Cultural challenges for leadership and doing business in Japan

Team members:

Tural Arif oglu (46407)

Ibrahim Mammadov (46477)

Aytan Mirzayeva (49035)

Content

 Introduction -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------2
 Brief Information -----------------------------------------------------------------------------3
 The country’s dominant culture -----------------------------------------------------------3
 Charismatic leader of the country ---------------------------------------------------------4
 Stereotypes of Japanese----------------------------------------------------------------------5
 Specifics of business culture-----------------------------------------------------------------6
 SWOT analysis---------------------------------------------------------------------------------7
 References--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
Introduction

By the late 1980s, Japan has emerged on the word scene as a great power, not perhaps in
military and political terms but certainly in economic sense. As the homology of the Soviet
empire fell apart and the prima donna imprint of the American know-how and productivity
began losing its luster, the economy of Japan became indisputably the second largest in the
world with a capita income that, by 1987, has overtaken over the U.S.A. and any country of
the OECD. Despite the international oil shocks of 1973 and 1979-80 and some other political
and financial flickering convulsions, Japan continues to enjoy a very high economic growth
rate to the present day: the five largest banks in the world belong to Japan; the Tokyo Stock
Exchange had grown into one of the major world's financial markets; the three largest
security houses in the world are Japanese; iron, steel and automobile productions surpassing
that of the U.S.A. is something unheard of in the postwar era; and no nation is ever owed so
much from abroad.
Although Japan today is not a military and political power in the circle of great nations, it
certainly becomes a major player in the current world's strategic equation, especially with
regard to the Pacific arena. Japan since 1945 is an historical overview of the various
processes by which postwar Japan was transformed into an economic power which impinges
upon almost all of us. This is the work of an historian from the University of Ulster, who
directs his focus toward the political, economic, and financial developments in Japan,
although not to the exclusion of the other social and cultural dimensions of the enormous
change which has taken place since the Japan's surrender of August 15, 1945.

Modern Japan, especially during the Premierships of Mr Junichiro Koizumi and Mr Shinzo
Abe, has developed a new sense of national self-perception, propelling it towardsgreater self
assurance and boldness in the pursuit of state objectives and goals. In thepast, Japan bound
itself to a series of self-imposed restraints on participation in military security affairs.
Contemporary Japan, however, is incrementally undoing its Cold Warstrategy and
constructing a new one to fit the still-emerging order in its region and in the world.

The study is intending for identify notion about country, dedection of prespectives, main
characteristics of structure. Also, to give readers historical background and national culture
of japanese.
Brief Information (source-The world fact book)

Japan opened its ports in 1854 and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During
the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power. After its defeat in
World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and an ally of the US. While
the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, elected politicians hold actual
decision-making power.

Economy Third-largest, trade-oriented, and diversified economy; most indebted country;

recent infrastructure spending, significant currency devaluations, consumption tax hikes;
declining labor force; recent government stimulus largely offset COVID-19 downturn.

Natural Resources - negligible mineral resources, fish; note, with virtually no natural energy
resources, Japan is the world's largest importer of coal and liquefied natural gas, as well as
the second largest importer of oil.

Population 124.7 million (July 2021 est.) Population Growth -0.37% (2021 est.)

Ethnicity Japanese 97.9%, Chinese 0.6%, Korean 0.4%, other 1.1% (includes Vietnamese,
Filipino, and Brazilian) (2017 est.)

Religion Shintoism 69%, Buddhism 66.7%, Christianity 1.5%, other 6.2% (2018 est.)

The country’s dominant culture

Japanese society shows many of characteristics of a collective society. However, the studies
conduct on Japanese living habits and their family relationship tell the individualism side of
Japan. First, most of Japanese prefer to live by themselves rather than sharing apartments
with family members or friends. Second, Japanese don’t have a strong connection with their
extended family, indeed they prefer to take care and live by themselves. In western standard,
Japan is more likely to in the collectivism sides. Japan shows it individualist characteristics
by approaching Asian standards.
Charismatic leader of the country

Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first shōgun of the
Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He is considered one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan.
He was the son of Matsudaira Hirotada, a minor local warlord. He grew up to be an ambitious
young man with exemplary leadership qualities and eventually founded the Tokugawa
shogunate of Japan.

Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) Isoroku Yamamoto was a Marshal Admiral of the

Imperial Japanese Navy. During World War II, he served as the commander-in-chief of the
Combined Fleet and oversaw operations such as the Pearl Harbor attack. He died when his
fighter plane was shot down by the U.S. Air Forces.

Akihito (1933-) Akihito served as the 125th emperor of Japan after succeeding his father to
the Chrysanthemum Throne. As emperor, he played a crucial role in inspiring people in 2011
when Japan was struck by two major disasters: Fukushima I nuclear crisis and Great East
Japan Earthquake. Akihito abdicated the throne in 2019, becoming the first emperor to do so
since 1817.

Shinzō Abe ( 1954-) Shinzō Abe is a Japanese politician who became the longest-serving
prime minister in the history of Japan after serving as prime minister of Japan from 2006 to
2007 and then from 2012 to 2020. Aged 52 at the time of assuming office as the prime
minister, Abe is also the youngest Japanese post-war prime minister.

Junichiro Koizumi (1942-) Born into a family of politicians, Junichiro Koizumi had been
the prime minister of his country and a Liberal-Democratic Party leader. The London
School of Economics alumnus became hugely popular among the masses for his reforms,
such as inclusion of more women in the cabinet and speaking against nuclear weapons.

Kiichiro Toyoda (1894-1952) was a Japanese businessman and the son of Toyoda Loom
Works founder Sakichi Toyoda. His decision to change Toyoda's focus from automatic loom
manufacture into automobile manufacturing created what would become Toyoda Motor
Corporation.
Stereotypes of Japanese

Every Japanese person knows the stereotypes about how different one region’s people are
from another. Tokyo people are supposedly formal, obedient and cold. Osakans are funny
and friendly, but also somewhat crude and uncouth. Depending on who you speak to Kyoto
people are seen as sophisticated or pretentious, whereas those from Shikoku are sometimes
labelled as rural hicks or country bumpkins. Of course stereotypes are nothing more than
broad categorizations of people, and for every person that fits the stereotype there are many
that don’t. However misleading these labels are though, they continue to be said and used all
over Japan. Some stereotypes clearly stem from current cultural trends. The idea that Tokyo
people are too straight laced and stressed out comes from the idea that Tokyo, as a huge
metropolis filled with some of Japan’s most successful companies, is also filled with some of
the country’s busiest and most serious workers. Similarly, the stereotype that Osaka people
are all fun loving people comes in part from the dominance of the city on Japan’s comedy
circuit.

Japan’s most successful comedians all hail from Osaka or the Kansai area. Even if they aren’t
from the area originally, many comedians choose to adopt the Kansai way of speaking so as
not to stick out. No wonder the country as a whole thinks Osakans are the funniest!

As much as today’s culture clearly influences regional stereotypes, events of the past have
also influenced the development of specific labels. Kyoto people are said to have an air of
sophistication or even superiority, and there is no doubt that people say this because of its
historical position as the centre of Japanese culture. Kyoto was once the home of Japan’s
royal family and society at the time gravitated around it accordingly, meaning Kyoto was the
birth place of many of Japan’s traditions and cultural characteristics; something Kyoto people
are rightly proud of but which may explain their stereotype.

Returning to Osaka and Tokyo, each city’s unique history may also hold some of the basis for
their current stereotypes. In the past, Tokyo was the political center of Japan. It was
dominated by Samurai culture; a culture based on formality and respect. Osaka meanwhile,
became the trading and commercial center of the country. This difference may have
influenced the two cities’ stereotypes; Tokyo people may be associated with following rules
and being straight laced because they would have been during the samurai period, whereas
Osaka, a place slightly freer of the samurai influence and more geared towards making
money, has become known for being more unruly.
Similarly it is history rather than the present that encourages the stereotype that people from
Shikoku are country hicks. The idea that Shikoku people are uneducated or uninformed
probably comes more from the fact that historically Shikoku was isolated from the main
cultural centers of Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, than it does from any evidence of backwardness
in the present day.

This brings us on to the importance of Geography. Okinawans are often referred to, and refer
to themselves, as sunny warm people mainly because of the difference in their climate
compared to the rest of Japan. Similarly, people from the north of Japan, be it Hokkaido or
Iwate, are invariably referred to as tough because of the colder weather they have to endure.

Geography impacts stereotypes in other ways. Saitama is sometimes cruelly referred to as

‘Dasaitama’, a play on words that implies the city’s people are uncouth, vulgar and
unsophisticated. The reason for this though probably has more to do with its proximity to
Tokyo and the rivalry between the two cities, than it does with the people of Saitama itself.

Specifics of business culture ( source oecd-ilibrary.org)

While Japan has successfully contained the number of infections, the pandemic has proved
difficult to bring under control. Successive waves of infections induced the government to
introduce states of emergencies, which became more targeted over time Confinement
measures and behavioural changes) kept transmission rates relatively muted, but at some
near-term cost to the economy After the initial shock, the economy has struggled to regain its
footing, even though fiscal and monetary policy reacted quickly and robustly to offset the
impact on households and businesses

The pandemic hit when the effects of past structural reforms to boost employment and to
adjust regulation to improve the business environment were starting to show Despite the
headwinds created by an ageing and shrinking population, the level of employment had been
rising as elderly individuals remained in work and more women participated (Figure 11 Panel
A) Business fixed investment had strengthened somewhat and productivity growth, which
had long been anaemic, showed signs of picking up (Panel B) This progress was set back as
the pandemic caused output and employment to fall and unemployment to rise The pandemic
also exposed weaknesses, some of which have been long-standing concerns For example,
labour market duality meant that despite aggregate income gains income inequality did not
decline, although poverty rates were diminishing slowly and low-paid and temporary workers
were more exposed to the downturn Other weaknesses, such as the difficulties households,
businesses and government experienced in adapting to remote working had heretofore been
less in focus The government reaffirmed the commitment to furthering structural reforms,
with a greater emphasis on the digital transformation and climate change.

Figure 1. Employment and investment had been picking up

A. Total employment B. Private non-residental investement

Raising productivity is key to address the pressures from ageing Productivity growth has
been muted in recent decades, but there is considerable divergence across sectors Large
enterprises in manufacturing can be very productive, but the service sector and smaller
enterprises have struggled Structural features such as weak entry of new firms, the lack of
investment and shortages of skilled personnel can be important constraints on growth. In
particular, the entry of new firms is low by international comparison and investment in
intangibles to make the best use of new technologies is lagging (Hosono, Takizawa and
Yamanouchi, 202054) Options to encourage greater firm entry include raising the wealth
exemption in personal bankruptcy. However, entrepreneurs face difficulties in gaining
access to training and finance, particularly for digital and largely knowledge based sectors.

SWOT analysis

STRENGTHS OF JAPAN
SAFE & SECURE
Japan is a very safe and secure country in terms of crime rate if you compare it with other
developed countries like the USA. According to an estimate, Japan has a crime rate 4 times
less than the US. Her violent crime rate is approximately 148 times lower than other
advanced countries. The reason she has a lower crime rate is because of her strong social and
ethical values.
RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN
Japanese people play active and responsible roles in their public life. Their culture requires
them to set goals and objectives, and then achieve them. Collectively they contribute to the
country’s economy. Her social setup discourages NEETs (Not in Education, Employment,
and Training) people.
HARD WORKING
Japanese people are very hardworking and skill-oriented people. They work consistently to
produce quality results whatever job they’re doing. It’s because of these characteristics, the
country has become one of the world’s most powerful economies.
POWERFUL INDUSTRY
Some of the world’s most successful and well-reputed automotive manufacturing companies
are from Japan. Like Toyota, Subaru, and Honda. They’re selling their products across the
world and making name for the country.
It’s not just the automotive industry. Japan is very efficient in other fields as well. Like
wireless communication, robotics, and gaming are some of the prominent industries. The wifi
internet connection is available in almost all her major cities.
STRONG EDUCATION SYSTEM
Japan has one of the world’s best education systems. It develops leadership skills even at very
early school age. For instance, everyone in the class votes to select the class president and
vice president. They all work together to organize school trips, host events and clean their
classroom. It also provides an opportunity to perform in extracurricular activities like
learning a foreign language or musical instruments.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Japan has also given the world very powerful management practices that businesses and
companies could use to become efficient and perform better. Kodawari and 5 Ss of Japanese
efficiency are some of the top practices.
WEAKNESSES OF JAPAN
HIGH POPULATION
The total population of Japan may not seem high, but when you compare it with the total size
and area of the country. It’s a highly populated country. Most of the island has a suitable
environment for inhabitants. But people prefer to live in the cities like Tokyo. It makes the
rent prices of the houses very high.
ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS
Japanese island often faces some of the worst environmental disasters like tsunamis,
earthquakes, typhoons, volcano eruptions, and floods. Once they hit the country, her growth
and productivity go back to normal.
LOW BIRTH RATE
Japan is also facing the serious issue of a lower birth rate. Many people get married, but they
don’t produce and raise children. Her economy needs a workforce to perform the country’s
various roles. The lower birth rate impacts the growth rate of businesses, investment, and the
country’s economy. She’s very well aware of the problem, but she has made a little
improvement since then.
OLDEST PEOPLE
Some of the world’s oldest aged people live in Japan. Kane Tana, the world’s oldest person,
she’s 118 years old. When you combine with the country’s lower birth rate, then you’ll see
the whole picture. Many people are retiring from the working life and entering into the retired
life without having the proper work backup.
OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO JAPAN
TECH INDUSTRY
Technology and e-commerce are the world’s fastest-growing businesses. Japan should
develop an entrepreneurial mindset among people that they won’t have to own the physical
product. They can do the business without owning it. It would promote the country’s tech and
business industry and add a plethora of revenue.
LUXURY PRODUCTS
Japanese people usually have a lot of disposable income after paying off all of their basic
expenses. Her economy has great room for the growth of luxury products and services. If she
promotes the luxury fashion industry, it would generate trillions of dollars.
EXPORTS
Japan has got many resources and products that it could offer to the world’s market. She’s
already exporting vehicles, cosmetics, and electronics. The country also has the world’s
fastest bullet train infrastructure across the country. It covers a distance of 375 miles per
hour. She could offer the service of the bullet train to the other countries as well.

THREATS JAPAN HAS TO FACE

ECONOMIC RECESSION
The annual revenue and per capita income of Japan have dropped significantly due to the
pandemic of covid-19. Her economy depends on the growth of local businesses and they
make a major contribution to her economy. When their sale dropped in other countries, it
declined their revenue and net income. It impacted her economy.
HIGH TAXES
Japan has a very high tax rate on the trade of products/services. The big multinational
companies could manage to pay high taxes. Small businesses can’t afford to pay high taxes in
the beginning. The country should revisit its tax policy.
TRADE REGULATION
Many Japanese companies are operating their businesses globally. But it’s not easy for
foreign businesses to operate in Japan because of her strict regulations. Even it’s also difficult
for the home countries to go global.
CONCLUSION
After a careful study of the swot analysis of Japan, we have concluded that Japan is indeed
the world’s leading industrial economy in terms of growth and productivity. Lower birth rates
and increasing aged population are some of the serious threats to the country. Japan should
address these issues.
 References

https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/japan/

https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/oecd-economic-surveys-japan_1999012x

https://swotandpestleanalysis.com/swot-analysis-of-japan/

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/japanese-leaders

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/
Japan+Since+1945%3a+The+Rise+of+an+Economic+Superpower

https://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Japan.html