2025年-索尼的企业文化概述英文版

The culturedifferences betweenSony and BOThe focusof ourcomparative analysislies ontwo multinationalcorporationscompeting within the businessof audio-video equipment.The twocorporationsare theJapanese company,Sony,and the Danish company,BangOlufsen BO.These twocorporations werechosen primarilybecausethe twowere in the samebusiness whichsets thebasis forour comparison.Secondly,we feelthat theJapanese and theDanishculture appearto beverydissimilar.Finally,we chosethe twobecause of the accessibiliyof usefulinformationregarding them.As Sony and BOare in the samebusiness,one candiscuss tosome degree,that thesetwo companiesare competingfor samecustomer groups;Sony ishighvolume orientated,whereas BO is usinga strategyof focus.BO isdifferentiatingitself byoffering distinctiveproducts withfocus ondesign thatappealto high-scale customers.Although the two companiesare nottargetingon the same market,their businessenvironment issimilar in the aspectthatthey bothproduce highquality audio-video equipmenttargeted to the globalmarket.Because of the distinctdifference innational backgroundsof thetwoand despitesomewhat differentmarketing strategies,we believeit willbeinteresting tocompare thetwo.Power distanceThefirst dimensionin anatural culture,called Power Distance,indicatesto whatextent thesociety acceptsthat anorganizations iscontrolling the power,andtheorganization isdistributing thispower inits particularway.This beliefisreflected in the mindsof bothpowerful aswell asless powerfulmembers ofthesociety.The dimensioncan beconsidered as the degreeof inequalityamongpeople in a countrythat is accepted bythe peopleof thatspecific country.Thisranges fromrelatively equalto extremelyunequal.We havechosen the followingexamples asextreme examplesof howthe mindsetofthesociety ofa countrycouldbe.This is as saidthe extremes/therefore,almost evetybodyshould fitintosomewhere between thetwoextremes:Table

2.1:The Power Distance DimensionSmallPower DistanceLarge Power DistanceSuperiors consider subordinates to be Superiorsconsidersubordinatestobeapeople likeme.different kindof people.The powershould belegitimate andis Powerisabasic factof societythatsubject to the judgmentas towhether itisantedates goodor evil.Its legitimacyisgood orevil.irrelevant.The way to changethe asocial systemis Thewaytochange asocial systemis totoredistribute power.dethrone thosein power.The scores for thePowerDistancedimension arerespectively;20forDenmarks concern,and54for Japan.Hofstede hascategorized theresults oneverydimensions ofthe countriesinto the following threecategories:high,medium andlow.One thirdsof allthe countriesis representedin eachcategory.The resultsinthePowerDistancedimension putsDenmark intothe categoryoflow PowerDistance culture,although Denmarkis neartothecategory calledmediumin whichJapan ispresently represented.The problem-formulation listedfive hypotheses.The hypothesesare ourexpectationspertaining differencesintheHRM approachof SonyandBO,Buthow exactlywill thesedifferences revealthemselves inrelation tohumanresource management intherespective companiesand HofstedesfivedimensionsOur firsthypothesis expectsthepowerdistance inSony tobe largerthanthat in BO Weassume thiswill revealitself bythefollowingcharacteristics:•Sony has a higherpay differentialsbetween bossand employees.•Sony has more formalrelationship andformal communication.•BOs employeesgenerally havemore informalrelationship withtheiremployer.IndividualismThe seconddimension isindividualism.It concernsthe degreeto whichpeoplein acountty preferto actas anindividual oras amember ofa group.Theopposite extremeto individualismis collectivism.Collectivism ischaracterized aslowindividualism.In acollectivist-oriented cultureone learns to respect thegroup.It istypically family,organization,or clanthat servesas aplatform for agroup,and onelearnstorespectthemembers.One expectsa groupto protectthemselvesas itsmembers.As amember ofa collectivisticculture,onedifferentiates betweenin-group membersand out-group members.In countrieswith a individualisticculture,one iseducated tothink ofoneself asI insteadofn nas a partof we.One learnshow tostand onones ownfeet,and accordingly,feels avery lowloyalty tothe group.On theother hand,one alsodoesnt expectthatthe groupwill standup forone inretuen.The extremeson theIndividualism-collectivism dimension,inanegotiation perspectiveis describedinthe following:Table

2.2:The IndividualismDimensionCollectivist Indivi dualis ticFriendship arepredetermined bystableThe needis forspecific friendshipsocialrelationships,but thereis needforprestige withintheserelationships〃〃〃〃We consciousnesshold swayI consciousnesshold swayThere is emotionaldependence ofThereisemotional independenceofindividual on organizations andinstitution individualonorganizationsand institutionThereis alsoa differencebetween theIndividualism dimension.Denmarkhas scored75on this dimension.As Denmarkis consideredas ahigh individual1culture/Denmark differedsomewhat fromJapan whichonly scored46,whichindicated amedium collectivisticculture.In relation to ourhypothesis,the values of BOcompared withthat ofSony is moreindividualistic;we expectfollowing findings:•Sony is,to a higher extent,looking forpotential employeeswithteamwork-skills.•The onetime annualhiring doneby Sonycreates abelonging toagroup ofa certaingroup year.•Bonus andsalary are based onseniority anddepartment-andcompany-performance.•BOs salaryarebasedon individualperformance.•Training-sessions inSony tryto createteamwork byexcursions,parties etc.•Sony tryto occupytheir employeesin theirspare time.MasculinityThe thirddimension iscalled masculinity,and itsopposite poleis femininity,just as the collectivismwas theopposite poleto individualism.The dimensionexplainsto whatdegree thetough valuesmasculine valuesprevails overthetender valueswhich areassociated with the role of women.Then ntough/masculine culturalvalues coversuch areasas money,assertiveness,n nperformance,success andcompetition.The tender/feminine valuesare valueslikequality oflife,maintaining warmpersonal relationships,service,a careforthe weak,and solidarity.Although rolesof women and mendiffer fromcountryto country,the masculinesocieties are characterized bythe largerdifferencesbetween theroleofmenandwomen.The mostrelevant andextreme polesonthe masculinityare listedbelow:Table

2.3:The MasculinityDimensionsFeminine MasculineSexroles in society areearlySex rolesinsocietyare morefluiddifferentiatedMoney andthings areimportantPeople andenvironment areimportantOne sympathizeswiththeOne admirethe successfulachieverunfortunateThe margin betweenthescoresfor Denmark andJapan on the masculinityrevealsa large difference inrelationtothis particularcategory.The scoreis17forDenmark,indicating oneofthemost femininecountries,whereas Japanisthe mostmasculine counttywitha score of

95.Assuming thatthe valuesof Sonyis muchmore masculinecompared withthatof BO,by puttingthis intothe perspectiveof HRM-strategies itcouldreveal itselfby following:•In themanagementinBO thereisahigher percentageofwomen•Women inSony arenot recievingthesameamount oftraining asthemale counterparts.•Women inSony aregetting alower salarycompared totheirmale counterparts•Men andwomen areprovided inBO equalopportunities forpromotion•Sonys employeevalue salaryasthemost importantmotivator•Competition withinSonyistougher than inBO•Sony triesto createa morecompetitive atmospherewithin thecompanyUncertaintyAvoidanceJThe fourthdimension islabeled uncertainty avoidance,and refersto theextentto whichpeople preferstructured vagainstunstructured situations.Astructured situationis onecharacterized bymany rules,and anindividualemployee alwaysknows whathe/she shouldbehave andwhat isexpected ofhim/her ina specificsituation.The rulescan bewritten orunwritten,similar totraditions.The mainthing isthat individualsare awareof theserules.Countrieswhich score high onuncertainty avoidancehave muchnervous energytowardsthe unknown.Countries which score lowon thedimension consistsof peoplethatarecharacterized as moreeasy going”.A weakuncertainty avoidancecanbe characterizedasmoreflexible culture.Table

2.4:The UncertaintyAvoidance DimensionWeakuncertaintyavoidanceStrong uncertaintyavoidanceThe uncertaintyin lifeis moreeasily Theuncertainty inherentin lifeis feltacceptedand eachday istaken asit comes.asacontinuous threatthat mustbe fought.Deviation isnot consideredDeviant personsand ideasarethreatening;greater toleranceis showndangerous;intolerance holdsswayThere isa morewillingness totake Thereis greatconcern withsecurity inrisksin lifelifeThe Uncertaintyavoidance dimensionindicates alargedifferencebetweenDenmark andJapan,and perhapsultimately betweenSonyandBO,Denmarkis categorizedasalow certaintyavoidance countrya scoreof26and Japanfallsunder thelabel ofhigh certaintyavoidance countriesascoreof

92.The HRMpolicies inBOisreflecting alower degreeof uncertaintyavoidancethaninSony.Some areasof HRMthat weare ableto measurea lowerdegreeof uncertaintyavoidance are:•The Sonyemployee hasahigherextent ofguidance duringtraining.•Sony checksthe performanceof theiremployee morefrequently.•BOs ETDis lefttotheindividual employee.•Long-term employmentis relativelymore importantfor anemployeeof SonyJLongterm orientationThefifth andlast dimensionintheextended frameworkis long-term vs.short-term orientation.Countries whichscorehigh on this dimension valuefutureobligations,and futureopportunities.The countrieswhichscorelow canbecharacterizedasshort-term oriented.They areoriented towardsthe presentandconsider thefollowing asimportant:experience andfulfilling socialobligations.We findthefollowingthree factorsasthemost importantpolarextremes regardingto HRM.Table

2.5:Long TermOrientationLong TermOrientation ShortTerm OrientationOpportunitiesand relationshipsis Opportunitiesand relationshipsisevaluated onfuture possibilitiesevaluated onpast experienceRelationshipsis moreimportant Experienceis moreimportant thenrelationships.Opportunistic behavior is often ex-post Opportunisticbehaviorisoftenex-antethen experienceAsthisdimensionhas notyet beenmeasured inDanish corporations,wemake anassumption thatDenmark liesinbetweenHolland andGermany intheinterval of31to44,which Hofstedecategorizes asthe mediumgroup.Thedifferences betweenDenmark andJapan onthis dimensionsis relativelylarge,as Japan scores

80.Its notsurprising thatJapanscoreshigh onthisdimension,keeping inmind,this dimensionsis rootedinthevaluesofConfucius,theChinese philosopherof500BC.However,Japan doesscore lowerthan manyofthe SoutheastAsian countries.Compared toBO,Sony haslonger term orientation.But whatimplicationsdoes thishave onHRM Wethink thefollowing couldindicate alongertermorientation.BO believesthat internationalexperience outsideof thecompanyis aplusto anemployee.•Sony valuesthe importanceof employeetraining asthecompany expectsto havethe employeeforalong termSonys managementis recruitedfrom withinthe companyBOis morelikely tohire experiencedpersons.SummaryAs discussedabove,the culturaldifferences betweenDenmark andJapan arenoticeable.These differenceshavebackground inhistory,geographic influenceand severalother factors.The Japaneseculture profilecould beoveralldefined asmedium onPowerDistanceand Individualismand highontheremaining threedimensions.Denmark canbe definedas havinglow Powerdistance andlow UncertaintyAvoidance,highonIndividualism,veryfeminine andmedium termoriented.。