Management Principles Japan - Assignment Example

There are different labor laws and human resource policies in foreign countries. A country that the firm is targeting due its advance technology and history of economic success is Japan. Currently Japan is still recovering from the massive earthquake that impacted the island on March 2011. The population of Japan is 127 million people (CountryWatch, 2011). The workforce of Japan is highly educated and they have superb science and math skills. One of the areas of specialization of the Japanese workforce is in the manufacturing environment.

Some of the industries that are driving the Japanese economy are automobile, electronics, engineering, chemicals, and textile. The gross domestic product per capital in Japan is $34,000 (Indexmundi, 2011). The official currency that must be used by companies to pay its payroll is the Jen. The employment philosophy of Japan is based on lifetime employment. The retirement age in Japan is between 55 and 60 years of age. A technique that is often used in Japan to train employees is job rotation. The typical work week in Japan is a five day week.

Japanese employees work 40 hours a week. Overtime hours are paid once an employee exceeds 40 hours a week. The overtime hours are paid at a range of 25% to 50% above the normal hourly rate. There is no limit in the amount of overtime hours that a person can work during a week. The minimum wage in Japan ranges from 642 to 821 yen per hour. Child labor is forbidden by the Japan constitution. The minimum working age is 16 years. Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 17 can only be employed outside of school hours in light labor that is not dangerous to their health.

Discrimination in the workplace is prohibited in Japan. Discrimination employment laws protect from being discriminated base on race, gender, family origin, or social status. Employees are eligible for 10 days paid leave once they have completed at least 6 months of employment. Subsequently employees are eligible to an extra day per year, but the total accumulated paid leave days cannot exceed 20 days. Maternity leave is given to pregnant women. Maternity leave is provided for a 14 week period divided in the following manner: 6 weeks before child birth and 8 week afterwards.

There is a ban against any heavy physical work for pregnant women and one year after child birth. The Family Care Leave Act allows mother to leave work to attend a child that is under the age of one year. Article 28 of the Japanese constitution allows for the unionization of workers. All workers who are not supervisors can legally join a union. The collective bargaining agreements negotiated by unions with corporations are legally binding contracts. Workers have the right to strike against a company during labor disputes.

It is illegal for the employer to lockout the employees. Labor disputes by unions are usually settled through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. It is very important to understand the culture of a country prior to expanding outside your domestic marketplace. A country’s culture has a deep impact in the way managers direct their human resources. Japan is a male oriented culture. This translates in a work environment in which males are the dominant figure that holds the majority of managerial positions.

The Japanese workers are extremely loyal. They expect the same loyalty from their employer. Japanese is the official language spoken in Japan. In business settings English is often used which is a desirable cultural trait for American investors. Japan is a group oriented society. The family unit is sacred and young people respect their elders a lot. The younger adults are supposed to take care of the elders once they can’t support themselves due to economic or health reasons. “In business, loyalty, devotion, and cooperation are valued over aggressiveness” (CultureGrams, 2011).

A bow is the traditional greeting in Japan. Topics such as politics and religion should be avoided at the workplace since they are considered inappropriate. A co-worker is not considered in most circumstances a close friend, thus personal conversation topics should also be avoided. Whenever a Japanese person receives a gift, they feel obligated to return the favor. Politeness and generosity are desirable traits. Consumerism is not viewed favorably by Japanese society. The culture of Japan is very different than in the United States.

Prior to entrance into a foreign nation such as Japan a company needs to invest money in cultural training and development for the managerial staff and any other employees that are going to be transferred to that location. References CountryWatch (2011). Japan. Retrieved September 11, 2011 from CountryWatch database. CultureGrams (2011). Japan. Retrieved September 11, 2011 from CultureGrams database. Indexmundi.com (2011). Japan GDP – per capita (PPP). Retrieved September 11, 2011 from http://www.

indexmundi.com/japan/gdp_per_capita_%28ppp%29.html