Effective Cross-Cultural Management Training: India and Japan Analysis

This report examines the critical need for cross-cultural management training in the context of expanding businesses across borders, using India and Japan as a case study. It highlights the challenges employees face when transitioning between cultures, and proposes solutions based on the Mendenhall and Oddou's four dimensions (self-orientation, others orientation, perceptual ability, cultural toughness) and the KTA (Know, Think, Adapt) model to enhance cultural competencies. The report emphasizes the importance of addressing communication, etiquette, and conflict resolution issues, particularly considering the high-context culture of Japan. It suggests practical training approaches, including real-world scenarios, and methods for measuring training program effectiveness. The report concludes with recommendations for creating impactful cross-cultural training programs, moving beyond theoretical approaches to focus on practical implications to ensure successful international business ventures.

Running Head: CROSS CULTURE MANAGEMENT 1
Cross Culture Management
Between India and Japan
(Students Details)

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Executive Summary
The report discusses about the importance of cross cultural management programs.
Globalization is increasing day-by-day hence businesses have to expand their business cross
borders hence cross-cultural training requirements is increasing. There are different rationales for
such training programs. This report suggests the rationales to be communication, etiquettes and
conflict resolution. Here the home country that is selected is India and the host country is Japan.
Cross culture training programs do not completely remove the cross cultural barriers but helps to
deal with such issues. To enhance overall cultural competencies, this report suggests the KTA
(know, think and adapt) Model and the four dimensions of Mendenhall and Oddou can be
applied. The KTA Model is suitable for training programs because it’s know, think and adapt
element allows the employee to go through the training process with ease and smoothness.
Initially all the important factors are introduced to the employee; the employee apply thought
process and figure out its application in cross border countries (Cohen, 2019). From this report it
can be recommended that cross culture training program should be initiated by showing their
practical implication rather than just focusing on do’s and dont’s of cross cultural issues. The
following report highlights ways to make cross culture training problem effective and how to
measure the same.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Training program.............................................................................................................................4
Problems in adopting new culture................................................................................................4
The rationales or the issues..........................................................................................................4
Communication........................................................................................................................5
Conflict Resolution...................................................................................................................5
Etiquettes..................................................................................................................................5
Theories........................................................................................................................................5
Impact of High context culture.................................................................................................5
Impact of Monochronic or Polychronic...................................................................................7
Application...................................................................................................................................8
The way in which training will be conducted............................................................................10
Challenges..................................................................................................................................11
Measuring the training program.................................................................................................11
Conclusion & Recommendation....................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Cross Cultural Management and training is essential while expanding its business to
another country or sending its employee to another country for work. In this report the home
country is India and the host country is Japan. Employees moving from their home country to a
host country face various cross cultural challenges. Employer should develop cross cultural
training programs to resolve cultural issues (Rau, 2013). Generally the cross-cultural training
program that is developed by any company is not of practical use as there is more theoretical
approach to it which does not allows employees to understand the complexities that arise due to
the difference in cultures. Mendenhall and Oddou determined four dimensions that help in
predicting the success of foreign posting. The dimensions are: self-orientation, others orientation,
perceptual ability, cultural toughness (Shenkar, 2008). In this report the rationale for developing
cross-cultural training is discussed. It also illustrates the initiatives that will be taken make sure
that this cross cultural training is not just another program. It also illustrates the challenges that
occur in such cross cultural programs and describes the ways in which outcomes can be
measured.
Training program
Problems in adopting new culture
In order to develop cultural training program, it is critical to understand the things that
hampers people from moving to another culture from one culture. The first thing that will
hamper the communicational difference as it takes time for any individual to start understanding
any language (Carruthers, 2019). Other is the way they behave which again is different from
culture to culture. Doing negotiation is again a barrier that prevents people to move from one
culture to another. The barrier is also in the form of etiquettes that two different culture people
have. The problem is also in terms of conflict as resolving conflicts between two culturally
different people is not easy.
The rationales or the issues
For design of the training program it is critical that there is understanding of the own
culture i.e. India and other culture that is Japan. The reason behind developing cross cultural

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training is not just to add value or to bring something nice, but it is also to get a good return on
investment of cost and time put to do business cross border (Meyer, 2016). In this report, the
three rationales will be discussed clearly:
Communication
Culture has a very important part to play while doing a business. Its implication is critical
when performing business in an international platform. Intercultural communication training is a
key to remove the differences in language while negotiating with the opponent party (Rohn,
2009).
Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is the major area of concern while doing business in the host country
(Hypercore, 2019). Japan being the high-context culture are more collectivistic and are more
sensitive towards others value. They do not aim at being unique by disrespecting others value
and culture. As they are very focused on building relationship, they expect the same from the
opponent party. An Indian employee needs to maintain the value of Japanese people and handle
the critical situations.
Etiquettes
Japanese business etiquette is often misunderstood by Indian delegates. Being polite,
sensitive and good at business is the universal etiquette that is followed. The unique strict code
of conduct that Japanese follow in business is being more formal and obvious in the meetings;
especially when the business details are to be exchanged (Hypercore, 2019). Such formal
meetings will establish a personal relationship between the Indian businessman and the Japanese
person over two or three dinners.
Theories
Impact of High context culture
For communication
In Japan, people follow the non-verbal and implicit communication. They believe in
developing deep personal contexts, relationships and traditions to pass messages. They are
dependent on situational knowledge and contextual cues (Wurtz, 2016). Japan employs an

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indirect and non-confrontational way of communication because it is a high context culture and
deeply relies on non-verbal indications (Toomey, 2012). Communication is done through facial
expressions and tone of voice. Confrontational behavior is avoided by Japanese as it has the
tendency to bring descriptive changes to the group harmony. It is very difficult to understand the
Japanese people, as they say “yes” to mean “I am hearing you” and never use a “no”. Opposite
party usually cannot figure out the rejections made by them.
For conflict resolution
Japan follows the high-context culture, therefore, they believe in valuing tradition,
benevolence and conformity. In order to avoid conflicts, an Indian origin needs to put a balance
between all these values. As collectivists, Japan relies on the ability to construct adjustments in
order to maintain harmony with the business personnel. While dealing with conflicts resolution a
person should consider the fact that not one size fits all, sometimes not all the people are
collectivist, they can be individualist as well. In order to identify the nature behavior of different
people in an organization, the employee should behave according to the needs and values of the
respective person in concern (Shonk, 2019). Thus, there might be a situation where the
employees have to outshine their individualist nature to avoid conflict. The major consideration
to avoid or negotiate conflicts is by contributing to how Japanese people think and act. This can
be further explained by giving an example: It is generally assumed that Japanese tend to speak a
lot, but when he/she is not sharing much thoughts and remains quite; the other person should act
as an individualist. As negotiators, Indians should understand that the Japanese people may be
seeing the same thing in a different way; in such situation, it is advisable to avoid making
negative judgments and focus on progress by negotiating (Deephouse, 2019).
For Etiquettes
Since Japan is high-context culture it believes in value and position. A strict hierarchy
system is followed in the organizations. The workers and lower employee bow to the higher
authorities in the morning. The business culture in Japan is routed in the structure of hierarchy
and has to be respected by other foreigners when they come to Japan for business
(Chandiramani, 2012). High-context culture refers to the system of considering group values, to
respect the elderly people. Japanese do not consider female wearing short skirts at work. Such

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rules are also implemented for the male employees, as they are asked to wear clothes according
to the season. To build relations business cards are exchanged, the quality of such cards should
be extremely high and up to the standard. Meetings are fixed only on the basis of prior
appointments; telephonic calls are appreciated for making an appointment (Chandiramani, 2012).
Impact of Monochronic or Polychronic
For communication
Different countries follow different time systems while doing business. There are two
types of time systems, monochromic and polychromic. High context culture usually follows
polychromic system while making communication. Polychromic time is seen as fluid and not
sequential. In Japan people believe to juggle multiple tasks at a time (Chebium, 2015). They
follow unstructured way of communication in the work environment, and give very little
importance to deadlines. They can handle interruptions in communication and can make changes
in the communication schedules. Japan is considered to be the country with the highest context
cultures in the whole world. They usually choose polychromic time, but in case of handling
technology, appointments and dealing with foreigners they also tend to follow the monochromic
time (Hall & Hall, 2016).
Despite following a polychromic culture, Indian tends to change their priorities in
accordance to the relative importance and punctuality (Tripathi, 2013). This factor may cause an
imbalance in communication between both the countries. There should be an effective
application of 7 C’s while communicating. Unclear and unnecessary words might bring
disinterest in the employees residing in the host country.
For conflicts
Japanese strictly follows the polychromic time in the business conduct. They try to solve
multiple issues at a time by using less of confronting signs. They apply their power by speaking
politely to solve the issue. Japanese negotiators put less emphasis on the literal meanings of the
expressions used and put more emphasis on the past relationships (Deephouse, 2019).
For Etiquetes

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When a country has a high-culture context it can be expected that it will always follow
the polychromic time for business. Japanese are capable of doing multiple tasks at a time
(Interpro. 2019). Indian manager should take this as an advantage and discuss all its major issues
and negotiate the same in a very polite tone.
Application
In this there is a need of use of Mendenhall and Oddou’s determinants. There are four
elements in this. First is the self-oriented dimension. This element includes attributes and
activities that serve to strengthen the people that are moving to new culture in terms of self-
esteem, mental hygiene and self-confidence. This dimension comprises of three sub factors on
the basis of which training needs to be designed. This is reinforcement substitution, stress
reduction and technical competence. Second is the others-oriented dimension. It includes
attributes and activities that enhance the ability of expatriate to interact with host-nationals
effectively. The two factors that need to be considered while designing the training program are
relationship development and willingness to communicate. Third is the perceptual dimension is
the ability to know why foreign behaves the way they do and it is essential for adjusting with
them. The capability of making correct attribution about the causes or reasons of host national’s
behavior permits the host people to estimate the way they will behave in future. This is biggest
problem as most of the people misinterpret about other’s culture due to difference in their
evaluation of social behavior and perception. Forth element is cultural toughness which suggests
that some countries cultures are difficult to adapt when compared to other. It is due to huge
cultural barriers. Based on these four dimension training is as follows:
For communication
The trainees should be trained about increasing their self-orientation practices. When they
meet the delegates in Japan, they should be self-confident about their skills and communication
power (D, J. & Sano, 2008). Indian people should be indulged in activities like watching
Japanese movie or art, listening to Japanese music as these are reinforcement substitution. They
must be given training about how to make others understand through expressions like drawing
something. This will act as stress reducer which often arises in any cross-cultural communication
gap. In case Indian’s are going for any project in Japan then in communication the technical skill
of Indian becomes very much effective.

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The trainee should be very particular with the words he/she uses to explain the consent,
because right words make a right impression; and showcases his mental ability to perform.
Japanese maintain good relationship at work; they believe that personal relationship will help in
constructing a better business between different countries. Therefore, the trainee should be taught
how to maintain good relation and impress the opponent party by considering their viewpoints
and perception (Wurtz, 2016). For instance how to take use of smile and other expressions needs
to be taught. At the same time Indian needs to be taught that they should be willing to
communicate. This training program will help the trainees to develop their perceptual ability.
Trainees should avoid judgmental thought in a meeting or while speaking to a Japanese man.
Unnecessary judgments and thoughts may reduce the potential of employee and leads him away
from the motive. A training of hearing others carefully can help in this regards.
Trainees should know which management principle should be applied in a complicated
situation to remove cultural toughness. For example: an employee should speak about the
reasons and benefits of doing business rather than talking about irrelevant part of business, that
distracts the Japanese and forces him to think about the employees inability to understand their
way of doing work.
For conflict resolution
The training program will highlight ways to resolve the conflict in the best possible
manner without breaking the business deal. Training should teach that even when the conflict
gets bigger don’t lose self-confidence. This can be done through activities such as taking lunch
with Japanese people as reinforcement. Technical skills will help them in regaining trust and the
same time trainings should be given that how stress must be controlled in these situations.
Employee should be trained to understand others perception and fulfill the requirement. In this
way he/she will adapt the dimension of others orientation. But when the employees’ perception
is more logical, he/she should try to negotiate in an appropriate manner with the manager of
other country. An employee should be extra careful and learn perceptual ability to sense things in
advance, once the host party losses interest, the employee should speak on common terms. This
can be done by the employees if they have been taught how to engage others by making them
believe that you are listening to them (Cohen, 2019). Conflicts always bring toughness in
business, and in the training program the trainees will be taught how to negotiate with the host

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party to maintain peace in business. Since, we are doing business in another country; we should
follow their direction to achieve the objective. Application of this model will teach the employee
to value others beliefs and acts.
For Etiquette
A good etiquette will create a good impression in the host country. The training program
will teach all the etiquettes and manners that a manager should adapt when doing business
abroad. Japan has different greeting forms; they bow and greet the higher authorities.. For this
also reinforcements such reading cultural books or watching cultural shows can be effective.
Higher use of technical skills will avoid the misinterpretations. One should be confident while
giving presentation and use of appropriate word is essential, this will fulfill the criteria for self-
orientation (Samovar, 2009). Following the etiquettes of host country will indicate your interest
in doing business with them; this is an example of giving others’ orientation some value and
respect. The dimension of perceptual ability will be taught in training program, the trainees will
know how to understand the behavior of host person without having him to speak. For example,
if the host person is speaking a lot and sharing his personal information, this means he/she is
interested in doing work and is already impressed. Whereas, if the host person is simply nodding
head and not speaking his/her thoughts, this indicates disinterest. Handling cultural toughness
related to etiquettes is not a difficult task. The training program will guide the trainee regarding
universal etiquettes and manners and also about specific host country.
Challenges
1. Even after implementing and conducting the cross cultural management training
program, the integration of Japanese culture can be difficult and it might create the face
of prejudice or generate negative cultural stereotypes (Reynolds, 2017).
2. Professional communication sometimes results into misinterpretation and bring difficulty
in understanding the culture and language of Japanese people.
3. Such training programs covers various parts of business work ethics and etiquettes, this
might leave the employee under a great confusion.
4. These training programs are not enough to make the employee understand everything; a
practical involvement is a must (Reynolds, 2017).

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The way in which training will be conducted
Effective way of conducting training program should consider the following to ensure that
the training program is not a quick and dirty sensitization program.
1. Before designing a cultural difference training program, the manager should thoroughly
identify the workforce and their needs.
2. Teaching the employees how to act in difficult situations, where culture makes them
uncomfortable.
3. Considering the fact that one size does not suits all (Chebium, 2015)
4. Bringing the Japanese work culture in the company of the home country to make the
employee more comfortable with it (Bringing the Japanese culture in-house)
5. Applying the best approach for developing the training program (Chebium, 2015)
6. The selected approach should be flexible and reliable.
Measuring the training program
Cultural differences training programs allows the employees to be more effective while
performing business activities in the host country and with other global partners. The
effectiveness of such program can be measured by evaluating the difference between the actual
cost that was incurred to run the cross cultural training and the benefits of the program. This is
the only way to know the outcome of the program as the training programs are too abstract and
its impact is very difficult to access (Ding, 2018).
Conclusion & Recommendation
This report can be concluded that India and Japan has a very different kind of culture
hence Indian employees will have to be given training related to culture of Japan. The
development of training program for removing the cross cultural differences should focus more
on communication issues, business etiquettes and conflict resolution. Mendenhall and Oddou’s
dimensions can be applied to develop the training program. KTA training program will help in
guiding the direction of this training program. It will create a standard balance between the
knowledge about cross cultural differences and the actual practices to reduce the difference.
The training competence can be enhanced by following the theory of knowing, thinking and
adapting. The very first step in this process involves knowing the facts about cultural differences

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in Japan, second step would be to think whether its applicability is rational or not and then the
last step is to adapt the Japanese. This strategy will resolve cross cultural diversity issues.
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