索尼企业文化概述.docx
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索尼企业文化概述
索尼企业文化概述
TheculturedifferencesbetweenSonyandB&;OThefocusofourparativeanalysisliesontwomultinationalcorporationspetingwithinthebusinessofaudio-videoequipment.ThetwocorporationsaretheJapanesepany,Sony,andtheDanishpany,Bang&;Olufsen(B&;O).Thesetwocorporationswerechosenprimarilybecausethetwowereinthesamebusinesswhichsetsthebasisforourparison.Secondly,wefeelthattheJapaneseandtheDanishcultureappeartobeverydissimilar.Finally,wechosethetwobecauseoftheaccessibiliyofusefulinformationregardingthem.AsSonyandB&;Oareinthesamebusiness,onecandiscusstosomedegree,thatthesetwopaniesarepetingforsamecustomergroups;Sonyishighvolumeorientated,whereasB&;Oisusingastrategyoffocus.B&;Oisdifferentiatingitselfbyofferingdistinctiveproductswithfocusondesignthatappealtohigh-scalecustomers.Althoughthetwopaniesarenottargetingonthesamemarket,theirbusinessenvironmentissimilarintheaspectthattheybothproducehighqualityaudio-videoequipmenttargetedtotheglobalmarket.Becauseofthedistinctdifferenceinnationalbackgroundsofthetwoanddespitesomewhatdifferentmarketingstrategies,webelieveitwillbeinterestingtoparethetwo.PowerdistanceThefirstdimensionina“natural”culture,calledPowerDistance,indicatestowhate_tentthesocietyacceptsthatanorganizationsiscontrollingthepower,andtheorganizationisdistributingthispowerinitsparticularway.Thisbeliefisreflectedinthemindsofbothpowerfulaswellaslesspowerfulmembersofthesociety.Thedimensioncanbeconsideredasthedegreeofinequalityamongpeopleinacountrythatis“accepted”bythepeopleofthatspecificcountry.Thisrangesfromrelativelyequaltoe_tremelyunequal.Wehavechosenthefollowinge_lesase_tremee_lesofhowthemindsetofthesocietyofacountrycouldbe.Thisisassaid“thee_tremes,”therefore,almosteverybodyshouldfitintosomewherebetweenthetwoe_tremes:
Table2.1:
ThePowerDistanceDimensionSmallPowerDistance
LargePowerDistance
Superiorsconsidersubordinatestobepeoplelikeme.Superiorsconsidersubordinatestobeadifferentkindofpeople.Thepowershouldbelegitimateandissubjecttothejudgmentastowhetheritisgoodorevil.Powerisabasicfactofsocietythatantedatesgoodorevil.Itslegitimacyisirrelevant.Thewaytochangetheasocialsystemistoredistributepower.Thewaytochangeasocialsystemistodethronethoseinpower.
ThescoresforthePowerDistancedimensionarerespectively;20forDenmark��sconcern,and54forJapan.Hofstedehascategorizedtheresultsoneverydimensionsofthecountriesintothefollowingthreecategories:
high,mediumandlow.Onethirdsofallthecountriesisrepresentedineachcategory.TheresultsinthePowerDistancedimensionputsDenmarkintothecategoryoflowPowerDistanceculture,althoughDenmarkisneartothecategorycalledmediuminwhichJapanispresentlyrepresented.Theproblem-formulationlistedfivehypotheses.Thehypothesesareoure_pectationspertainingdifferencesintheHRMapproachofSonyandB&;O.Buthowe_actlywillthesedifferencesrevealthemselvesinrelationtohumanresourcemanagementintherespectivepaniesandHofstede��sfivedimensions?
Ourfirsthypothesise_pectsthepowerdistanceinSonytobelargerthanthatinB&;OWeassumethiswillrevealitselfbythefollowingcharacteristics:
Sonyhasahigherpaydifferentialsbetweenbossandemployees.
munication.
;O��semployeesgenerallyhavemoreinformalrelationshipwiththeiremployer.
Individualism
Theseconddimensionisindividualism.Itconcernsthedegreetowhichpeopleinacountryprefertoactasanindividualorasamemberofagroup.Theoppositee_tremetoindividualismiscollectivism.Collectivismischaracterizedaslowindividualism.Inacollectivist-orientedcultureonelearnstorespectthegroup.Itistypicallyfamily,organization,orclanthatservesasaplatformforagroup,andonelearnstorespectthemembers.Onee_pectsagrouptoprotectthemselvesasitsmembers.Asamemberofacollectivisticculture,onedifferentiatesbetweenin-groupmembersandout-groupmembers.Incountrieswithaindividualisticculture,oneiseducatedtothinkofoneselfas“I”insteadofasapartof“we.”Onelearnshowtostandonone��sownfeet,andaccordingly,feelsaverylowloyaltytothegroup.Ontheotherhand,onealsodoesn��te_pectthatthegroupwillstandupforoneinretuen.Thee_tremesontheIndividualism-collectivismdimension,inanegotiationperspectiveisdescribedinthefollowing:
Table2.2:
TheIndividualismDimensionCollectivist
Individualistic
Friendshiparepredeterminedbystablesocialrelationships,butthereisneedforprestigewithintheseTheneedisforspecificfriendship
relationships“We”consciousnessholdsway“I”consciousnessholdswayThereisemotionaldependenceofindividualonorganizationsandinstitutionThereisemotionalindependenceofindividualonorganizationsandinstitution
ThereisalsoadifferencebetweentheIndividualismdimension.Denmarkhasscored75onthisdimension.AsDenmarkisconsideredasa“highindividualculture,”DenmarkdifferedsomewhatfromJapanwhichonlyscored46,whichindicatedamediumcollectivisticculture.
Inrelationtoourhypothesis,thevaluesofB&;OparedwiththatofSonyismoreindividualistic;wee_pectfollowingfindings:
Sonyis,toahighere_tent,lookingforpotentialemployeeswithteamwork-skills.
pany-performance.
;O��ssalaryarebasedonindividualperformance.
MasculinityThethirddimensioniscalledmasculinity,anditsoppositepoleisfemininity,justasthecollectivismwastheoppositepoletoindividualism.Thedimensione_plainstowhatdegreethe“tough”values(masculinevalues)prevailsoverthe“tender”valueswhichareassociatedwiththeroleofwomen.The“tough”/masculineculturalvaluescoversuchareasasmoney,assertiveness,performance,successandpetition.The“tender”/femininevaluesarevalueslikequalityoflife,maintainingwarmpersonalrelationships,service,acarefortheweak,andsolidarity.Althoughrolesofwomenandmendifferfromcountrytocountry,themasculinesocietiesarecharacterizedbythelargerdifferencesbetweentheroleofmenandwomen.Themostrelevantande_tremepolesonthemasculinityarelistedbelow:
Table2.3:
TheMasculinityDimensionsFeminine
Masculine
Se_rolesinsocietyaremorefluidSe_rolesinsocietyareearlydifferentiatedPeopleandenvironmentareimportantMoneyandthingsareimportantOnesympathizeswiththeunfortunateOneadmirethesuccessfulachiever
ThemarginbetweenthescoresforDenmarkandJapanonthemasculinityrevealsalargedifferenceinrelationtothisparticularcategory.Thescoreis17forDenmark,indicatingoneofthemostfemininecountries,whereasJapanisthemostmasculinecountrywithascoreof95.
AssumingthatthevaluesofSonyismuchmoremasculineparedwiththatofB&;O,byputtingthisintotheperspectiveofHRM-strategiesitcouldrevealitselfbyfollowing:
InthemanagementinB&;Othereisahigherpercentageofwomen
paredtotheirmalecounterparts
;Oequalopportunitiesforpromotion
��semployeevaluesalaryasthemostimportantmotivator
petitionwithinSonyistougherthaninB&;O
petitiveatmospherewithinthepany
UncertaintyAvoidanceThefourthdimensionislabeleduncertaintyavoidance,andreferstothee_tenttowhichpeoplepreferstructuredvagainstunstructuredsituations.Astructuredsituationisonecharacterizedbymanyrules,andanindividualemployeealwaysknowswhathe/sheshouldbehaveandwhatise_pectedofhim/herinaspecificsituation.Therulescanbewrittenorunwritten,similartotraditions.Themainthingisthatindividualsareawareoftheserules.Countrieswhichscorehighonuncertaintyavoidancehavemuchnervousenergytowardstheunknown.Countrieswhichscorelowonthedimensionconsistsofpeoplethatarecharacterizedasmore“easygoing”.Aweakuncertaintyavoidancecanbecharacterizedasmorefle_ibleculture.
Table2.4:
TheUncertaintyAvoidanceDimension
Weakuncertaintyavoidance
Stronguncertaintyavoidance
Theuncertaintyinlifeismoreeasilyacceptedandeachdayistakenasites.Theuncertaintyinherentinlifeisfeltasacontinuousthreatthatmustbefought.Deviationisnotconsideredthreatening;greatertoleranceisshownDeviantpersonsandideasaredangerous;intoleranceholdsswayThereisamorewillingnesstotakerisksinlifeThereisgreatconcernwithsecurityinlife
TheUncertaintyavoidancedimensionindicatesalargedifferencebetweenDenmarkandJapan,andperhapsultimatelybetweenSonyandB&;O.Denmarkiscategorizedasalowcertaintyavoidancecountry(ascoreof26)andJapanfallsunderthelabelofhighcertaintyavoidancecountries(ascoreof92).
TheHRMpoliciesinB&;OisreflectingalowerdegreeofuncertaintyavoidancethaninSony.SomeareasofHRMthatweareabletomeasurealowerdegreeofuncertaintyavoidanceare:
TheSonyemployeehasahighere_tentofguidanceduringtraining.
;O��sETDislefttotheindividualemployee.
LongtermorientationThefifthandlastdimensioninthe“e_tended”frameworkislong-termvs.short-termorientation.Countrieswhichscorehighonthisdimensionvaluefutureobligations,andfutureopportunities.Thecountrieswhichscorelowcanbecharacterizedasshort-termoriented.Theyareorientedtowardsthepresentandconsiderthefollowingasimportant:
e_perienceandfulfillingsocialobligations.
Wefindthefollowingthreefactorsasthemostimportantpolare_tremesregardingtoHRM.