Gung Ho
Morgan York April 4, 2014 Gung Ho
The film Gung Ho portrays the takeover of an American car plant by a Japanese corporation. The auto plant resides in Hadleyville, Pennsylvania and the plant supplied most of the town’s jobs. When the auto plant had shut down for nine months, the town relied on Hunt Stevenson to convince the Assan Motors Corporation to reopen the plant. When the Japanese arrived in Pennsylvania to begin work in the auto plant, things took an unexpected turn. Due to a conflict in leadership styles, cultures, sociological characteristics and diverse mentalities, the American’s and Japanese were both in for a rude awakening when what they thought what would be a prosperous business venture, turned into an utter failure on both accounts. The characteristics displayed in Gung Ho of the American worker compared to the Japanese worker speak wonders in how different cultures have such a profound effect on leadership and management processes. To the Japanese, work comes before everything. Their standards of efficiency and quality seem nothing short of impossible in the American’s eyes. One major contrast in cultures was displayed when the Japanese bathe together in the river and when they eat their lunches together with chopsticks. Despite the Japanese strict authoritative leadership style, American characteristics could not be more opposite. Through out Gung Ho, American workers display a poor work ethic, along with a lazy attitude toward quality control. It was also apparent in the film that the Americans had the mentality that they were the best, even if they really were not, and took a lot of pride in being American. Leaders shape our nation, communities, and organizations. We are in need of good leaders to help guide us and make the essential large-scale decisions that keep the world moving (ASTD Staff, 2013). How these sociological characteristics displayed in Gung Ho impacted the leadership and management processes within the automobile
The film Gung Ho portrays the takeover of an American car plant by a Japanese corporation. The auto plant resides in Hadleyville, Pennsylvania and the plant supplied most of the town’s jobs. When the auto plant had shut down for nine months, the town relied on Hunt Stevenson to convince the Assan Motors Corporation to reopen the plant. When the Japanese arrived in Pennsylvania to begin work in the auto plant, things took an unexpected turn. Due to a conflict in leadership styles, cultures, sociological characteristics and diverse mentalities, the American’s and Japanese were both in for a rude awakening when what they thought what would be a prosperous business venture, turned into an utter failure on both accounts. The characteristics displayed in Gung Ho of the American worker compared to the Japanese worker speak wonders in how different cultures have such a profound effect on leadership and management processes. To the Japanese, work comes before everything. Their standards of efficiency and quality seem nothing short of impossible in the American’s eyes. One major contrast in cultures was displayed when the Japanese bathe together in the river and when they eat their lunches together with chopsticks. Despite the Japanese strict authoritative leadership style, American characteristics could not be more opposite. Through out Gung Ho, American workers display a poor work ethic, along with a lazy attitude toward quality control. It was also apparent in the film that the Americans had the mentality that they were the best, even if they really were not, and took a lot of pride in being American. Leaders shape our nation, communities, and organizations. We are in need of good leaders to help guide us and make the essential large-scale decisions that keep the world moving (ASTD Staff, 2013). How these sociological characteristics displayed in Gung Ho impacted the leadership and management processes within the automobile