Culture and Communication
Differences and Similarities
Management philosophy will tend to be more similar than not. The Swedes and the Japanese are both first world cultures, and the currency of the realm (pun intended) of business remains profit taking, regardless as to where on the planet.
The managers themselves, however, left to their own devices would find each other precipitously different. As mentioned earlier, the largest of Hofstede’s differences is with masculinity. The Swedes pride themselves on a sense of equality, and, as an example, a man and a woman are equally likely to need to leave early to pick up a child at daycare. This might be difficult to see through Japanese eyes.
The Swedish language itself is very spare, and so too is the way they speak. They are very direct and to the point. While the Japanese may enjoy this, the Swedes have no immediate capacity for the nuances layered throughout Japanese speech, let alone that of “face”.
The idea of nature factors large and many Swedes have names after aspects of nature. While neither especially religious, nor pantheistic for that matter, perhaps the largest expression of this is the Swedish approach to time. It is especially rigid, as if one is sharing a precious commodity, owned by the individual. Here, our Japanese author would have a natural inclination toward a little more flexibility.
The Japanese, given how crowded their country is, have perhaps the closest proximity when it comes to personal space. In Sweden people actually back up, if it appears that one is collapsing the shared space by more than 5 feet. However, they both share an appreciation for little or no physical interaction (“Executive Planet“, 2010)(Kwintessential Ltd, 2010).
Conclusion - Proposed Controls / Monitoring / other Management Structure
Honoring and Amending
As one may note, the bulk of this document has been set up for this conclusion. The greatest variable, ultimately, is communication (and all that entails its expression, custom, culture, etc.).
When speaking in terms of management structure, with an eye toward ensuring a successful business interaction, the rationale for technology management structure has to do with honoring the Japanese side of the equation. It would be the Japanese for whom, and honoring of hierarchy would want to be included into the consideration. With this in mind, having already narrowed the managerial window down somewhat, determine which managerial layer is most appropriate on the Japanese side first, find the Swedish counterpart(s) and establish this as a working group.
In every way possible, one would want to create trainings for acculturation. While this is never enough in and of itself, to the depth and breadth that this goal is engaged, to that degree one begins to guarantee a lack of errors. Given that there was no time or funding restrictions, one ideal would include creating home bases for management at both ends, so they and their families can rotate in and out, living in both countries. Naturally, this latter idea leans on quality time (not simply exposure). It would be most prudent to establish this exercise by 6 to 12 months before pursuing any documented controls or monitoring proper.
Once management feels comfortable interacting with each other, sensing some fluency in bi-culturalism, then proceeding with the control and monitoring considerations could begin. Depending on the enterprise, most of these oversights would naturally be industry-specific. Some may be slightly different from one company to another, and in so far it is the Japanese company as the one looking to create the joint venture, it would not be surprising if their precedent eclipsed that of his Swedish counterpart.
There is much to consider along the lines of Nippon-Swede negotiations. Indeed, this could easily become a separate white paper. For our purposes, we assume that nothing significant would bubble up, necessitating a formal confrontation.
Our overarching vision is to put ourselves in the shoes of our Japanese friend, and consider as a synopsis all that may go into the underlying logistics of such a joint venture.
There is so much more that could, would, and even should be considered if this was to become a fresh reality. In closing, the reader is reminded that this reality already occurred with Sony Ericsson. It would be most interesting to have this white paper reviewed by someone who was there (just as it would have been most useful to have had their inside information, as a resource).
References
CIA - World Factbook. (updated bi-weekly [retrieved Oct. 21, 2010]). Japan, Sweden [respectively]. Retrieved 10.21.10, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
Dun and Bradstreet. (n.d.). Key Business Ratios. Retrieved 10.21.10, from http://kbr.dnb.com/login/KBRHome.asp
EconomyWatch.com. n.d.). http://www.economywatch.com/; http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/japan/; http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/sweden/export-import.html
Executive Planet. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
Hofstede, G. (2009). Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions. Retrieved from http://www.geert-hofstede.com/
Kwintessential Ltd. (2010). Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette - Japan - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette - Sweden. Retrieved September 25, 2010, from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/
Nation Master. (2010). Lifestyle Statistics > Happiness net (most recent) by country [bar graph]. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/lif_hap_net-lifestyle-happiness-net: .
RMA (The Risk Management Association). (2010). Annual Statement Studies. Retrieved 10.21.10, from http://www.rmahq.org/RMA/CreditRisk/DataDecisionSupportCenter/StatementStudies/
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB.. (2010). Sony Ericsson corporate website. Retrieved 10.21.10, from http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/cws/home?cc=us&lc=en
The Encyclopedia of Associations. (2010). The Encyclopedia of Associations. Lexus Nexus. .
US Census on allcountries.org. (2000). Industrial Outlook. Retrieved 10.21.10, from http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/industrial_outlook.html
the David M Kennedy Center for International Studies. (1997). Japan, Sweden. In G. P. Skabelund (Ed.), Culturegrams, vol. 2; Africa, Asia, Oceania. Brigham Young University: Brigham Young University.
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