FUNCTIONS OF MANAGEMENT.

COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT OF JAPANESE, AMERICAN AND FILIPINO

Five Functions of Management & Leading

The five functions of management ensure the organization runs smoothly.

Effective management and leadership involve creative problem solving, motivating
employees and making sure the organization accomplishes objectives and goals. There
are five functions of management and leadership: planning, organizing, staffing,
coordinating and controlling. These functions separate the management process from
other business functions such as marketing, accounting and finance.
Planning
The planning function of management controls all the planning that allows the
organization to run smoothly. Planning involves defining a goal and determining the
most effective course of action needed to reach that goal. Typically, planning involves
flexibility, as the planner must coordinate with all levels of management and leadership
in the organization. Planning also involves knowledge of the companys resources and
the future objectives of the business.

Organizing
The organizing function of leadership controls the overall structure of the company. The
organizational structure is the foundation of a company; without this structure, the dayto-day operation of the business becomes difficult and unsuccessful. Organizing
involves designating tasks and responsibilities to employees with the specific skill sets
needed to complete the tasks. Organizing also involves developing the organizational
structure and chain of command within the company.
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Staffing
The staffing function of management controls all recruitment and personnel needs of the
organization. The main purpose of staffing is to hire the right people for the right jobs to
achieve the objectives of the organization. Staffing involves more than just recruitment;
staffing also encompasses training and development, performance appraisals,
promotions and transfers. Without the staffing function, the business would fail because
the business would not be properly staffed to meet its goals.

Coordinating
The coordinating function of leadership controls all the organizing, planning and staffing
activities of the company and ensures all activities function together for the good of the
organization. Coordinating typically takes place in meetings and other planning sessions
with the department heads of the company to ensure all departments are on the same
page in terms of objectives and goals. Coordinating involves communication,
supervision and direction by management.
Controlling
The controlling function of management is useful for ensuring all other functions of the
organization are in place and are operating successfully. Controlling involves
establishing performance standards and monitoring the output of employees to ensure
each employees performance meets those standards. The controlling process often
leads to the identification of situations and problems that need to be addressed by
creating new performance standards. The level of performance affects the success of all
aspects of the organization.

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Japanese Management Style

Japan:
Japanese management emphasizes the need for information flow from the
bottom of the company to the top. This results in senior management having a largely
supervisory rather than 'hands-on' approach. As a result, it has been noted that policy is
often originated at the middle-levels of a company before being passed upwards for
ratification. The strength of this approach is obviously that those tasked with the
implementation of decisions have been actively involved in the shaping of policy.

The higher a Japanese manager rises within an organization, the more important it is
that he appears unassuming and unambitious. Individual personality and forcefulness
are not seen as the prerequisites for effective leadership.

The key task for a Japanese manager is to provide the environment in which the group
can flourish. In order to achieve this he must be accessible at all times and willing to
share knowledge within the group. In return for this open approach, he expects team
members to keep him fully informed of developments. This reciprocity of relationship
forms the basis of good management and teamwork.

Instructions from managers can seem extremely vague to western ears and this often
causes confusion and frustration. This difficulty is caused, in no short measure, by
problems around styles of communication. As users of coded-speech (where what one
says does not necessarily correspond to what one actually means), direct, clear
instructions are not needed. The Japanese subordinate will second-guess the boss
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'wishes' to happen and react accordingly. It is, therefore, often necessary to ask for
clarification if tasks seem vague or unclear. It is better to seek clear understanding at
the outset that to allow misunderstandings to produce poor results or tensions in the
relationship.

The culture of Japanese management that is often portrayed in Western media is

generally limited to Japan's large corporations. These flagships of the economy provide
their workers with excellent salaries, secure employment, and working conditions. These
companies and their employees are the business elite of Japan. Though not as much
for the new generation, a career with such a company is the dream of many young
people in Japan but only a select few attain these jobs. Qualification for corporate
employment is limited to the few who graduate from the top thirty colleges and
universities in Japan.

Managerial style
The Japanese term "hourensou" (also rendered as Ho-Ren-So) refers to frequent
reporting, touching base and discussing -- important attributes that are said to
characterize collaboration and information flow within effective Japanese corporate
culture.[1] "Genchi Genbutsu" refers to "getting your hands dirty", to identify or solve
immediate problems and leaders are not exempt from this. Aspects of these principles
are often mistaken by western managers "micromanagement."

[2]

In contrast, these

principles are used as tools to shepherd processes.

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Mohammed Ala and William Cordeiro (1999) described the Japanese decision-making
process of ringiseido. Ringiseido provides the opportunity for equal ranking
managers or employees of a group within a company to partake in an individuals idea.
The process adheres to the Japanese cultural desire of harmony among people. The
physical action of ringiseido is referred to as the ringi decision-making process. It
fosters an environment of support and agreement for a decision once a higher ranking
manager has reviewed and accepted the recommended decision. [3]
The term of ringi has two meanings. The first meaning being of rin," submitting a
proposal to ones supervisors and receiving their approval, and "gi" meaning
deliberations and decisions. Corporate policy is not clearly defined by the executive
leadership of a Japanese company. Rather, the managers at all levels below executives
must raise decisions to the next level except for routine decisions. The process of ringi
decision-making is conducted through a document called a ringisho. The ringisho is
created and circulated by the individual who created the idea. As the ringisho reaches
a peer for review, the peer places his or her personal seal (hanko) right side up to
agree, upside down to disagree, and sideways to indicate being undecided. Once all
peers have reviewed the ringisho the peers manager reviews the ringisho and
places his or her hanko on it. The upper level managers decision is final and the
ringisho is sent back to the originator who either initiates the idea or re-evaluates,
based on the hanko of the upper level manager.[4]
Tony Kippenberger (2002) elaborates on the leadership values that are deeply rooted in
the Japanese business culture. These values were created by Konosuke Matsushita,
the prominent deceased entrepreneur of Matsushitas Electric Company, who cared
deeply for the employees of his company as if they were family. Matsushita firmly
believed that a business as large as his was responsible to help all of society prosper,
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and not simply for those that owned and ran the company to prosper. In 1933
Matsushita, during the great depression, created seven guiding principles": [5]

Service to the public by providing high-quality goods and services at

reasonable prices, we contribute to the publics well-being;

Fairness and honesty we will be fair and honest in all our business dealings
and personal conduct;

Teamwork for the common cause we will pool abilities, based on mutual trust
and respect;

Uniting effort for improvement we will constantly strive to improve our corporate
and personal performances;

Courtesy and humility we will always be cordial and modest and respect the
rights and needs of others;

Accordance with natural laws we will abide by the laws of nature and adjust to
the ever-changing conditions around us; and

Gratitude for blessings we will always be grateful for all the blessings and
kindness we have received.

The guiding principles were remarkable for their time. The seven principles are used
by Matsushitas company today and serve as principles for other Japanese companies.
Because the guiding principles are such powerful statements and an extension of the
Japanese cultural into business, the principles have been renamed the Seven Spirits of
Matsushita" to honor Matsushita.[6]
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Smaller companies
In smaller companies, an entirely different corporate culture developed. Similar to
the Meister system of Germany, new recruits are placed under skilled senior specialists
and spend years learning every technique that they have. They are trained to develop
deeper understanding of specific areas of skills instead of the broader and less deep
training that those in a larger corporation receive. They learn to produce work of high
quality using few simple tools and few or no advanced industrial tools.
Japanese women in management
As the modern cultures of the world continue to advance, cultural concepts either lose
presence or evolve with the modern concepts. Japan is experiencing such an evolution
in regard to women in the workplace and in management roles. While a main reason for
this evolution is the adoption of western influence on Japanese society, Japan is being
forced to support this evolution because it is grappling with a declining population and
lower birth rate which will lead to a smaller workforce.
According to Cloud, or Silver Linings? published in the Economist (2007), it was
reported that in 2006 Japans birth rate was 1.32 and has been below 2.1 since the
1970s. A birthrate of 2.1 is necessary to successfully maintain current population
numbers. The article described that the OECD has proven there is a positive
correlation between fertility and female employment. Thus, if an effort is made to
support females work ambitions and family desires, then women will be more willing and
likely to want to have children and families and not have to sacrifice their career in the
process. Japanese officials are not taking this information lightly. During his last year in
office, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2002-2007) began legislation to foster

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financial support for families with young children and an expansion of child-care
facilities (p.27).[7]

American Management Style

USA:
American management style can be described as individualistic in approach, in so far
as managers are accountable for the decisions made within their areas of responsibility.
Although important decisions might be discussed in open forum, the ultimate
responsibility for the consequences of the decision lies with the boss support or
seeming consensus will evaporate when things go wrong. The up side of this
accountability is, of course, the American dream that outstanding success will inevitably
bring

outstanding

rewards.

Therefore, American managers are more likely to disregard the opinions of subordinates
than managers in other, more consensus or compromise- oriented cultures. This can
obviously lead to frustrations, which can sometimes seem to boil over in meeting
situations.

(See

'Approach

to

meetings'

below.)

Titles can be very confusing within American organizations with a bewildering array of
enormously important-sounding job descriptors on offer (Executive Vice-President etc.).
Titles, in any case, tend to be a poor reflection of the relative importance of an individual
within a company. Importance is linked to power, which could be determined by a
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number of factors such as head-count responsibility, profitability of sector or strategic
importance to the organization at that point in time.
A distinction is often made between management style (around organization and
process) and leadership style (more strategic and inspirational.) Great leadership is
expected at the top of an organization rather than competent management but it can be
difficult to define what 'great leadership' actually is.

10 Cultural Contrasts between US & Japanese Companies

As I have reflected back on the last 6 months I have spent working in the U.S., there are
some cultural contrasts as well as commonality in the work environment. After
graduating college, I came to the US to work briefly and spent 4 years in a traditionally,
big company in Japan. I followed the dream of most Japanese working for a big
company. Now here, working in a fast paced company and surrounded by the equally
fast paced SF tech community, here are my thoughts on the two business cultures.

Characteristic

United States

Japan

Speed vs.

Generally U.S. companys

Japanese companys decision

Consistency

decision making is quick.

making is in stages along their

Superiors give some

corporate hierarchy. Their

great leeway to

decisions are very cautious and

subordinates so that they

conservative and sometimes

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slower than U.S. companies.
can decide and make

These stages are backed by

decisions quickly.

plenty of meetings and

Unfortunately there are

documentation. This minimizes

some errors that can

error and brings consistency at

come because of that.

all levels.
Japanese companies require

The U.S. companys roles

individual contribution to the

Roles &

are very individualized.

whole group but recognize that

Responsibilities

Contribution of individual

the whole group must succeed

for Individual vs.

is very important as linked

otherwise the individuals

Group

to company goals.

contribution has no meaning.

US Companies focus on

Japanese also focus on ROI,

Return On Investment

however, they emphasize the

(ROI) or the end result.

process on how to get there.

They dont concern

For example, they evaluate how

themselves on how it is

to create the process for the

ROI of Revenues

achieved. US companies

project so that they regard the

vs. ROI of

spend less time

cost including the value of

Relationships

establishing their process.

establishing the process in total.

Risk Takers vs.

If we ask something to

If the Japanese feel that its

Risk Adverse

achieve for them, theyll

possible to achieve most likely

cultures

say We can do it even

100%, they dont say Yes.

they thought they can do

Their agreement is careful

it 50-70% probabilities.

because they want to be

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accurate. They make sure it is
After they accepted, they

exactly 100%What the Japanese

try to achieve as close to

say is important. If they are not

100%.

right it will reflect bad on them.

Since U.S. is multicultural,

Basically a Japanese company

the company is consisted

is organized by Japanese.

of a plenty of nationalities,

Almost everyone has same

which means there are so

background to realize the

many different way to

situation so some of the

think. Almost the all

understanding is in unspoken

Heterogeneous vs.

situations, they dont

words. This is one of the

Homogeneous

progress without say

important communication skills

cultures

anything.

in Japan.

US companies aim to do

Meetings are very common in

meetings efficiently as

large companies. They value

much as they can. The

the process to agree with

Time Spent

meetings are fewer and

everyone who is related to their

Collaborating vs.

less time. If meetings are

project, so they have many

Collaborating

too plenty the people

meetings and spend a lot of time

Time Spent

seem to resist them.

in meetings.

Contacting clients by
email or on the phone

They respect meeting each

Remote vs. Face-

seems to be more natural

other face to face. It is important

to-Face

in conducting business

to them for conducting business

communications

relationships.

relationships.
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Basically the working
style is almost the same
as Japan. It is very

Most Japanese companies work

flexible, where working

regular office hours and they

from home is very normal.

dont permit working at home.

They have a cubicles for

The work environment is set like

each employee which

a school class where the head of

focuses on a persons

the department is at the top of a

Loose vs

independence-high walls,

row of desks. There are group

Structured

isolation, and

oriented- no walls, no cubicles

Working Styles

spaciousness.

and closeness.

The 401k is entirely

sponsored by employee
salary with the exception
of matching funding by

Japanese are encouraged to

companies. This system

stay in one company by the

is one of the things that

monetary rewards. These are

Self-Sponsored

does not encourage

company sponsored payments

vs. Company-

people to stay with

independent of the persons

Sponsored

companies. One

salary. The longer they stay the

Retirement

exception is the pension

higher the company sponsored

Rewards

systems in the US.

payout is to them.

Personal Life vs.

Family and personal time

In Japan, priority is on the work

Professional Life

is the priority in the US.

life. It is given work is the center

Work-Life balance is a

of life. There are many traditions

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that re-enforce this. A newcomer
to the company, hold the place
for Hanami to enjoy the cherry
blossom in Spring for drinking
with co-workers. Also a common
after-work event
is Nomikai(drinking party) and is
must. There is some

used as a very important

socializing outside of work

opportunity to communicate with

but not as a group.

each other for work.

Filipino Management Style

Philippines:
Management style tends towards the paternalistic as is often found in strongly
hierarchical cultures. However, managers need to be aware of certain strong Filipino
characteristics, which underpin personal relationships within the country.

Firstly, people are extremely careful to ensure that others do not suffer embarrassment
or any sense of shame (hiya) as a result of their own actions or their inability to meet the
expectations of others. It is considered to be very bad behavior to criticize another in
public, as this is the greatest insult that can be given. To be openly criticized in public
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results in a loss of self-esteem and personal dignity. Any attack on an individual's selfesteem may have to be revenged.

Therefore, managers are keen to treat subordinates with respect whilst, at the
same time, maintaining the dignity of the position of boss. Instructions will be given
clearly and precisely and subordinates will be expected to follow those instructions with
little or no discussion.

Secondly, relationship bonds run deep in Filipino culture and the manager expects
loyalty. In return for this loyalty the boss will look after the interests of those
subordinates. It is very much a reciprocal arrangement.

Philippines ManagementGuide
Intercultural Management - Philippines
Being a Manager in the Philippines

The business set up in the Philippines is hierarchical. Intercultural management needs

to take into account the need to maintain a formal manner and pay strict attention to
titles, positions, and hierarchical relationships. Expect to find many gatekeepers whose
job is to protect the schedule of and limit access to the ultimate decision maker. In this
relationship-driven culture, you will find it easier to make the proper contacts if a third
party who already has a relationship with the decision maker makes the introduction.

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Filipinos avoid behaviors that would make either party lose face. This leads to an
indirect communication style, so carefully watch facial expressions and body language.
This is a country where a smile may mean many different things, not all of them
positive.
Role of a Manager

Cross cultural management, when working in the Philippines, will be more successful
when bearing in mind that each person has a very distinct role within the organization
and management would not be expected to consult with lower-ranking individuals when
decision-making.
In the Philippines, as in other hierarchical societies, managers may take a somewhat
paternalistic attitude to their employees. They may demonstrate a concern for
employees that goes beyond the workplace and strictly professional concerns.
Approach to Change

The Philippines intercultural adaptability and readiness for change is apparent but
because tradition is valued, change is not readily embraced simply because it is new.
Approach to Time and Priorities

Deadlines and timescales are fluid in the Philippines. Patience will play an essential part
in successful cross cultural management.
While timescales and deadlines need to be set well in advance and reiterated carefully,
it should be understood that these will be viewed as flexible. Successful cross cultural
management may require some degree of patience.
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Global and intercultural expansion means that some managers may have a greater
appreciation of the need to enforce timescales and as such, agreed deadlines are more
likely to be met.
Decision Making

Although many businesses retain hierarchical structures, decisions are often made after
reaching a consensus of the stakeholders. Few individuals have full authority to make
binding decisions concerning anything but mundane matters.
Teamwork is becoming increasingly important in most organizations. The best ideas and
solutions often come from having many people meet to discuss an issue.
Filipino managers will praise employees, although not generally in public. Subordinates
expect their efforts to be recognized and rewarded. Most Filipinos are suspicious if
praise is excessive or undeserved.
Boss or Team Player?

This is a hierarchical culture where rank has its privileges. Decisions are reached at the
top of the company, although a great deal of time is spent building consensus prior to
reaching the decision. Managers are expected to provide their subordinates with
detailed instructions that cover any eventuality. Since they do not want to lose face (or
have shame), many Filipinos are hesitant to ask for clarification if they are uncertain
about a task. Therefore, it is a good idea to use written instructions to supplement
verbal communications whenever possible.
Managers adopt a paternalistic role towards their subordinates and guide them in both
their business and personal lives. Subordinates expect to be praised for a job well done,
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and public praise is extremely important as it heightens their self-respect. Criticism,
however, must always be done in private and must be handled diplomatically, being
careful not to make the subordinate lose face so some intercultural sensitivity will be
necessary.
Communication and Negotiation Styles

Wait to be told where to sit. This is a hierarchical culture and quite often seating
conforms to the rank of the people involved. You may never actually meet with the
decision maker or it may take several visits to do so. Decisions are made at the top of
the company. Filipinos avoid confrontation if at all possible. It is difficult for them to say
"no". Likewise, their "yes" may merely mean "perhaps". At each stage of the negotiation,
try to get agreements in writing to avoid confusion or cross cultural misinterpretation.
Decisions are often reached on the basis of feelings rather than facts, which is why it is
imperative to develop a broad network of personal relationships. Do not remove your
suit jacket unless the most important Filipino does.

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