Cross-Cultural Differences - Japanese and German Management Styles from the German Perspective: Hofstede's Dimensions applied on German and Japanese Managers' Leadership Styles

MA-Thesis / Master, die am 19.06.2000 erfolgreich an einer Universität in Deutschland eingereicht wurde. Abstract: As the idea of Japan as a leader in management styles and the mythos 'collectivism' as a key to high quality performance and productivity is still in mind of German managers, this work tries to compare actual leadership styles of Japanese and German managers on the level of cultural dimensions. In the study the sample consisted of 119 persons in middle management positions (82 male and 37 female), 60 persons with work experience in Japan and 59 without experience. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding 52 leadership characteristics (e.g. the ability to assert oneself, to cooperate or to delegate) within five cultural dimensions. Participants then rated the importance of this characteristic for the specific category. Findings of the study showed significant differences in experienced and estimated management styles between the countries as well as significances regarding management traits of the german culture after working in Japan. Table of Contents: |CHAPTER ONE|9 1.1|INTRODUCTION|9 1.2|STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM|11 1.3|RESEARCH QUESTION|14 |CHAPTER TWO|15 2.1|INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND ITS CULTURAL CONTEXT|15 2.1.1|Culture|15 2.1.2|Cross-cultural Communication|22 2.2.2|Cross-cultural Management|25 2.2.3|Significance for Organization|29 2.3|SUCCESS FACTORS OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS|31 2.4|CULTURALLY COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH|35 2.4.1|Management-oriented Cultural Research|36 2.4.2|Cultural Dimensions according to Hofstede|40 2.4.2.1|Dimension of power distance|41 2.4.2.2|Dimension of collectivism versus individualism|43 2.4.2.3|Dimension of masculinity versus femininity|44 2.4.2.4|Dimension of uncertainty avoidance|46 2.4.3|The Dimension of the Confucian Dynamic|47 2.4.4|Further Dimensions of Culture|51 2.4.4.1|Basic dimensions of culture according to Adler|52 2.4.4.2|Dimensions of cultu...