Japanese Team
The effectiveness of management styles varies across cultural boundaries. Whereas every manager regardless of culture must make decisions, delegate tasks and analyze various approaches to situations, the way that the manager approaches the conflict is determined by their own cultural background. Although the majority of management theories have been developed in the United States, each country alters their core management behaviors to tailor to the culture’s core values.
For example, in Japan …. 

Japanese Scenario –
In the virtual meeting with the Japanese group our firm must hold a meeting with the entire Japanese team. Since Japan is a collectivist society, it is beyond belief that an individual will make a decision for the group. Therefore, the Japanese team asks that every person on the team be involved in the meeting and the decision making.

• Group (assigned in class) must decide how they are going to incorporate every team member into the discussion. They must consider purchasing webcams and/or certain software (Cisco’s Telepresence) to include every person on the meeting.

In addition, they refuse to deal with the associate that has been assigned to their account. The Japanese representative demands that the president of the firm be present in the discussion since the coaches of the Japanese Olympic team will be present.

• This causes many problems for our firm because our president is not an easy man/woman to tract down. Additionally, our president is not familiar with the objective that we are trying to accomplish and we must educate/brief him or her on the Japanese client.

In dealing with some of the details of their accommodations, the Japanese team wishes to stay together in one room. Since most hotels in the United States only allow you to have 2-4 people per room in most cases, and consider it a fire hazard to have more than 6 people in one room, there is a problem.

• Our firm suggests to Japan that you can reserve the rooms for everyone, and all stay in one room to sleep. Japan refuses to pay for rooms they are not using, but 15 people cannot check in to one room.

Some of the food that the Japanese team is requesting is not locally accessible. They are demanding that certain lucky foods be present in the hotel.

• Our firm must figure out how to acquire these rare foods. Will we order them?