to integrate the relevant government institutions and the Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) concerned with the welfare of the children and youth in the city. The trust attracts about twenty big corporations based in the town of Southampton that has partnered together to achieve a common goal- addressing the needs of the children and the youth to improve their well-being. The trust employs specific interventions or the so-called culture change activities to guarantee its success. Some of these activities include the redesigning of the organizational structure as well as introducing principles necessary to support the project. The publication of the green paper Every Child Matters in 2003 emerges as the primary influence to the restructuring of the organizational structure.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Also, the leadership of the trust has seen several changes. Initially, the top leadership position was held by the cabinet member for children services and the director of children services. Today, the trust is headed by the deputy director for children services who make most of the crucial decisions. That said, the trust has realized some benefits through the incorporation of the essential culture change activities into its structure. Firstly, there seem to be credibility in the trust's mission and vision. That is, the trust is much aware of its accountabilities and purpose all through the conglomerate organizations. Secondly, the trust receives support from the managers and supervisors at all levels of the administrations who can interpret its objectives easily.

Furthermore, research indicates that the staff is more open, proactive and determined to operate across institutional boundaries within the constructs of a multi-agency. This willingness of the officials of the trust to work across organizational boundaries has resulted in increased productivity. Similarly, many people are employed across the agencies as joint appointments. Hence, this promotes the spiriting of collective working to achieve efficiency. Consequently, the element of shared processes through the use of conventional assessments has enhanced communication between the agencies. Multi-Agency internment occurs twice a year to pave the way for new employees across the trust.

Case Study 2: Managing People and Organizations: Humanized Robots

Helen Bowers lacks the aptitude to approach her staff in a negotiable way to improve their morale of work so that the company can compete effectively in the global market against the Japanese companies. After the demise of her father, Jake Bowers, Helen takes over the firm and introduces new management practices that will guarantee the realization of higher incomes and improve the firm's competitiveness in the sale of heavy industrial equipment. However, she centralizes the decision-making process and does not bother to consult with anyone. Part of her strategy involves altering the existing operational procedures. She also eliminates the idle time from the working hours of the employees. Helen demands the best from her workers without awarding incentives or rewards for their hard work.

From the illustrations above, Helen's approach may fail since only the dedicated staff may work hard for their loyalty towards the company, but after some time the wants and expectations of the worker supersede the interests of the firm. Thus, they may decide to quit work. Helen, as the new owner of the firm, is confronted with a few challenges that need to be addressed. Firstly, her primary problem is the failure to get the vital understanding of her father's beliefs in treating the employees as a family rather than just workers (Polley 2009). Handling them as part of the family helps to bolster employee satisfaction even though this can reduce the firm's productivity. Helen Bower also confronts the problem of self-regulation. That is, she cannot efficiently analyze her actions and control the damaging ones. Helen makes impulsive decisions without first understanding the possible consequences.

Apart from that, Helen also lacks empathy. She is short of the fundamental skills to understand others' emotions. For instance, she does not understand the significance of the softball field to the employees. Also, by eliminating the profit sharing plan and cutting down the wages, she ends up lowering the employees' morale. If I were Helen's consultant, I would guide her not to set a new production minimum and not to introduce wage cuts based on productivity. Also, apart from reopening the softball field, I would recommend offering gym memberships at a cut-rate to the personnel. I would also advise her to restore some of the policies that her father employed when he headed the firm. Also, I would welcome any and all productive criticism from the workers to ensure the most cooperative working environment conceivable. I would also advise Helen to work on her social skills.

Case Study 3: Managing Global and Workforce Diversity: Culture Shock

Experts and businesspersons moving to Japan might find that the extent of culture shock in Japan can be extreme. As such, they may end up making some errors thus jeopardizing their mission. Warren and Carol Oats were exposed to an element of culture shock during their business visit to Japan. The most significant error that both made during their first week in Japan was the failure to research the Japanese culture comprehensively. The cultural mistakes that Warren and Carol Oats made during their business meeting in Japan were avoidable. They would have evaded such errors by conducting proper research on the country's business culture including the accepted norms and ethics in that field.

Firstly, the Japanese value personal interactions to help build up a cordial relationship between the guest and the host. The Japanese are sensitive to one's image and appearance or the tatemae in Japanese (Khan 2010, p.191). Tatemae is essential to bring out the real intention (hon'ne) of the parties involved in the business transaction. Therefore, the aggressiveness of Warren towards the Japanese was a violation of the tatemae. Also, before commencing a business deal in Japan, the exchange of the business cards (meishi) comes first (Khan 194). However, in the case of Warren, he began his presentation before exchanging his meishi with those of the host. Research indicates that the Japanese negotiators or interpreters often have difficulty expressing their views, but they easily understand how you think better than you imagine (McLuhan 2015). Warren failed to consider this before misjudging the translator. Lastly, patience and persistence are deemed to be moral virtues in the Japanese society. However, the guests disregarded this fact.

The American business style varies significantly from that of the Japanese style. Unlike the Japanese, business negotiators in the United States employ a straightforward approach (Miller 2013). There is no time for relationship-building since the meetings are intended to discuss the agendas as fast and proficiently as possible. Building relationships mostly occur over the course of duty or after work hours. Also, mistakes and errors are confronted directly either as soon as the error happens or during private discussions. Unlike in the Japanese business culture, harmony between the parties is not regarded as a goal of interaction. The most important thing a business person coming to America must consider is to do extensive research concerning the country's business culture.

References

Khan, Y., 2010. Tips on Doing Business in Japan. Global Business Languages, 2(16), pp. 185-196

McLuhan, M., 2015. Culture is our business. Wipf and Stock Publishers.

Miller, A., 2013. Differences in Business Culture between Japan and West. Japan Today. https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/differences-in-business-culture-between-japan-and-west

Polley, K., 2009. Organizational Theory & Behavior: Humanized Robots. http://kpolley.blogspot.co.ke/2009/02/humanized-robots.htmlfile:///C:/Users/OWNER/Downloads/developing-organisation-culture_2011-six-case-studies_tcm18-10885.pdf