GUNG HO! CULTURAL ANALYSIS
Michael Hamilton
MKTG 3852 – Second Summer 2012
7/22/12
GUNG HO- CULTURAL ANALYSIS
Cultural differences influence how business is conducted in today’s rapidly expanding global market. These cultural barriers affect human interactions through our perspective of one another, credibility, time frames, as well as through communication. The success of international business depends upon the ability to set aside our differences, unite and strengthen one another. Many of these challenges can be seen throughout the movie Gung Ho. The movie portrays the relationship between the Japanese and Americans in a lightly comically point of view through an auto factory. However, when comparing and contrasting the interactions of these two cultures, both in and out of the film, they’re dynamics of become more apparent. The connections and exchanges between the Japanese management team and the American workers throughout the film present examples for each of the five dimensions in Geert Hofstede’s cultural dynamics analysis: Individualism/Collectivism, Uncertainty Avoidance, Power Distance, Masculinity/Femininity, and the later added Long-term Orientation.
I. Hofstede’s Cultural Dynamics
The results from Hofstede’s analysis for the United States and Japan are in the following table. When comparing the two we see that the Americans have a highly individualistic, male reinforced, ambiguous, society with a slight hierarchy with a weak connection to tradition. Japan is highly male reinforced, high structure, hierarchy with a strong connection to tradition. The two are on opposite ends of the scale in each category, except for the Power Distance where they differ slightly.
Hofstede’s Cultural Dynamics Scores U.S & Japan [1]Category / IDV / UAI / PDI / MAS / LTO
United States / 91 / 46 / 40 / 62 / 29
Japan / 46 / 92 / 54 / 95 / 80
While utilizing Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, it is apparent that there is a correlation among many of these aspects and Edward Hall’s analysis of cultures. (Below in figure 3)[2] This scale helps by visually displaying Japanese in a High context culture and North Americans in a Low context culture. The brief descriptions of what each value closely relates to the actions taken by both the Japanese and Americans in the movie. These cultures positions are also reflected among the dimensions of Hofstede’s analysis.
a) Individualism/Collectivism
The individualism/collectivism dimension essentially determines where a culture balances they’re relationship of personal life and work or similarly the balance of the group opposed to an individual. By examining this aspect it’s quite clear that the two cultures couldn’t be more opposite.
The United States is one of only seven countries that Hofstede classifies having individualism as the highest dimension. [3] Americans emphasize a home life, capitalizing on the individual and what makes them special. The American Individualistic perspective can be seen throughout the film. This is pointed out as the workers want to be treated special, and differently. Workers are frustrated with the Japanese when they are not allowed to leave for children’s surgery, or to help an injured co-worker. In the case of the injury a Japanese manager is shouting for people to get back to work. The factory and work come second to the Americans, behind their family lives and individual agendas.
The Japanese are more collectivist with individualism ranking lowest among their dimensions.[4] They put the company above all and focus on the wellbeing of the group and its performance. The film portrays the Japanese collectivist mentality several times. A few clear examples where collectivism is taking place are during management boot camp, Oishi’s family interactions, and again at the end when Mr.Sakamoto inspects the fifteen thousand cars and comes to a decision for the future of the factory.
When the movie begins it shows Japanese being treated unjustly by being beaten, screaming and forced to participate in the management boot camp. The management members who had previously failed were inducted into this program. They were forced to wear ribbons of shame and were humiliated because they had let down the other members of management, workers underneath them, but more importantly the company. By doing this they emphasize their value to the group. They disregard individuality and refuse to meet special needs for workers, such as the worker leaving for his child’s tonsil surgery, or the Japanese management member’s wife in labor. The Japanese will work without pay to catch up or get ahead, they take great pride in the team. Throughout the film Oishi and the other Japanese members insist that work be done for the company. Another instance that shows the Japanese dedication is when Oishi is at the dinner table working and his wife asks him to put together the bicycle for their son. He refuses to put together the bicycle and insists on working. Once more near the end of the movie when Mr. Sakamoto inspects the completed cars he shows signs of their collectivism by placing emphasis on the production and the quality of the work. He also displays a feature of the high context society by honoring of the verbal agreement and returning the workers to their original hours and salaries.
b) Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty Avoidance is a measure for a culture’s ability to function in an unclear situation. It is the comfort level in a “free” situation where there are no guidelines or agenda. On Hofstede’s scale the United States scores a 46, relatively low, where Japan scores a 92 which is high. [5]In the film it I feel that the American “just go with it” feel is more prominent; however, the Japanese need for structure is also present. In the movie we see the rigorous structure of the Japanese management team. We also see Mr. Stevenson’s comfort in unfamiliar surroundings and unknown situations. He is scurrying along trying to find his way to the meeting, once he is there it appears as though his presentation lacked preparation, and then he abandons it and just goes from the cusp. Which again points back to Edward Halls diagram (above table 3) and exemplifies that our culture gets down to the point. He does not spend a lot of time getting to know the Japanese he presents to he just goes right to business. Throughout the film every time he gets up to speak in the film, he just wings it. Throughout the film Mr. Stevenson is successful with this style of speaking and persuasion which exemplifies that the American culture is less structured and more likely to act on a whim.
c) Power Distance
The dynamic of Power Distance determines the importance of ranking in a society, typically established in terms of wealth or power. It is defined by Hofstede as “the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.”[6] This dynamic has the closest scores between the United States and Japan, a 40 and 54 respectively. In the movie you can see how the Japanese place a higher value on position. Their management boot camp and strictness are examples of how they are required to be successful and failure is not an option. Also the way the Japanese managers acted around Mr. Sakamoto displayed they’re fear of the boss. The one Japanese worker skipped his child’s birth to stay and work because he was afraid of how it would be viewed.
d) Masculinity/Femininity
The general attitude towards gender roles differs between individuals as it does between cultures. Japan strongly upholds the traditional male role model, in terms of achievement, power, and control. The United States also upholds the traditional male role model but to a lesser degree which can be seen in the two scores of Hofstede’s study, Japan 95, America 62. Both have a distinct separation of gender roles, although, the United States distinction has become a bit more unclear as the work place has become more integrated. In Gung Ho there is really only one scene where the masculinity is undoubtedly displayed, the scene where Mr. Stevenson and Audrey go and eat dinner with the Japanese managers at Oishi’s house. When they finish eating dinner and the Japanese state that they want to talk business, all of the women except for Audrey get up and leave the table. In Japan this is common practice. “I don’t interfere with my husband’s business, not with my mouth, hands or legs.” the former Japanese Prime Minister’s wife, Kumiko Hashimoto, said. [7] Audrey did not leave the table due to the acceptance of her presence in such situations by her culture. She even asked if it was alright if she stayed which left a confused look on the Japanese business men’s faces. In the United States it would not be uncommon for her to participate in such a discussion; however the Japanese culture excludes her.
e) Long-Term Orientation
The fifth dimension which was later added to Hofstede’s analysis, Long-Term Orientation, aims to interpret how societies value traditions and their ability to make adaptations. According to the scores, America is adaptive and holds loose connections with tradition, where Japan follows traditions and has a more difficult time changing. This was apparent in the movie with how the American workers were willing, and easily convinced, to go along with the changes of the Japanese take over. The Japanese display their cultural trait by refusing to operate differently and insisting on doing things their way. They focused closely on the way production was done and on efficiency.
II. Cultural Differences Impact on Managers
Often times business objectives can be similar, however, the barriers created by cultural differences can cloud the decision making process as well as the complicate the actions that need to be taken to achieve success. “Culture consists of the values, attitudes, and behavior in a given group of most of the people most of the time.”[8] It is essential for members of management to be able to understand this and then position they’re objectives without disrespecting or disregarding cultural differences or values. Culture can be compared to an iceberg, where the danger is not in what we understand and see, but the unknown.[9] Some of the main obstacles management faces when dealing cross culturally can develop from differences in communication practices, time schedule/lifestyle, and perceptions of one another. These challenges can arise when dealing among any culture but these particularly take place between the Japanese and the Americans in the film Gung Ho.
a) Communication Practices
With today’s rapid expansion towards a globalized market it is critical for managers to be able to successfully communicate with their own team members as well as those of other cultures. Some important aspects of communication that can be misinterpreted are language, non-verbal signs and gestures, and intention.
Language is a bit of an obvious barrier; we see this in the beginning of the movie when Mr. Stevenson is asking for directions to his meeting and he ends up in a rice field. Language and culture can be considered mutually dependent upon one another. Japanese language is reflective of their culture, which can contribute to the barrier for Americans.[10] Language consists of more than just words. Some words have multiple meanings, it is important to consider context along with the tense of the word(s). Depending upon the language, there are some words that cannot be directly translated.
Along with the complications of the spoken words are the challenges presented by non-verbal communication. There are cultural differences in facial expressions, body language, gestures, and use of space which can be open to misinterpretation if presented improperly. A study completed at UCLA found that up to about 93% of communication is determined by non-verbal cues. [11] An example of non-verbal communication used by the Japanese culture which can be seen in the film would be the bow when greeting. This is a common practice in Japan, but uncommon for the Americans. When you are greeted with a bow the proper procedure would be to return a bow keeping your eyes low and your palms flat next to your thighs bowing only as low as the one you received, the duration of the bow displays the status of the relationship.[12] Confusion during what appears to be a simple ritual could result in offending your Japanese business partners. It is important for managers to have knowledge of proper procedure for gestures as well as what not to do since not all things are interpreted the same way by different cultures.
Intent is another important aspect of communicating. It is important that you say what you mean and that it is interpreted in that same way. Differences in language, gestures, as well as phrasing and positioning of comments can change or leave purpose out of a statement. A friend of mine was recently dealing with come clients from China, and he was telling me how they did not pick up on sarcasm essentially at all. This relates directly to the movie where the Japanese take Mr. Stevenson’s sarcastic comment, “is a frog’s ass water tight?” literally and consider its meaning, when it was a crude way of saying, yes you can rely on me. The way we interpret things can differ which will leave opportunity for a misunderstanding. “We need to remember that other cultures do not necessarily share our behaviors-verbal or non-verbal.”[13]