Panasonic and Japans Changing Culture
Panasonic and Japans Changing Culture
In Japan in 1918 Konosuke Matsushita founded Matsushita Electric a consumer electronics company which is known today as Panasonic. Panasonic has offices in 58 different countries and is regarded as one of the world’s largest electronics companies. (Panasonic, 2013)
Panasonic alike many other Japanese companies was established on a Confucian value system. The Confucian value system consists of three main elements; reciprocal obligations, honesty and loyalty. These elements form a majority of traditional Japanese values. (Smits, 2010) Hofstede, even though his work has been criticised, recognised some significant aspects of Japanese culture. These aspects included high uncertainty avoidance, high masculinity and a swing towards collectivism. These aspects also contribute largely to traditional Japanese values. These values were represented in such policies as lifetime employment and generous retirement bonuses. (Hofstede, 2013)
However cultures are dynamic, they change over time. The major shift in Japanese culture occurred during the 1990’s, which was mainly attributed to the change in perspective of the generation born after 1964. This change was evident in 1999 when Panasonic gave its new employees a decision between different employment packages. The first package gave the employees a large retirement bonus, subsidised housing and services and company social events. The second package gave the employees the same perks except instead of a retirement bonus a larger starting salary. The third package gave the employees an even larger still starting salary however none of the other benefits. In contradiction to traditional values 41% of new employees chose the second package. (Hill, 2011) This shows a move away from high uncertainty avoidance which was triggered by an increase in average wealth and a move towards individualism.
The primary criticism of this generation was their lack of commitment to traditional
In Japan in 1918 Konosuke Matsushita founded Matsushita Electric a consumer electronics company which is known today as Panasonic. Panasonic has offices in 58 different countries and is regarded as one of the world’s largest electronics companies. (Panasonic, 2013)
Panasonic alike many other Japanese companies was established on a Confucian value system. The Confucian value system consists of three main elements; reciprocal obligations, honesty and loyalty. These elements form a majority of traditional Japanese values. (Smits, 2010) Hofstede, even though his work has been criticised, recognised some significant aspects of Japanese culture. These aspects included high uncertainty avoidance, high masculinity and a swing towards collectivism. These aspects also contribute largely to traditional Japanese values. These values were represented in such policies as lifetime employment and generous retirement bonuses. (Hofstede, 2013)
However cultures are dynamic, they change over time. The major shift in Japanese culture occurred during the 1990’s, which was mainly attributed to the change in perspective of the generation born after 1964. This change was evident in 1999 when Panasonic gave its new employees a decision between different employment packages. The first package gave the employees a large retirement bonus, subsidised housing and services and company social events. The second package gave the employees the same perks except instead of a retirement bonus a larger starting salary. The third package gave the employees an even larger still starting salary however none of the other benefits. In contradiction to traditional values 41% of new employees chose the second package. (Hill, 2011) This shows a move away from high uncertainty avoidance which was triggered by an increase in average wealth and a move towards individualism.
The primary criticism of this generation was their lack of commitment to traditional
References: Hill, Challes. 2011. Gobal Business Today. 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill. Pp 125-128 Hofstede, Greet Huffman, James. 1997. Modern Japan: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Nationalism (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities). Edition. Routledge. The Economist (US). 2010. Japan syndrome, the future of Japan. ISSN 0013-0613 Volume 397, Issue 8709, p. 18 Reiner, Thomas Panasonic. 2013. Annual Report. [ONLINE] Available at: http://panasonic.net/ir/annual/. [Accessed 26 August 2013]. Panasonic. 2013. Global Network - Panasonic. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.panasonic.com/global/global-network.html. [Accessed 22 August 2013]. Reid, David. 1999. Changes in Japan’s Post-Bubble Business Environment: Implications for Foreign-Afflilated Companies. Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 38-63 Saito, Mitsuo Smits, Gregory. 2010. Economic Thought in Early Modern Japan (Monies, Markets, and Finance in East Asia, 1600-1900). Edition. Brill Academic Pub. Strath, Bo. 1996. The Organization of Labour Markets: Modernity, Culture and Governance in Germany, Sweden, Britain and Japan (Routledge Explorations in Economic History). annotated edition Edition. Routledge. United States Central Intelligence Agency. 2013. The World Factbook, Public Debt. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html. [Accessed 22 August 2013].