BUS709 Communication in Business: Japanese Business Culture Analysis

This essay examines Japanese business culture, focusing on etiquette, communication, and potential cross-cultural misunderstandings. The assignment begins with a case study involving "The Aroma Shop," a business seeking to expand into the Japanese market. It then explores Japanese business etiquette, including dress code, greetings, and business mentality, emphasizing the importance of formality and respect. The essay further analyzes areas of potential miscommunication using Hofstede's cultural dimensions, such as power distance and individualism. It provides practical suggestions for Mary, the business owner, to make a favorable first impression and increase her chances of success in her meeting with Mr. Moro, including bowing, using business cards correctly, and avoiding direct eye contact. The paper concludes by highlighting the complexity of Japanese culture and offering recommendations for navigating business interactions effectively, emphasizing the importance of understanding and adapting to local customs.

Running head: BUSINESS CULTURE
Business Culture
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Culture is an integral component in every businesses and it has a significant impact on
the strategic direction taken by the businesses. It is very important for the international
business people and managers who do business in foreign countries or plan to do so to
consider having some knowledge regarding the behaviours, rules and etiquettes acceptable in
the professional and social relationship in the host country (Grant 2016). This essay is going
to elaborate on the topic- business culture. It shall highlight the Japanese business etiquette
and shall include the steps that Mary in the given case study can take for making a favourable
first impression when she visits Japan and meets Mr Moro. Furthermore, the different areas
of potential cross cultural miscommunication shall also be assessed by using the Hofstede
models of culture. Lastly, the paper shall provide suitable suggestions for Mary that will help
her in increasing the success at her meeting with Mr Moro and in her future business
arrangements.
Case- Mary is from Dubbo and started a small business of her own known as “The
Aroma Shop”, where she manufactures a good range of condiments including jams, chilli
sauces, chutneys etc. However, she wish to expand her business in international market and
chose to do that in Japan. She is sure that her products will bring in good sale in the Japanese
market. She therefore plan to meet Mr Moro, a 55 year old business man, living in Tokyo,
Japan. However, she is not aware of the business etiquettes acceptable in Japan and wants to
know about their culture in order to ensure that they will be succeeding in the business
meeting with Mr Moro. She wants to make a favourable first impression.
Japanese business etiquette- Japanese business etiquette is one of the most
misunderstood aspects of doing business in Japan. It is no way different from good business
etiquette in other parts of the world. However, the significant difference with their etiquette is
that businesses in Japan are conducted in very formal manner and therefore, they are more
obvious, particularly in the very first meeting where the hierarchical exchange of the business

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cards is ritualistic (Dunn 2018). Furthermore, regarding the dress code of women, it must be
noted that the Mary should wear shorter hair, trouser suits or longer skirt suits with some
seasonal colours (Islam 2017). For example, in the period in between October to April, they
prefer wearing dark coloured suits with white shirt and subdued tie. On the other hand, in the
months between May to September they wear grey colour suits.
In regard to greetings in Japan, it is to note that a bow could be a way of greeting that
Mary can use. It is a simple gesture and can do a lot in helping her establishing rapport with
Mr Moro. However, the depth of her bow depends on the status of the counterpart (Rothlin
and McCann 2016). Furthermore, Mary should also note that in her meeting with Mr. Moro
she should not address him by his first name until and unless she is invited to do so. She may
use titles like “Mr” or may even add “San”. For example, to Mr Moro, she can address as
calling “Moro San”. Moreover, the last and the most vital part for Mary in regard to Japanese
business etiquette is that of the business mentality of Japanese. It is to note that the business
people in Japan often wants to learn as much as possible regarding the professional
background and the qualifications of their client or the ones with whom they are going to
conduct business (Teramoto et al. 2017). With the same, in order to ensure success, in the
business meeting, she must describe how her products could enhance the reputation and
prosperity of Mr Moro in Japan. Also, it is to mention that the Japanese generally prefer
verbal agreements instead of written ones and therefore, Mary should not pressurise Mr Moro
in signing any document initially and must remain co-operative.
After being well-aware of the Japanese business etiquette, Mary can take certain steps
for making a favourable first impression in her meeting. However, it should be noted that in
Japan, it is less about language and more about manners. While meeting with Mr Moro for
the first time, she should bow, representing her respect for Mr Moro. Furthermore, the
contents in her business card should be written in both English and Japanese language. She

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must present the business card with the Japanese side facing upwards and that too, using both
the hands. Furthermore, as per Dunn (2018), offering gifts is one of the most important part
of the business protocol in Japan. However, Mary must note that the focus in on the ritual
itself instead of on the content of the given gifts. Lastly, she should make it certain that she
do not make direct eye contact with Mr Moro. Japanese do not feel comfortable making eye
contact (Fu 2019). According to them, looking at the eyes of someone is not that important
and there are some who can even think it to be offensive. Hence, it is better to avoid making
eye contact.
Areas of potential cross cultural miscommunication- The Hofstede model of culture
was introduced by Greet Hofstede and it describes about the impact of the culture of a society
on the values of its members and how they related to their behaviour (Beugelsdijk, Kostova
and Roth 2017). It has a total of 6 models namely- the power distance, individualism and
collectivism, masculinity and femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long term orientation.
Power distance refers to the notion that every individual is equal in a society. As mentioned
above, Japan is a hierarchical society. All the decisions need to be confirmed by every
hierarchical layer and lastly by the top management in Tokyo. They follow the notion of
equality and claims that everybody is born equal and each and every one can get ahead.
Individuals refers to the level of interdependence that a society maintains among its members.
It is to note that Japan score 46 on this dimension as it show several traits of being a
collectivistic society (Minkov 2018). They put harmony of group over the expression of the
personal opinions and at the same time, people in Japan have a very strong sense of shame for
losing face. Thirdly, masculinity refers to the idea where males are given more priority than
females. Japan is one of the most masculine societies. There are several competition among
the groups. It is very hard for women to climb up the corporate ladders in Japan. Moreover,
uncertainty avoidance is the way society deals with the fact that the future can never be

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known. At 92 Japan is one of the most uncertainty avoiding countries on earth (Minkov
2018). This is often attributed to the fact that Japan is constantly threatened by natural
disasters from earthquakes, tsunamis (this is a Japanese word used internationally), typhoons
to volcano eruptions. Under these circumstances Japanese learned to prepare themselves for
any uncertain situation.
Hence, it is suggested that Mary should show respect appropriately. It is the age that
brings dignity and it should be respected. She should be diplomatic and polite at all the times
while interacting with Mr Moro and must avoid showing anger and irritation or impatience.
These are all negative emotions and could put strain on the development of relationship.
Furthermore, she should make oral agreements as Japanese prefer verbal agreements over the
written ones. It is the quality of the relationship in between Mary and Mr Moro that will
determine the events instead of the legal niceties. Furthermore, she should avoid making
strong eye contact as it could be threatening and Mr Moro could take it as a hostile behaviour.
Lastly, it is suggested not to use humour in the serious business meetings, particularly in the
first meeting where it might be viewed as out of the context or out of the place. This is likely
to be comprehensible in Japanese business meetings.
Japan is a home to some rich and vibrant culture. It offers a lot for investment and
innovation for the businesses. From the above analysis it can be concluded that the Japanese
are a quite complex society and it can be claimed from their way of communicating and
customers. It would be quite difficult for the Western culture to get accustomed with the
Japanese business culture. However, it is not impossible to do so. Mary can be successful in
her meeting with Mr Moro and expanding her business Japan if she becomes aware of the
business etiquette followed in Japan. There are certain suggestion for Mary that she should
consider to ensure her success. It must be noted that first impression is always the last
impression and she should make it a point to make remarkable first impression.

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References:
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