# Asian business culture

Much of the earliest writing about Asian businesses emphasized and discussed management cultures within Japanese and Korean corporations, since these were the two countries that had the greatest initial success following World War II in entering global markets and challenging the previously assumed dominance of American and European management principles.185

As is the case with companies around the world, the business culture preferred in Japan and Korea has often been indistinguishable from the dominant national cultural values and it is not surprising to see that multinational companies domiciled in these countries have emphasized consensus, seniority, and deference to authority.  Executives and managers within Japanese and Korean corporations have typically been products of the broader class hierarchy within the national culture and drawn from a group of “elites” that have completed their education at leading universities at which they forged the social ties that follow them through the business careers.

It is well-known that, at least until quite recently, a bedrock principle within Japanese multinationals was lifetime employment that created unequivocal corporate loyalty among employees.  Employees expected to spend their entire careers with one company and, as such, were willing to subordinate their personal ambitions and family lives to the needs of the company.  In fact, the social status of managers and employees among their peers was strongly influenced by the company that they worked for and the position that they occupied within the company.

Since Asian multinationals, particularly in Japan, generally did not welcome job candidates who had already spent part of their career at other companies, employees generally had no choice but to accept the decision made by 185 The discussion of Asian business culture in this section is adapted from Humes, Managing the Multinational: Confronting the Global-Local Dilemma (Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd., Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire UK, 1993), 116-118.

The existence of a recognizable Far Eastern business culture has been postulated for a cluster of Asian countries other than Japan (e.g., Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam); however, the dynamic economic renaissance of Japan since the end of World War II has been such that most commentators treat Japanese management principals as an independent phenomenon separate from its geographic neighbors.  See S. Ronen and O. Shenkar, “Clustering Countries on Attitudinal Dimensions: A Review and Synthesis,” Academy of Management Review, 1985).

--亞洲商業文化

大多數關於亞洲企業的最早著作都強調和討論了日本和韓國公司內部的管理文化，因為這兩個國家在第二次世界大戰後在進入全球市場並挑戰以前假設的美國和歐洲管理原則的主導地位方面取得了最大的初步成功。cite185

與世界各地的公司一樣， 日本和韓國偏好的商業文化通常與占主導地位的國家文化價值觀沒有區別，在這些國家註冊的跨國公司強調共識、資歷和尊重權威也就不足為奇了。 日本和韓國企業的高階主管和經理通常是國家文化中更廣泛的階級等級制度的產物，來自一群在一流大學完成學業的「精英」，他們在這些大學建立了社會聯繫，這些聯繫貫穿了他們的商業生涯。

眾所周知，至少直到最近，日本跨國公司的一個基本原則是終身僱傭，在員工中建立明確的企業忠誠度。 員工希望在一家公司度過整個職業生涯，因此願意將個人抱負和家庭生活服從於公司的需求。 事實上，經理和員工在同行中的社會地位受到他們工作的公司和他們在公司內所擔任的職位的強烈影響。

由於亞洲跨國公司，尤其是日本的跨國公司，通常不歡迎已經在其他公司度過部分職業生涯的求職者，因此員工通常別無選擇，只能接受。

cite185
本節中對亞洲商業文化的討論改編自 Humes， Managing the Multinational： Confronting the Global-Local Dilemma （Prentice Hall International （UK） Ltd.， Hemel Hempstead，英國赫特福德郡，1993 年），116-118。

日本以外的亞洲國家（例如香港、新加坡、台灣、泰國和越南）都存在可識別的遠東商業文化; 然而，自二戰結束以來，日本的經濟復興如此之多，以至於大多數評論家將日本的管理原則視為獨立於其地理鄰國的獨立現象。 參見 S. Ronen 和 O. Shenkar，“Clustering Countries on Attitudinal Dimensions： A Review and Synthesis”，Academy of Management Review，1985 年）。


their employers about their careers given that there was little or no chance they could move elsewhere in the event that they were not satisfied with their progress.   While the life of the typical Japanese employee often seemed to harken back to feudal times, Japanese companies did take some efforts to create a pleasant and fulfilling work environment.  For example, Japanese employees have long been exposed to a constant stream of training and education to provide them with new skills and knowledge.  A sense of belonging and connection is fostered through group exercises and company rituals as well as a focus on cooperation and harmony.  While Japanese employees may not have had much real autonomy, they have nonetheless been included in the procedures used to discuss issues and problems and reach decisions that are agreeable to, and supported by, all persons directly involved in the matter.  It should be noted, however, that while this time-consuming process, the so-called “ringi system,” appeared to be more inclusive than the methods used in American and European companies, the fact is that the decisions were often made at the top and then politely but firmly explained and sold to those who are lower in the organizational hierarchy.  One important byproduct of the internal socialization process in Japanese companies has been the development of shared cultural values that reduce the need for those companies to create detailed rules and procedures of the type relied on by US companies.

他們的雇主了解他們的職業生涯，因為如果他們對自己的進步不滿意，他們幾乎沒有機會搬到其他地方。

雖然典型的日本員工的生活似乎常常讓人回想起封建時代，但日本公司確實付出了一些努力來創造一個愉快而充實的工作環境。 例如，日本員工長期以來一直接受源源不斷的培訓和教育，為他們提供新的技能和知識。 透過團體練習和公司儀式以及對合作與和諧的關注來培養歸屬感和連結感。 雖然日本員工可能沒有太多真正的自主權，但他們仍然被納入討論問題和問題並做出所有直接參與此事的人同意和支持的決定的程序中。

然而，應該指出的是，雖然這個耗時的過程，即所謂的“ringi 系統”，似乎比美國和歐洲公司使用的方法更具包容性，但事實是，決策通常是在高層做出的，然後禮貌而堅定地解釋並推銷給那些在組織等級制度中較低的人。日本公司內部社會化過程的一個重要副產品是共同文化價值觀的發展，這減少了這些公司制定美國公司所依賴的詳細規則和程序的需要。

In contrast to the American preoccupation with specialization, management careers in Japanese companies have traditionally emphasized development of generalist skills.  In fact, as a general matter all employees in Japanese companies are told that they are expected to work for the entire organization, as opposed to a particular functional or product division, and that they will be asked to perform a wide range of roles during their relationship with the company.

Human resources policies and practices, and management development programs in particular, at Japanese companies reflect a commitment to long-term development and socialization of employees and this focus can be observed in the way that training programs are carried out and in the choices made with respect to ensuring that employees are rotated through a variety of assignments so that they can see how the business works from a number of perspectives.  The willingness to make longterm investments in human resources is consistent with the way that Japanese companies and investors are willing to take a long-term view of financial performance as opposed to following the way of US companies in tracking on short-term results. Cooperation and the desire to build and maintain a sense of community also has a powerful impact on business-government relations in many Asian economies.

The important role of Japanese ministries and other governmental agencies in providing direction to domestic corporations and industry sectors is well documented.  For example, governmental agencies in Japan have had broad authority and discretion with respect to granting licenses and other types of approvals that are necessary for the conduct of certain business activities and also have exerted substantial power to impact commercial activities by approving or denying subsidies, tax holidays and reductions and/or loans on favorable terms.  In addition, the Ministries of Finance and International Trade and Industry have both been known for their practices of issuing “administrative guidance” to domestic companies as a tool to ensure that Japanese firms were positioned to be competitive in international markets.

與美國人對專業化的關注相反，日本公司的管理職業傳統上強調多面手技能的發展。 事實上，一般來說，日本公司的所有員工都被告知，他們應該為整個組織工作，而不是特定的職能或產品部門，並且他們將被要求在與公司建立關係期間扮演廣泛的角色。

日本公司的人力資源政策和實踐，尤其是管理發展計劃，反映了對員工長期發展和社會化的承諾，這種關注可以從培訓計劃的開展方式以及確保員工輪換各種任務的選擇中觀察到，以便他們能夠從多個角度了解業務的運作方式。 對人力資源進行長期投資的意願與日本公司和投資者願意從長遠角度看待財務業績的方式一致，而不是效仿美國公司追蹤短期業績的方式。合作以及建立和維持社區意識的願望也對許多亞洲經濟體的工商政府關係產生了強大的影響。

日本各部會和其他政府機構在為國內企業和工業部門提供指導方面的重要作用是有據可查的。例如，日本的政府機構在授予進行某些商業活動所需的許可證和其他類型的批准方面擁有廣泛的權力和自由裁量權，並且還通過批准或拒絕補貼、免稅期和減免和/或貸款來施加重大權力以影響商業活動。 此外，財務省和通產省都以向國內企業發布“行政指導”作為確保日本企業在國際市場上具有競爭力的工具而聞名。

While much of the writing about Asian multinationals, and Japanese companies in particular, has created a perception that they are all quite similar, in fact one can observe striking differences in the way that major corporate groups are organized and in the cultural values that they choose to emphasize.  For example, while the culture of the Mitsubishi group strongly emphasized the organization as a whole and the parent company exerted a strong role, the Mitsui group appeared to allow for a good deal of autonomy for its various divisions and affiliates.  Also, not surprisingly, Japanese multinationals have adopted different strategies to achieve comparable objectives with respect to recruiting and developing competent international managers.

Interest in Asian business culture has obviously expanded beyond Japan and Korea and the existence of a recognizable Far Eastern business culture has been postulated for a cluster of Asian countries other than Japan (e.g., Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam); however, the dynamic economic renaissance of Japan since the end of World War II has been such that most commentators have treated Japanese management principals as an independent phenomenon separate from its geographic neighbors.186

A relatively recent phenomenon has been the emergence of Chinese companies as strong competitors in the global marketplace and the tighter engagement of American and European companies with China as a market for their products and services and a source of financial and human capital and technology.  Certainly China and Japan share not only geographical proximity but also similar religions and value systems; however, their national business cultures have diverged significantly for various reasons including, perhaps most notably, differences in the path and content of their economic policies.187

雖然許多關於亞洲跨國公司，尤其是日本公司的文章都讓人認為它們都非常相似，但事實上，人們可以觀察到大型企業集團的組織方式和它們選擇強調的文化價值觀存在顯著差異。 例如，雖然三菱集團的文化強烈強調整個組織，母公司發揮了強大的作用，但三井集團似乎允許其各個部門和附屬公司擁有很大的自主權。 此外，毫不奇怪，日本跨國公司採取了不同的策略來實現招聘和培養有能力的國際經理人的可比目標。 對亞洲商業文化的興趣顯然已擴展到日本和韓國之外，並且假設日本以外的亞洲國家（例如香港、新加坡、台灣、泰國和越南）存在可識別的遠東商業文化;然而，自二戰結束以來，日本的經濟復興如此之多，以至於大多數評論家將日本的管理原則視為獨立於其地理鄰國的獨立現象。186

一個相對較新的現象是中國公司成為全球市場上的強大競爭對手，以及美國和歐洲公司與中國作為其產品和服務的市場以及來源的更緊密的接觸金融和人力資本以及技術。 當然，中國和日本不僅在地理上相近，而且宗教和價值觀也相似;然而，由於各種原因，他們的國家商業文化出現了顯著差異，其中也許最顯著的是，他們的經濟政策路徑和內容存在差異187。

186 See S. Ronen and O. Shenkar, “Clustering Countries on Attitudinal Dimensions: A Review and Synthesis,” Academy of Management Review, 1985).
187 S. Padmalingam, Differences in Economic Policies of Japan and China and the Impact on their Respective Societies (April 2002), http://econc10.bu.edu/economic_systems/Country_comparisons/japan_china3.htm (accessed November 25, 2014).

186 參見 S. Ronen 和 O. Shenkar，“Clustering Countries on Attitudinal Dimensions： A Review and Synthesis”，Academy of Management Review，1985 年）。
187 S. Padmalingam，日本和中國經濟政策的差異及其對各自社會的影響（2002 年 4 月），http://econc10.bu.edu/economic_systems/Country_comparisons/japan_china3.htm（2014 年 11 月 25 日訪問）。