索尼的企业文化概述英文版.docx

索尼的企业文化概述英文版.docx

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索尼的企业文化概述英文版

TheculturedifferencesbetweenSonyandB&O

Thefocusofourcomparativeanalysisliesontwomultinationalcorporationscompetingwithinthebusinessofaudio-videoequipment.ThetwocorporationsaretheJapanesecompany,Sony,andtheDanishcompany,Bang&Olufsen（B&O）.Thesetwocorporationswerechosenprimarilybecausethetwowereinthesamebusinesswhichsetsthebasisforourcomparison.Secondly,wefeelthattheJapaneseandtheDanishcultureappeartobeverydissimilar.Finally,wechosethetwobecauseoftheaccessibiliyofusefulinformationregardingthem.

AsSonyandB&Oareinthesamebusiness,onecandiscusstosomedegree,thatthesetwocompaniesarecompetingforsamecustomergroups;Sonyishighvolumeorientated,whereasB&Oisusingastrategyoffocus.B&Oisdifferentiatingitselfbyofferingdistinctiveproductswithfocusondesignthatappealtohigh-scalecustomers.Althoughthetwocompaniesarenottargetingonthesamemarket,theirbusinessenvironmentissimilarintheaspectthattheybothproducehighqualityaudio-videoequipmenttargetedtotheglobalmarket.Becauseofthedistinctdifferenceinnationalbackgroundsofthetwoanddespitesomewhatdifferentmarketingstrategies,webelieveitwillbeinterestingtocomparethetwo.

Powerdistance

Thefirstdimensionina"natural"culture,calledPowerDistance,indicatestowhatextentthesocietyacceptsthatanorganizationsiscontrollingthepower,andtheorganizationisdistributingthispowerinitsparticularway.Thisbeliefisreflectedinthemindsofbothpowerfulaswellaslesspowerfulmembersofthesociety.Thedimensioncanbeconsideredasthedegreeofinequalityamongpeopleinacountrythatis"accepted"bythepeopleofthatspecificcountry.Thisrangesfromrelativelyequaltoextremelyunequal.Wehavechosenthefollowingexamplesasextremeexamplesofhowthemindsetofthesocietyofacountrycouldbe.Thisisassaid"theextremes,"therefore,almosteverybodyshouldfitintosomewherebetweenthetwoextremes:

Table2.1:

ThePowerDistanceDimension

SmallPowerDistance

LargePowerDistance

Superiorsconsidersubordinatestobepeoplelikeme.

Superiorsconsidersubordinatestobeadifferentkindofpeople.

Thepowershouldbelegitimateandissubjecttothejudgmentastowhetheritisgoodorevil.

Powerisabasicfactofsocietythatantedatesgoodorevil.Itslegitimacyisirrelevant.

Thewaytochangetheasocialsystemistoredistributepower.

Thewaytochangeasocialsystemistodethronethoseinpower.

ThescoresforthePowerDistancedimensionarerespectively;20forDenmark’sconcern,and54forJapan.Hofstedehascategorizedtheresultsoneverydimensionsofthecountriesintothefollowingthreecategories:

high,mediumandlow.Onethirdsofallthecountriesisrepresentedineachcategory.TheresultsinthePowerDistancedimensionputsDenmarkintothecategoryoflowPowerDistanceculture,althoughDenmarkisneartothecategorycalledmediuminwhichJapanispresentlyrepresented.

Theproblem-formulationlistedfivehypotheses.ThehypothesesareourexpectationspertainingdifferencesintheHRMapproachofSonyandB&O.ButhowexactlywillthesedifferencesrevealthemselvesinrelationtohumanresourcemanagementintherespectivecompaniesandHofstede’sfivedimensions?

OurfirsthypothesisexpectsthepowerdistanceinSonytobelargerthanthatinB&OWeassumethiswillrevealitselfbythefollowingcharacteristics:

∙Sonyhasahigherpaydifferentialsbetweenbossandemployees.

∙Sonyhasmoreformalrelationshipandformalcommunication.

∙B&O’semployeesgenerallyhavemoreinformalrelationshipwiththeiremployer.

Individualism

Theseconddimensionisindividualism.Itconcernsthedegreetowhichpeopleinacountryprefertoactasanindividualorasamemberofagroup.Theoppositeextremetoindividualismiscollectivism.Collectivismischaracterizedaslowindividualism.Inacollectivist-orientedcultureonelearnstorespectthegroup.Itistypicallyfamily,organization,orclanthatservesasaplatformforagroup,andonelearnstorespectthemembers.Oneexpectsagrouptoprotectthemselvesasitsmembers.Asamemberofacollectivisticculture,onedifferentiatesbetweenin-groupmembersandout-groupmembers.Incountrieswithaindividualisticculture,oneiseducatedtothinkofoneselfas"I"insteadofasapartof"we."Onelearnshowtostandonone’sownfeet,andaccordingly,feelsaverylowloyaltytothegroup.Ontheotherhand,onealsodoesn’texpectthatthegroupwillstandupforoneinretuen.TheextremesontheIndividualism-collectivismdimension,inanegotiationperspectiveisdescribedinthefollowing:

Table2.2:

TheIndividualismDimension

Collectivist

Individualistic

Friendshiparepredeterminedbystablesocialrelationships,butthereisneedforprestigewithintheserelationships

Theneedisforspecificfriendship

"We"consciousnessholdsway

"I"consciousnessholdsway

Thereisemotionaldependenceofindividualonorganizationsandinstitution

Thereisemotionalindependenceofindividualonorganizationsandinstitution

ThereisalsoadifferencebetweentheIndividualismdimension.Denmarkhasscored75onthisdimension.AsDenmarkisconsideredasa"highindividualculture,"DenmarkdifferedsomewhatfromJapanwhichonlyscored46,whichindicatedamediumcollectivisticculture.

Inrelationtoourhypothesis,thevaluesofB&OcomparedwiththatofSonyismoreindividualistic;weexpectfollowingfindings:

∙Sonyis,toahigherextent,lookingforpotentialemployeeswithteamwork-skills.

∙TheonetimeannualhiringdonebySonycreatesabelongingtoagroupofacertaingroupyear.

∙Bonusandsalaryarebasedonseniorityanddepartment-andcompany-performance.

∙B&O’ssalaryarebasedonindividualperformance.

∙Training-sessionsinSonytrytocreateteamworkbyexcursions,partiesetc.

∙Sonytrytooccupytheiremployeesintheirsparetime.

Masculinity

Thethirddimensioniscalledmasculinity,anditsoppositepoleisfemininity,justasthecollectivismwastheoppositepoletoindividualism.Thedimensionexplainstowhatdegreethe"tough"values（masculinevalues）prevailsoverthe"tender"valueswhichareassociatedwiththeroleofwomen.The"tough"/masculineculturalvaluescoversuchareasasmoney,assertiveness,performance,successandcompetition.The"tender"/femininevaluesarevalueslikequalityoflife,maintainingwarmpersonalrelationships,service,acarefortheweak,andsolidarity.Althoughrolesofwomenandmendifferfromcountrytocountry,themasculinesocietiesarecharacterizedbythelargerdifferencesbetweentheroleofmenandwomen.Themostrelevantandextremepolesonthemasculinityarelistedbelow:

Table2.3:

TheMasculinityDimensions

Feminine

Masculine

Sexrolesinsocietyaremorefluid

Sexrolesinsocietyareearlydifferentiated

Peopleandenvironmentareimportant

Moneyandthingsareimportant

Onesympathizeswiththeunfortunate

Oneadmirethesuccessfulachiever

ThemarginbetweenthescoresforDenmarkandJapanonthemasculinityrevealsalargedifferenceinrelationtothisparticularcategory.Thescoreis17forDenmark,indicatingoneofthemostfemininecountries,whereasJapanisthemostmasculinecountrywithascoreof95.

AssumingthatthevaluesofSonyismuchmoremasculinecomparedwiththatofB&O,byputtingthisintotheperspectiveofHRM-strategiesitcouldrevealitselfbyfollowing:

∙InthemanagementinB&Othereisahigherpercentageofwomen

∙WomeninSonyarenotrecievingthesameamountoftrainingasthemalecounterparts.

∙WomeninSonyaregettingalowersalarycomparedtotheirmalecounterparts

∙MenandwomenareprovidedinB&Oequalopportunitiesforpromotion

∙Sony’semployeevaluesalaryasthemostimportantmotivator

∙CompetitionwithinSonyistougherthaninB&O

∙Sonytriestocreateamorecompetitiveatmospherewithinthecompany

UncertaintyAvoidance

Thefourthdimensionislabeleduncertaintyavoidance,andreferstotheextenttowhichpeoplepreferstructuredvagainstunstructuredsituations.Astructuredsituationisonecharacterizedbymanyrules,andanindividualemployeealwaysknowswhathe/sheshouldbehaveandwhatisexpectedofhim/herinaspecificsituation.Therulescanbewrittenorunwritten,similartotraditions.Themainthingisthatindividualsareawareoftheserules.Countrieswhichscorehighonuncertaintyavoidancehavemuchnervousenergytowardstheunknown.Countrieswhichscorelowonthedimensionconsistsofpeoplethatarecharacterizedasmore"easygoing".Aweakuncertaintyavoidancecanbecharacterizedasmoreflexibleculture.

Table2.4:

TheUncertaintyAvoidanceDimension

Weakuncertaintyavoidance

Stronguncertaintyavoidance

Theuncertaintyinlifeismoreeasilyacceptedandeachdayistakenasitcomes.

Theuncertaintyinherentinlifeisfeltasacontinuousthreatthatmustbefought.

Deviationisnotconsideredthreatening;greatertoleranceisshown

Deviantpersonsandideasaredangerous;intoleranceholdssway

Thereisamorewillingnesstotakerisksinlife

Thereisgreatconcernwithsecurityinlife

TheUncertaintyavoidancedimensionindicatesalargedifferencebetweenDenmarkandJapan,andperhapsultimatelybetweenSonyandB&O.Denmarkiscategorizedasalowcertaintyavoidancecountry（ascoreof26）andJapanfallsunderthelabelofhighcertaintyavoidancecountries（ascoreof92）.

TheHRMpoliciesinB&OisreflectingalowerdegreeofuncertaintyavoidancethaninSony.SomeareasofHRMthatweareabletomeasurealowerdegreeofuncertaintyavoida