Case study of yellow auto company Essay

Kelly and two other westerners make believeing in lacquer on the putting surface course of instruction had a dispute with their lacquerese executive chopine over sick leave. This report aims to analyze the decisions and issues in the case require from a personality and value perspective.The key decisions set are in relation to enlisting, contr prompt and learn. The thousand program did not require the lift candidates to bugger off any noesis of Nipponese. The salaries received by the spirt participants wereconsidered dirty by their Nipponese colleagues. The contract received by the JET participants were equivocal and imprecise. In appendix, the lacquerese employees in the host institution expect the foreigners to work like the Nipponese quite a than following the terms of their contract. The program provided pre-departure preparation for JET participants, alone did not provide the same level of study for Japanese employees on how to work with foreigners.Base d on Hofstedes Framework, it is tack that the weaknesses of the decisions were primarily due to the differences in determine of Japanese and western cultures. Japan is a society with high male monarch distance, passing high hesitancy escape, unfluctuating collectivism, strong maleness and a semipermanent vision, whereas western societies fool almost the opposite determine. The agedity-based salary system, lifetime practice, the expectation to conform to friendly norms, dedication to work, loyalty to the employers and a male-dominated workplace are wholly features of the Japanese management system that the JET participants were unaware of.It is recommended that the JET program measure its enlisting policy to entangle Japanese as a dictatorial requirement for candidates, and adjust the salary mail boat to reflect the seniority-based culture. It is also recommended to selective service a rigorous contract to avoid any ambiguity. In addition to making the pre-departur e training compulsory, Japanese employees should receive the same level of compensate- pagan training. Moreover, better Personality-Job check and Person-Organization fit may be achieved if applicants personalities are taken into account in the recruitment process.- 7 1. accessKelly, Mark, Andrea and Suzanne, any in their 20s, were hired by the JET program to work in Japan. During their placement, there was a bitter dispute among them and Mr. Higashi, the supervisor of the foreign JET participants, over sick leave. This report aims to research the unfavourabledecisions and issues in this case from a personality and values perspective. Firstly, the critical decisions regarding recruitment, contract and training will be analyse. Secondly, there will be a discussion of the issues in case culture, values and personality. Finally, recommendations will be provided to facilitate future improvement.2. CRITICAL DECISIONS2.1 Key Decision 1 enlistingThe JET program made the decision o f hiring native English speakers to answer in foreign language article of faith in Japan. The positions of Coordinator for International dealings (CIR) and Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) both required the candidates to have a university degree and an interest in Japan. CIRs were required to have a utilitarian cognition of Japanese, but ALTs were not required to do so. The above recruitment decision recognized the importance of native-speakers in foreign language teaching and the educational background of the candidates, however, the leave out of Japanese language requirement for ALTs was a fundamental flaw in the recruitment decision. This language barrier caused difficulty in communication betwixt the Japanese employees and JET participants. In addition, Mr. Higashi had to act as an interpreter because he was the only person who could speak English.Kelly, Mark, Andrea and Suzanne were teenaged and in insured, yet they were salaried the same salary as Japanese supervisors in the host institution. According to Adhikari (2005) and Hofstede (1993), Japan has a unique culture in which employees salaries are based on seniority rather than position. It is therefore unsurprising that the Japanese employees, all worked for more than 20 years in their career, entangle uncomfortable around the salary of the JET participants. 2.2 Key Decision 2 ContractAll the JET participants in the office had a bar North American contract which set out the workings hours, human action of spend days and sick leave they were entitled to. However later Kelly, Mark and Suzanne fell ill, they wereforced to use 2 paid vacation days rather than sick leave, which caused a serious tension amidst the JETs and Mr. Higashi.The strength of the contract was that it stated a set of rules for the JET participants to follow, but the weakness was that it was not rigorously written. Shaules (2008) argues that western contracts are explicit and detailed, whereas Japanese contracts can be flexible and open to interpretation. This cultural difference is reflected in the contract received by the JET participants.The definitions of paid leave, paid passs and redundant holidays were ambiguous and they interpretmed to be used interchangeably within the contract. department 1 of Article 11 says that the JET participants are entitled to 20 paid holidays, but Section 3 of Article 12 says that the finical holidays (including sick leave) are paid holidays. Depending on the interpretation of paid holidays and special holidays, these two clauses either contradict with each other or take over themselves.Apart from the wording of the contract, the ability to honour the contract was also problematic. Although the JET participants acted within the terms of their contract, their Japanese colleagues still expected them to stay recent 5pm on weekdays and work on Saturdays. The contract said that a sophisticates certificate was only required if the JET participants took three or more consecutive days of sick leave, but Mr. Higashi asked Kelly to bring in the note even though she only took 2 days sick leave. 2.3 Key Decision 3 TrainingThe Conference of local anaesthetic Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) provided the JET participants with lots of information about working and living in Japan, and offered pre-departure training sessions about life in Japan and its potential problems.The strength of the above decision was that it recognized the cultural differences of Japan and western countries and the challenges faced by those JET participants working in Japan. The weaknesses of the decision were thatit did not make the pre-departure training sessions compulsory, and it did not offer corresponding training sessions for Japanese employees on the cultural differences and problems of working with westerners.The consequences of the above weaknesses were that Kelly establish herself in unfamiliar and difficult situations because she had no ex perience or knowledge of the Japanese workplace. Had she attended the training sessions, she would have been better prepared for the difficulties of working in another country. Similarly, due to poor knowledge and understanding, the Japanese colleagues disapproved the lack of commitment of the JET participants, and did not know how to deal with them in an in force(p) and harmonious manner. If the Japanese employees had received training on working with westerners, they would have had a better working relationship with the JET participants.3. ISSUES3.1 National Cultures and valueThe weaknesses of the key decisions discussed in Section 2 mainly grow from the differences in national cultures and values. Hofstedes (1980, 1983, 1991, 1993, 2001) Framework for Assessing Cultures provides a theoretical ground for cross cultural management and research. The framework identified five value dimensions of national culture power distance, uncertainty evasion, individualism/collectivism, masc ulinity/femininity, and long/ short-run orientation. The GLOBE Framework (House, et al., 2001 House, Javidan and Dorfman, 2002 Javidan, et al., 2005 Robbins and Judge, 2007) further extended Hofstedes Framework to include assertiveness, in-group collectivism, performance orientation and humane orientation.Because the JET participants in the case playing field came from Canada, Great Britain and United States, the western cultures and values discussed below will summons to these specific countries. According to Hofstedes (2001) findings, Japan has a higher power distance than western cultures, although the difference is not significant. However, Japan ranked notably higher inuncertainty avoidance, collectivism, masculinity and long-term orientation. 3.1.1 Power durationJapan has a seniority-based promotion and reward management system and a highly hierarchical society in general (Adhikari, 2005 Oishi, et al. 2005 Shaules 2008). This is mainly lickd by the Confucian values which emphasize hierarchy and harmony. Mr. Higashi acted more like a bugger off than a manager, because in a traditional Confucian family, the father is the head and always at the top of the hierarchy. Unaware of these Japanese values, the JET participants constantly challenged the authority of their supervisors. As a result, the Japanese employees working at the senior level were annoyed that these inexperienced young foreigners were hired to dissever them how to do their jobs. Moreover, paying a manager-level salary to these young foreigners were also against the Japanese norm of a seniority-based salary system. 3.1.2 Uncertainty AvoidanceAdhikari (2005), Brightman (2005) and Shaules (2008) all represent that Japanese culture expects everyone to conform to brotherly norms and discourages individualism. This confirms the high uncertainty avoidance in Japanese society as claimed by Hofstede. Uncertainty avoidance was the reason wherefore Mr. Higashi insisted to deal with the foreign JETS in the Japanese way. Because Mr. Higashi had lived all his life in Japan, the belief of conforming to social norms was deeply rooted in him. Shaules (2008) asserts that Japanese prefer to resolve conflicts in an indirect and negotiate manner, whereas westerners tend to adopt a direct rule-based approach. This explains why the JET participants clear referred to the contract and tried to resolve the sick leave issue with Mr. Higashi in a direct manner. On the other hand, even though Mr. Higashi was extremely agitated, he still chose to resolve the matter through the accountant rather than clarifying it there and then. 3.1.3 CollectivismVarious literature (Adhikari, 2005 Brightman, 2005 Javidan et al., 2005 Lucier et al., 1992 Oishi et al., 2005 Shaules, 2008 Wang et al., 2005) claims that Japan is a highly collective society, which mode that the needs of a group are always viewed as more important than individual needs, andindividuals are expected to sacrifice their own needs if there is a conflict between them. On the contrary, western societies tend to encourage individualism (Hofstede, 1991 Javidan et al., 2005). Scholars believe that the strong level of collectivism in Japan is due to the influence of Confucian values, which emphasize group orientation, relationships between individuals and showing respect (Fang, 2003, Wang et al., 2005 Yan, 2004). This explains why Japanese employees are so dedicated to their work and have great loyalty to their employers, whereas the JET participants prefer to use every single day of their holiday and fulfil their personal goals. 3.1.4 MasculinityJapan ranked No.1 in masculinity in Hofstedes (2001) findings. Women often leave their work to look after(prenominal) the family after getting married, therefore, very few women work at the senior management level in Japan (Adhikari, 2005 Kei et al., 2010). This was the reason why all senior Japanese employees in the JET program were men. This also explains why Mr. Higash i kept asking Kelly to sign up to flower arranging classes or tea ceremony, as these were traditionally considered womens activities. 3.1.5 Long-term OrientationJapan has a long-term oriented culture whereas western cultures tend to be short-term oriented (Lucier et al., 1992 Fang, 2003). One of the key characteristics of Japanese-style management is lifetime employment (Adhikari, 2005 Lucier et al., 1992). This was why the Japanese employees and supervisors all complained that the JET participants were never long abounding to become part of the team, as they viewed the organization as a long-term family. On the other hand, Kelly had a short-term aim to make money, see the other part of the world and improve her Japanese. With this mismatch between the goals of the Japanese and western employees, neither of them could understand each other. 3.2 PersonalityThe long volt Model identified five factors of personality extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and ope nness to experience (Robbins and Judge, 2007 Roccas et al., 2002). It was clear that the JET participants and the Japanese employees had very different personalities. For example, Mark is an draw in who prefers to work alone, whereas mostJapanese employees tend to be extroverts who enjoy social gatherings after work. Mr. Higashi and other Japanese employees are highly conscientious whereas the JET participants are less so. The JET participants have lower emotional constancy because they tend to get angry and distressed easily.In order to affix employee job satisfaction and reduce turnover, Holland (1996) and Gardner et al. (2012) promote the theory of Personality-Job fit and Person-Organization fit. This means to fit an individuals personality with the characteristics of the job and the organization. The JET program should learn from the issues identified in this report and aim to increase the Personality-Job fit and Person-Organization fit in its future recruitment process.4. CO NCLUSIONThis report analyzed the critical decisions and issues in the case study from a personality and values perspective. The analysis was mainly based on Hofstedes Framework, together with the Big Five Model, GLOBE Framework and Hollands Person-Job Fit theory. It has been identified that the weaknesses of the decisions were mainly due to the lack of mutual understanding in culture and values. disparate personalities also affected the harmony of the work relationship in this case. The undermentioned section will list the recommended actions in order to overcome the weaknesses identified in the analysis.5. RECOMMENDATIONSThe JET program is advised to take the following actions1. to uncover Japanese language requirements for all JET participants 2. to assess the applicants personality in order to increase Personality-Job fit and Person-Organization fit 3. to revise the remuneration package of JET participants so that they receive less salary than the Japanese supervisors 4. to c onstitute a lawyer experienced in employment contract to limn a detailed and rigorous contract 5. to make pre-departure training and orientation a compulsory requirement for JET participants 6. to provide cross-cultural training to Japanese employees 7. to consider extending themaximum term of the JET participants contract or even consider offering permanent positions.- 7 REFERENCESAdhikari, D. R. (2005) National Factors and practice session Relations in Japan, Japan Institute of Labour Policy and Training, Tokyo. functional from accessed 30/10/2013.Brightman, J.D. 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