The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

2020/2021 Semester 1
CBS591/4445 Intercultural Communication

A Comparative Study of Organizational Culture

in Hong Kong and in Japan

1
 Content
❏ Background
❏ Literature Review
❏ Research Questions & Methodology
❏ Data Analysis & Discussion
❏ Limitations
❏ Conclusion
❏ References
❏ Appendix

2
 Background
&
Literature Review

3
 Background

Hong Kong and Japan

● Geographical location
○ Asian Country / City
● Top 10 competitiveness economy among the world
The World Economic Forum “The Global Competitiveness Report 2019”
● Japan, China and Hong Kong has been deeply influenced by
each other

4
 Background

● Japanese drama with workplace topic aroused heated discussion

● “Work overtime” culture
● “After work gathering” culture
● Stereotyping?

5
Literature Review

Distinguishing features of Organizational culture in Japan

1. Life-long Employment
Pass probation period

● Hired for life

Official Employees ○ generally cannot be fired, except
■ Company goes bankrupt
■ Employee commits a major mistake

日本職場案內100則—虞安寿美 (2016)
6
Literature Review
Distinguishing features of Organizational culture in Japan
2. 「飲み会」Culture
○ Gathering with supervisors and colleagues at Izakaya
(いざかや/居酒屋)
○ Leisure activity
○ Improve interpersonal relationship among colleagues

日本職場案內100則—虞安寿美 (2016) 7
 Literature Review

Aspects for comparison and contrast

● Differences in economic system
○ Type of ownership
● Influences of Confucianism
● Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory

8
 Literature Review

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory

Individualism Collectivism

Low Power Distance High Power Distance

Low Uncertainty Avoidance High Uncertainty Avoidance

Masculinity Femininity

Short Term Orientation Long Term Orientation

9
 Individualism V.S. Collectivism

Individualism Collectivism

● Take care of only themselves ● Tightly-knit framework in

● Emphasizes “I” society

● Look after a particular ingroup
for unquestioning loyalty

● Emphasizes “We”

10
 Power Distance Index

High power distance Low power distance

● Subordinates passively ● Subordinates’ participation in
recipient instructions decision making
● Mutual support between ● Unilateral support from the
superiors and subordinates superior to the subordinates

11
 Uncertainty Avoidance Index

High uncertainty avoidance Low uncertainty avoidance

● Emphasize uniformity ● Tolerance for uncertainty and
● Avoid uncertainty and ambiguity
ambiguity ● Willingness to accept
challenge

12
 Masculinity V.S. Femininity

Masculinity Femininity
● Preference in ● Preference in
○ Achievement ○ Cooperation
○ Heroism ○ Modesty
○ Assertiveness ○ Caring for the weak
○ Material rewards ○ Quality of life

13
 Long term V.S. Short term Orientation

Long term orientation Short term orientation

● Emphasis on persistence ● Emphasis on quick results
● Prepare for the future ● Viewing societal change with
● Importance in relationship and suspicion
market position

14
Research Questions
&
Methodology

15
Research Questions

01 What is the commonalities between Hong Kong

and Japan in terms of organizational culture?

What is the differences between Hong Kong

02 and Japan in terms of organizational culture?

16
 Methodology - Primary Data

Survey
01
● Distributed Online
○ 7th – 11th November, 2020 (5 Days in total)
● Non-probability sampling
● Convenient sampling
● MC Questions
● 5-point Likert scale
● Target Group: Hong Kong & Japan Employees
17
 Methodology - Primary Data

Hong Kong Japan

● 118 Responses ● 26 Responses
39 79 5 21

● Occupation: ● Occupation:
○ Education ○ Media
○ Law, accountancy, ○ Import / Export Trade
professional information ○ Transportation Industry
services ○ Wholesale / Retail
○ Banks and finance Sector
○ Medical, hygiene and welfare
sector 18
 Methodology - Primary Data

Interview
02 ● Online Interview
● Judgment sampling
● Open-ended Questions
● 2 interviewees from Hong Kong
○ 69% aged 20 to 29, 20% aged 30 -39
○ 25% Education, 20% Law, Accountancy, Professional Information Services
● 2 interviewees from Japan
○ 25% Media, 39% Retail
○ Only 19% of respondents are male
19
 Methodology - Primary Data

Gender Age Group Occupation

Interviewee 1 30-39 Education
Hong Kong
Law, Accountancy,
Interviewee 2 Professional
20-29 Information Services

Interviewee 3 30-39 Toys Retails

Japan
Interviewee 4 30-39 Media
20
Methodology - Secondary Data

Literature Review
03 ● Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

Individualism Collectivism

Low Power Distance High Power Distance

Low Uncertainty Avoidance High Uncertainty Avoidance

Masculinity Femininity

Short Term Orientation Long Term Orientation

21
Data Analysis
&
Discussions

22
Discussion 1 - Individualism V.S. Collectivism

Individualism-collectivism Dimension Ranking

(from High to Low)

Ranking Region

35-37 Japan

55-56 Hong Kong

Hofstede, G. (2011).
23
 Discussion 1 - Individualism
Discussion (Sense
3(Decision
- Uncertainty V.S. Collectivism
Avoidance
of Belongings)
making)

Hong Kong & Japan

● About 45% of Hongkonger and Japanese express strong and positive sense of belongings to
the company

Evaluate your overall sense of belongings towards your company.

Hong Kong Japan
1 (Very weak)
2
3

4
5 (Very strong)

24
 Discussion 1 - Individualism
Discussion (Sense
3(Decision
- Uncertainty V.S. Collectivism
Avoidance
of Belongings)
making)

Hong Kong Japan

● Market-based employee-employer ● Family-linked employee-employer

relationships
○ Based on market needs
■ “The relationship is just based on
demand and supply which is reflected
in the high turnover rate of my
company” (Interviewee 2)
relationships
○ View colleagues as family
members → larger in-group
○ Team building programme
■ “Our team is like a family, we always
have a team building program ... lots
of colleges have become friends
already” (Interviewee 3)

25
 Discussion 1 - Individualism
Discussion (Sense
3(Decision
- Uncertainty V.S. Collectivism
Avoidance
of Belongings)
making)

Hong Kong Japan

● Lower sense of belongings and ● Higher sense of belongings and
loyalty loyalty
● Care about oneself’s benefits ● Care about company’s
development and success

● Desire for better development ● Desire for making contribution to

company

Individualism Collectivism
26
 Discussion
Discussion 1 - Individualism
5 - Long V.S. term
term V.S. Short Collectivism
orientation
Survey Result
(Interpersonal Relationship)

Hong Kong Japan

● Lower frequency in having ● Higher frequency in having
gathering with colleagues gathering with colleagues

Do you gather with colleagues after-work? How often you have gathering with colleagues?
Hong Kong Japan
Yes, always
Yes, usually
Yes, sometimes

Yes, seldom
No, never 27
 Discussion
Discussion11- -Individualism
Relationship V.S.
with Collectivism
colleagues
(Decision Making)

Hong Kong Japan

● Person in charge make decisions ● Supervisor makes decisions
○ “make decisions on the section ○ “follow the order of our
they are in charge to” supervisor” (Interviewee 4)
(Interviewee 2)
● Collective decision making
○ “getting a mutual agreement
during a team meeting”
(Interviewee 1)

Individualism
28
 Discussion
Discussion11- -Relationship
Discussion with
2 - Power V.S.
Individualism colleagues
Distance
Collectivism

Hong Kong & Japan

● High power distance
○ Gaps between staff
■ “junior grading staff basically has relatively less chance to communicate with
managers” (Interviewee 1)
■ “(I) definitely (feel tense if my superior talks to me, because) he is responsible for
writing my appraisal” (Interviewee 3)
○ Concentration authority
■ Obey the superior
● “follow the order of our supervisor” (Interviewee 3)
■ Top-down instructions
● “all members are being instructed by upper level management to perform our
work” (Interviewee 2)
29
 Discussion 3 - Uncertainty Avoidance
Hong Kong
● Rules and standards are set
● Emphasis on professionality
○ “Innovation is not applicable to my
company” (Interviewee 2)
● Custom in hiring rely on Guanxi (關係)
○ “HR department supposes internal
referral can approach experienced staff
effectively” (Interviewee 2)
High Uncertainty Avoidance
Japan
● Innovation and creativity are
encouraged
○ “innovation is good, but we need to
present it to our supervisor first”
(Interviewee 4)
● Custom in hiring is neutral
○ “the family background is not
necessary for taking a job in my
company” (Interviewee 3)
Low Uncertainty Avoidance
30
 Discussion 4 - Masculinity V.S. Femininity
Hong Kong
● Little gender differences
● Equal opportunity
○ “does not have such sexism in my
company” (Interviewee 1)
Femininity
Japan
● Male has superiority
○ Dominate the important role
○ Enjoy higher hierarchy
■ “our company is keen on letting
male to handle the important work”
(Interviewee 3)
● Female’s capabilities are questioned
○ “females always put family as the core
of their life...they may not handle both
family and work” (Interviewee 3)
Masculinity 31
 Discussion 5 -
Survey ResultLong term V.S. Short term Orientation
(Work-Life Balance)

Hong Kong & Japan

● Around 40% respondents reply they have a balance between work and life
Evaluate your situation between work and life.

Hong Kong Japan

1 (Heavily imbalance)
2
3

4
5 (Heavily balance)
32
 Discussion
Discussion 55- -Long
Longterm
term / Short
V.S. Shortterm
term orientation
Orientation
Interesting Discussion:
(Work-Life Balance)

Hong Kong Japan

● Work overtime during weekdays, weekends and holidays
● More severe ● Relatively Mild
○ 20% work overtime ≥10 hours / week ○ 7.6% work overtime ≥10 hours / week
2.5 Ti mes

How many hours do you need to work overtime per week in general?
less than 1 hour

1 - 3 hours

4 - 6 hours
Hong Kong Japan
7 - 9 hours

10 - 12 hours
more than 12 hours 33
Discussion 5 -
Survey ResultLong term V.S. Short term Orientation
(Work-Life Balance)

Hong Kong and Japan

● Over-time work
○ High frequency
○ Long duration
○ Complaints arisen from family members
● “I cannot even find a girlfriend. My mum always concerns me about this, but i do
not have time to meet the girl that my mum arranges for me” (Interviewee 4)

Short Term Orientation

34
Limitations & Conclusion

35
Limitations

● Differences in Sample size (survey)

○ Bias when comparing data
● Gender Imbalance (survey & interview)
○ Slight Bias
● Difficulty in following-up interview
○ Unable to arrange the face to face interview due to current
pandemic of COVID-19

○ Difficult to ask deeper and detailed questions.

36
Conclusion
Similarity:
● High power distance
● Short term orientation in work-life balance

Differences:

Hong Kong Japan

● Individualism ● Collectivism
○ Lower sense of belongings ○ Higher sense of belongings

● Femininity ● Masculinity
● Higher uncertainty avoidance Lower uncertainty avoidance
37
 Reference
● Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online
readings in psychology and culture, 2(1), 2307-0919.
● Klaus, Schwab (2019). The Global Competitiveness Report 2019. Retrieved from
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2019.pdf.
● 許媛、于豔麗（2020）。中日企業文化的分析比較及借鑒。知識經濟，2020年03期，11-12。
● 虞安寿美（2016）。日本職場案內100則。臺北市：日月文化出版。
● 胡紅石（2018）。中日員工價值與企業文化契合對經營績效的影響研究。澳門：經貿實踐，
224。
● 金鑫（2020）。中日企業文化差異比較研究。雲南：文化創新比較研究。2020年14期，192-
194。

38
 Appendix
(Please refer to the separate document on Blackboard )

39
Thank you!

40
Questions
&
Answers
41