Evaluating Cultural and HRM Issues: UK Call Centre Location in Japan

This report provides a critical evaluation of the cultural and HRM issues that a UK business needs to consider when locating a call center operation in Japan. It emphasizes the importance of understanding Japanese culture, including language, customs, and business norms, and utilizes Hofstede's Cultu...Read More

International HRM
Critical evaluation of cultural and HRM
issues for a UK Business locating a call
centre in Japan

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Critical evaluation of cultural issues UK Companies need to take into consideration when
locating a call centre operation in Japan..........................................................................................3
Critical Evaluation of HRM issues UK Companies need to take into consideration when locating
a call centre operation in Japan........................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
International human resource management generally means managing human resources
activities at international level. It is a term which shows the understanding of management of HR
activities at global basis. Call Centre is a place where calls are receive and transmitted in order to
solve the customer’s problem. It works as a communication channel which is used by customers
to place their complaints and request related to any products or services. In Call Centre employee
work as a role of customer support and service representative, they only answer the phone calls
and address the issue of people (Boselie and Brewster, 2015). Globalisation is a medium through
which different regions of World are interconnected to each other which results to cultural
exchange and increase in number of trade. Through globalisation there is a massive increase in
the production of goods and services. Internationalisation of business gives various benefits to
companies such as access to new market and new customers through which firm can increase
their growth and profitability. The project highlights the critical evaluation of cultural and HRM
issues for UK business locating a call centre in Japan.
Critical evaluation of cultural issues UK Companies need to take into
consideration when locating a call centre operation in Japan
Culture plays an important role in influencing the International Market, it is necessary for
the UK Company to understand the local culture of Japan before establishing Call centre
business as there are various marketing activities which is performed by UK Company in order
to communicate and run the business in Japan. To communicate effectively, it is essential to send
the message according to customer’s culture, learning process and customs. The UK organisation
has to face many problems while establishing Call Centre business in Japan. Culture means the
influences of religious, educational, social system and family on people, their choices and way of
living also define the culture (Enderwick and Buckley, 2015). Culture is a complex as it impacts
the significant efforts, expertise and time. The Factors of culture which must be considered by
UK Company in order to locate the call centre operation in Japan.
Language issue is one of the cultural elements which must be addressed by UK Company
while ruining call centre operation in Japan. The language plays a vital role which cannot be
overemphasized, each country have different languages so it is necessary to address the language
of the Country in which the business is going to operate their operational activities. The

differences in language can impact the IMC campaigns, tag lines, functioning of business and so
on. For example, Ventrica wants to operate their call centre business in Japan; they must identify
the language which is spoken by Japan people then only company can run their business
effectively and efficiently.
Customs and Taboo is another cultural issue which is face by UK Organisation while
operating business in Japan. The different cultures have their unique seta so taboos and customs.
So for operating business in Japan, it is important to understand the customs and taboos of Japan
and find what is acceptable and unacceptable in Country. For example, In Japan, it is the taboo
that number four is unlucky for the people even the consumers avoid packaging of four items.
The UK Company must take guidance from any experts who are familiar with local customers
and culture (Thite, 2020). The Organisation can also conduct marketing research in order to
collect the information related to these complex issues. For example, Ventrica must understand
the taboo and customs of Japan as it can affect the performance and growth of business in Japan.
Business norm is also a cultural problem which might affect the performance and growth of
Call Centre business in Japan. It is necessary for the UK Company to identify the business norms
of the Country in which they want to operate their business activities. For Example, in Japan if
any business meeting is held the senior person of the Organisation will lead the discussion and
junior level colleagues may not indulge in meetings. The UK organisation must understand the
greetings style and other norms of business before operating functional activities in Japan. There
is a respectful bow traditional businesses greeting in Japan which must be follow by UK Firm.
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension Theory
Hofstede’s Cultural dimension theory was developed by Geert Hofstede, it is a model which
helps in understanding the differences of culture across the countries and also assesses the ways
which businesses must do in order to understand the different cultures. The main aim of model is
to determine the dimensions in which culture varies. According to Hofstede there are six
categories which define the culture they are as follows:
Power Distance Index
The power distance index includes the inequality and power which is being tolerated. It
provides facts of the society that all individuals are not treated equally in Japan as due to attitude
of culture (McLaughlin, 2018). The Japanese people are more concern about their hierarchical

position in Society and they act accordingly. The Country has low power index which means the
power structure is flatter, decisions are democratic and wealth is distributed.
Collectivism and Individualism
The Dimension reflects the degree of interdependence which Country maintains among
its people. Individualism means the individual look after themselves and their family members
whereas collectivism means when an individual belong to group and take care of all the people in
group in exchange for loyalty. Japan has both the characteristic of individualism and
collectivism. The characteristic of collectivism society is putting harmony of group where as in
Asian Neighbours they don’t adopt collectivism dimension.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index
Japan is one of the most uncertainty avoidance countries as they are constantly threatened
by natural disasters from tsunamis, volcano, and earthquakes to typhoons. Through these
uncertainty people have prepared themselves to face the uncertain situation (Vekeman and et. al.,
2018). The UK Company must assess and put their efforts into feasibility study and collect
information about the risk factors before running the operation activities of Call centre in Japan.
Feminity vs Masculinity
The High Masculinity means that the country will be driven by achievements,
competition and success. The Low Feminity dimensions means that the dominant values in Japan
is caring for other and quality of life. Japan is a masculinity society as there is severe
competitions between the companies even employees are compete with competitors with high
motivation in order to gain success.
Short term vs Long term Orientation
The dimension depicts that the society has to maintain some connection with its own past
in order to face the challenges of present and future. Japan is known for the long term orientation
as people see their life as a very short moment in history of mankind (Khan and et. al., 2020).
The Companies in Japan not only focus on increasing the profitability but also contribute to
stakeholders and society at large.
Restraint vs Indulgence
Through this dimension Hofstede defines the extent to which people control their impulses
and desires. The weak control is known as Indulgence whereas Strong control is known as

Restraint. In Japan there is a culture of Restraint as people don’t put more emphasis on control of
gratification of their desires and leisure time.
So, According to this model UK Company can identify the culture of Japan and make their
decision of operating its Call Centre business in Country. From the above dimension it is being
cleared that Japan has many culture which is different from other countries. The UK Company
collects information from Hofstede’s Cultural dimension model as they get to know about power
distance index of Japan and also the other dimension of Culture (Farndale and et. al., 2021).
Through this model, UK Company can evaluate the cultural issues which they can face while
operating business in Japan.
Advantages of Hofstede’s Cultural dimension model
The benefit of Hofstede’s Cultural dimension is that the company can collects the
information of the Country’s Culture in which they are going to operate business and even if
there is low score dimension it represents the importance of tradition to culture and value
stability. The Dimension allows the companies to compare and contrast different cultures.
Disadvantages of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension Model
The model has also faced criticism from many scholars and practitioners as it is based on too
narrow situation, too simplistic, too deterministic and unable to account properly. Another
weakness of this model is that it is based on inconclusive research which makes it low accuracy
and validity level of research on identifying the culture of countries.
Critical Evaluation of HRM issues UK Companies need to take into
consideration when locating a call centre operation in Japan
Human resource management is one of function of Organisation which focuses on managing
the employees work life cycle from starting to end. The human resource management plays an
important role in Companies as they recruit, select, provide training and development, develop
policies, balance the local and home issues, retain top talents and perform various other activities
in order to make the business run smoothly and effectively. There are various issues which UK
Company may face related to Human resource management in Japan while operating its call
centre business (Sims, 2019). These HRM issues create a huge impact on the performance and
operation of business activities which must be address before running operating activities in
Japan.

Compliance with labor laws is one of the problems which UK Company must need to
consider while operating its call centre business in Japan. The Organisation may face difficulty
in working with regulation, laws and rules of Japan. It is necessary for the UK organisation to
understand the laws and legislation of the Country in which they are going to operate business
and also take the help of good advisors to comply and unravel with different policies and rules.
The Company must also collect the information of the labour laws of Japan so that they may not
face problem while operating its Call Centre business in Japan.
Talent Acquisition is another challenge which must be consider by UK Company while
running the business in Japan. It is not an easy task to acquire the right talent at right time that
can contribute their best efforts in running the business effectively and efficiently in Japan. The
Organisation requires a lot of investment and time to hire the right candidate that can contribute
their bets in Call Centre business (Avetisyan and et. al., 2020). For Example, if Ventrica is going
to expand its business activities in Japan they require highly skilled employees that can
contribute their expertise knowledge and skills to perform the activities in Call Centre
Organisation.
Retaining Critical Talent is also issues which must be consider when Organisation is going
to operate its business activities in another country. The UK Company must know how to attract
and retain the top talents of firm due to which they can earn high profit and increase in growth
rate. The Critical talent is unique and different from other employees due to which they are on
demand and have a good recognition in Organisation. So, retaining a critical employee is
difficult as company has to offer attractive compensation and other benefits which make them
stay in the firm.
Language barrier is a challenge which can be faced by the UK Company if they run their
business in Japan. The human resource management has to dwal with language barrier as people
speak different languages due to which the barrier creates among employees, employer and
management (Anlesinya and Susomrith, 2020). The UK Organisation has to hire the Staff that
speak the local language of Japan so that customers can understand the local language and also
clarify their issues and problems which they face.
The model which must be used by UK Company in order to run the business effectively and
efficiently in Japan is Talent Management Model.
Talent Management Model

Talent management is an art of attracting and retaining the employees by influencing them
to stay in the company for a long period of time. The talent management helps in improving the
skills, knowledge, core competencies and abilities of employees due to which they can able to
perform well and give productive outcomes (Hooi, 2019). The main purpose of talent
management model is to motivate workforce so that they can stay in the company for long run.
The talent management model consist five elements which includes planning, attracting,
developing, retaining and transitioning.
(Figure 1: Talent Management Model, 2020)
Planning is the first stage of talent management model in which company has to plan the
ways through which they can hire the talented employees in Japan who can contribute their
productive efforts in accomplishing the target and solving the queries of customers patiently and
politely. The manager must set the expectation and search for the candidate according to the
expectation and also assess the skills and experience of employees.
Attracting is another stage of talent management middle in which UK Company has to
develop the right strategy that helps in attracting the employees with offering right job position.
The Organisation must give assurance to candidate that they will create positive experience and
also improve the professional growth of Individual by providing training and development
opportunity.
Developing is the third stage of talent management model in which UK organisation has to
provide the training and development opportunity to Japan employees so that they can learn and
perform their role in efficient and effective manner. The Organisation must identify the roles of
the employees which makes them move in future with improved skills and knowledge.
Retaining is also a stage which helps in keeping the people at company for longer period of
time. The UK Organisation must ensure that their employees must feel enjoyable and happy

while working in Call Centre Company. They must also focus on creating the career of
employees so that they feel valuable in Organisation and don’t decide to leave the firm.
Transitioning is another stage which UK firm must need to assess after hiring and
developing the skills of an employee. The Organisation must also focus on promoting their
employees in other department or role.
Through this model UK Company can overcome the HRM issues which they face while running
the business in Japan.
Advantages of Talent Management Model
The benefits which can be gained through talent management model are that it helps in
attracting and retaining the top talent which saves the time and money of Organisation (Alvarez,
2015).
Disadvantages of Talent Management Model
The disadvantage of the model is that it is a expensive strategy which requires a lot of
investment to hire the right talent and providing training benefits to them.
CONCLUSION
From the above information it is being concluded that while running the business in another
country it is important to identify the cultural factors and human resource issues which can affect
the performance and productivity of business. There are five functional areas of International
Human resource management they are recruitment and selection, performance evaluation,
development and training, labor relations and remuneration. While running business at global
level, Organisation face various problems associated with HRM at different stages of
Internationalisation process. So, it is necessary to understand the issues and challenges which
may be faced by Organisation while running business Internationally.

REFERENCES
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high‐tech firms. Human Resource Management. 60(2). pp.259-272.
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