Cross Cultural Management - Essay Example

Section/# Cross Cultural Management – A Study of the Japanese Community in Australia Background of Japanese community in Australia (200 Words) The history of the Japanese community as it exists in Australia revolves around events of the past 30 years. Unlike many ethnic communities around the world, Japanese immigration only began to flourish around the 1980s. The reasons for this are multiple. The first of these relates to the fact that Australia had a ban on non-European immigration prior to the mid 1960s.

Accordingly, once the ban was lifted, the Japanese economy began to flourish and thrive as a result of the economic “post-war miracle”. The effect of this Japanese economic boom was an increase in wages, opportunities and jobs to those that decided to remain at home. As a result, net emigration from Japan dwindled to a mere trickle between the 1960s up until the 1980s. Prior to this influx the Japanese population in Australia had been virtually stagnant. As a result of World War II, the entire Japanese population had been forcibly removed once hostilities ceased.

As such, the only fresh influx of Japanese came as a result of around 500 war brides from Australian soldiers returning from their postings in and around the Japanese home islands. However, due to the relaxed limitations on citizenship requirements coupled with the general cooling of the Japanese economy, the community of Japanese in Australia has grown to represent 71,7461 individuals. -Details of the ONE key challenge Japanese community faces and implications of this challenge for Australian institutions and/or workplaces (400 words) (Results, findings and discussion) With respect to the key challenge facing the Japanese community in Australia, this can most easily be related from a perspective of the fact that Japanese Australians are invariably considered "other" in the workplace as a form of tacit bias and/or racism that exists in Australian society.

This is not due to the fact that they speak English with a strong accent or behave in culturally dissimilar ways but due to the fact that ingrained prejudices exist with respect to people actually accepting them as Australians (Castellini 2012, p 668). Unfortunately, this lack of overall acceptance as native can occur regardless of the length of time the individual has lived in the nation; even extending to those which are natively born in Australia. Unfortunately, this can almost invariably be defined as a function of ingrained racism on the part of the European Australian population.

As such, the fundamental reason for this is a set of stereotypes that exist regarding what defines Australians from those that are not. The most obvious determinant for Japanese Australians being considered other is due to the uniquely Asian feature that Australians deem to represent that which is not uniquely Australian and necessarily is indicative of a foreigner (Ekehammar et al, 2009 p 260). Although this type of prejudice and ingrained bias with respect to features that do not closely mirror one’s own culture has been evidenced in nearly every culture around the world, it is also an aspect of human interaction that can be overcome.

With respect to the effects of such cultural biases, it can be clearly stated that they have a severely negative impact on the way that a society integrates and consequently performs business interactions and/or seeks to govern. Likewise, the effects of this preconceived prejudice affect all aspects of communication and exchange. When one considers that these barriers exist and are oftentimes culturally and tacitly reinforced, the full level to which such stereotypes can provide a stumbling block comes into clear focus.

As is evidenced with the generations of discrimination that Australia’s own Aborigines had to face, working to change pre-conceived notions and stereotypes that exist towards a given group can take a very long time. However, it is the belief of this author that the classification of “other” that still continues to haunt Japanese Australians can be corrected in a much shorter span of time than that which the Aborigines and others had to endure (Sawyer et al, 2012 p 1022). This is at least partly due to the fact that the same lessons that society has learned with relation to other such groups can be reinforced without necessitating starting from square one.

-No more than two key recommendations to help overcome/minimize the challenges (100 words) The first recommendation has to do with elementary education as it relates to teaching students that they are living in an increasingly multi-ethnic world and society. Only through education and realization of this fact can the society at large work to combat the unhealthy stereotypes that are often a function of misunderstanding and prejudice (Raabe et al, 2011 p 1717). Likewise, a secondary recommendation centers upon the need for Japanese Australian community leaders and business owners to resist the urge to remain the silent minority.

One clear way to effect a lasting change with how the public views a particular group of individuals is for key leaders and shareholders to work to take a more active part in sharing the unique experiences that their culture offers to the Australian perspective and how they are able to retain unique elements of their Japanese culture while also fully engendering what it means to be Australian. In this way, the recommendation is something that uniquely applies to key shareholders/business owners and community leaders; however, as a function of a community action and program, the practice may also be adopted by smaller entities within the given CALD.

References Castellini, F, Colombo, M, Maffeis, D, and Montali, L 2011, 'Sense of community and interethnic relations: comparing local communities varying in ethnic heterogeneity', Journal Of Community Psychology, 39, 6, pp. 663-677, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 October 2012. Ekehammar, B, Akrami, N, and Fan, Y 2009, 'Ethnic Prejudice: A Combined Personality and Social Psychology Model', Individual Differences Research, 7, 4, pp. 255-264, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 October 2012.

Raabe, T, and Beelmann, A 2011, 'Development of ethnic, racial, and national prejudice in childhood and adolescence: a multinational meta-analysis of age differences', Child Development, 82, 6, pp. 1715-1737, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 October 2012. Sawyer, P, Major, B, Casad, B, M., and Mendes, W 2012, 'Discrimination and the Stress Response: Psychological and Physiological Consequences of Anticipating Prejudice in Interethnic Interactions', American Journal Of Public Health, 102, 5, pp.

1020-1026, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 October 2012.