(Page A1 beginning “Japan’s”) discussing both Japanese culture and its ethical lapses. (Note the picture of Nissan executives bowing while apologizing) In your opinion what is the correlation between cultural traits (consensus, kaizen, lifetime employment, delegation of responsibility to factory staff) and its ethical challenges?
Solution
Japanese society is structured and traditional. Another feature, of this society, is that it emphasizes on traditions to produce results. Post-World-War II, the Japanese state emphasized on expanding its industrial base, and it used the capitalist system as an instrument to meet economy related objectives, which included devising of a robust and highly productive corporate/industrial system. When the western capitalist ideas were amalgamated with Japanese traditions, about work and employment, it produced not only incredible results in the form of higher output, optimal use of resources and higher efficiency, but it also developed a model (manufacturing, which was admired and copied all around the world. However, the model, as per some studies, has started to crack, which has compelled corporate experts and academics reevaluate and restudy the Japanese model of manufacturing (Gale and McLain).
There are some factors, which explain the cracking of the model. We already know that emphasis, of Japanese corporate/Industrial/Manufacturing model, is on traditions to produce results. In the short run, some of the traditions, such as longer-employments, consensus, and Kaizen, has great dividends. For instance, when an employee works for a firm or company for the longer period, he/she acquires proficiency (specialization), which allows him/her to be more efficient. However, when these employees work only for a single company for the rest of their corporate lives, it stuns the growth of an industry, as specialized and skilled employees are not available to work for a new firm, which keeps the evolution path very steep (Gale and McLain).
Similarly, Kaizen, which means change for betterment, is essential at certain junctures of growth. Sometimes, stability is required, and when a change(s) is enforced during that period, it advert affects a firm or an industry. These cultural traits cause ethical challenges, which is adversely impacting overall Japanese corporate model and increasing negative work deviance (Gale and McLain).
Work Cited
Gale, Alastair and Sean McLain. “Companies Everywhere Copied Japanese Manufacturing. Now the Model Is Cracking.” The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal, 4 February 2018. Web. 7 February 2018. https://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-everywhere-copied-japanese-manufacturing-now-the-model-is-cracking-1517771142?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2.
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