Matsushita Electric
Matsushita Electric
Team Chihuahua
September 17, 2014
1. The most difficult tenant to implement is the second tenant. The tenant essentially states that Matsushita promises to promote business in accordance with the host country’s policies, and for the management policy to be understood by the employees of the host countries.
This was difficult to implement because considering the other countries that they do business in as “host countries” causes a problem because this causes a “clear-cut” distinction between the countries, when they should in fact be working together.
In the case, it says that the non-Japanese new hires are forced to wait 6 months after being hired to attend an introduction program (p. 152). This is not treating all employees as equal and causes a rift between Japanese and non-Japanese managers.
The management philosophy used by Matsushita is also very complex and hard for non-Japanese managers to understand, when different management techniques should be used depending on the culture being managed.
This is referred to as ethnocentric globalism, which implies that the Japanese are looking at globalization from the standards and customs of its own culture (p. 152).
“Too much looking down from the top” (p. 152)
“Mistrust of non-Japanese Managers” (p.153)
“Rice paper ceiling”: refers to the inability for non-Japanese managers to advance because of the existence of cultural and organizational barriers. (p. 153)
2. Matsushita has failed to make the “host” countries understand the management philosophy generally by not being inclusive to non-Japanese employees.
Matsushita’s mission statement states that the company will contribute for better human rights, diversity and equality of employment. However, out of the 58 operations in Europe, there are only 8 non-Japanese managers (p. 153). This is an example of inequality.
The company should have allowed the European managers to “run the show” and trust them the same amount as they trusted their
Team Chihuahua
September 17, 2014
1. The most difficult tenant to implement is the second tenant. The tenant essentially states that Matsushita promises to promote business in accordance with the host country’s policies, and for the management policy to be understood by the employees of the host countries.
This was difficult to implement because considering the other countries that they do business in as “host countries” causes a problem because this causes a “clear-cut” distinction between the countries, when they should in fact be working together.
In the case, it says that the non-Japanese new hires are forced to wait 6 months after being hired to attend an introduction program (p. 152). This is not treating all employees as equal and causes a rift between Japanese and non-Japanese managers.
The management philosophy used by Matsushita is also very complex and hard for non-Japanese managers to understand, when different management techniques should be used depending on the culture being managed.
This is referred to as ethnocentric globalism, which implies that the Japanese are looking at globalization from the standards and customs of its own culture (p. 152).
“Too much looking down from the top” (p. 152)
“Mistrust of non-Japanese Managers” (p.153)
“Rice paper ceiling”: refers to the inability for non-Japanese managers to advance because of the existence of cultural and organizational barriers. (p. 153)
2. Matsushita has failed to make the “host” countries understand the management philosophy generally by not being inclusive to non-Japanese employees.
Matsushita’s mission statement states that the company will contribute for better human rights, diversity and equality of employment. However, out of the 58 operations in Europe, there are only 8 non-Japanese managers (p. 153). This is an example of inequality.
The company should have allowed the European managers to “run the show” and trust them the same amount as they trusted their