The information on this coversheet will be included in Turnitin’s similarity analysis; however, your lecturers are aware of this and will disregard it.

Student Details

Student Number

Family Name Given Name

Unit Details

Unit Code MBA6150 Unit Title Working Across Culture (ON)

Name of Lecturer Dr. Alistair Campbell Due Date 28th October 2018

Topic of Assignment Project (Business Expansion Overseas) Group or Tutorial (if applicable) Group

Course Master of Human Resource Management Campus Mount Lawley

I certify that the attached assignment is my own work and that any material drawn from other sources has been acknowledged. This work has not previously been submitted for assessment in any other unit or course.Copyright in assignments remains my property. I grant permission to the University to make copies of assignments for assessment, review and/or record keeping purposes. I note that the University reserves the right to check my assignment for plagiarism. Should the reproduction of all or part of an assignment be required by the University for any purpose other than those mentioned above, appropriate authorisation will be sought from me on the relevant form.

Manual Submission

If handing in an assignment in a paper or other physical form, sign here to indicate that you have read this form, filled it in completely and that you certify as above.

Signature Date Office Use Only

Electronic Submission

O R , if submitting this paper electronically as per instructions for the unit, place an ‘X’ in the box below to indicate that you have read this form and filled it in completely and that you certify as above. Please include this page with your submission. Any responses to this submission will be sent to your ECU email address.

Agreement select check box Date

For procedures and penalties on late assignments please refer to the U n iv e r s i t y Ad m i ss i on, En r o l m ent and A c ade m i c P r og r e s s Rules - rule 24, and the ECU Course and Unit Delivery and Assessment Policy

The information on this coversheet will be included in Turnitin’s similarity analysis; however, your lecturers are aware of this and will disregard it.

Assignment Cover Sheet

The ECU English Language Proficiency Measure (Feb 2014)Levels of proficiency

Aspects of writing(Indicate with an X main area(s)needing improvement)

Low proficiency

Incorrect or inappropriate aspects of writing obscure meaning in many places.

Significant editing needed to clarify the meaning, along with extensive proofreading to correct technical errors.

Developing proficiency

Incorrect or inappropriate aspects of writing obscure meaning in some places.

Some editing needed to clarify the meaning, along with extensive proofreading to correct technical errors.

Moderate proficiency

Aspects of writing are mostly accurate. Mistakes rarely affect clarity of meaning.Minor editing needed to clarify the meaning, along with careful proofreading to correct technical errors.

High proficiency

Aspects of writing are appropriate and optimally constructed, allowing clarity of meaning.

Meaning is clear and needs only a light proofread to correct technical errors.

Sentence structure

1. sentence completeness

2. sentence length

3. phrase/clause order

4. use of conjunctions

5. word order

6. punctuation

Word use

7. word choice

8. word form

9. word omission/redundancy

10. verb tense/agreement

11. spelling

12. apostrophes

Sentence Structure

1. Sentence completeness: sentence includes subject, verb a complete thought.

2. Sentence length: length is appropriate to context or disciple

3. Phrase/clause order: parts of the sentence (phrases and clauses) are ordered logically.

4. Use of conjunctions: linking words are used correctly to show the relationship between ideas.

5. Word order: words are ordered correctly in a sentence.

6. Punctuation: the correct use of full stops, commas, semicolons, colons and capitals.

Word Use

7. Word choice: words are correct and appropriate for the context.

8. Word form: correct part of speech is used, e.g., [to] affect / [the] effect.

9. Word omission/redundancy: words should not be missing or be unnecessarily repetitive.

10. Verb tense/agreement: correct use of verbs that indicate time and correct word forms that agree grammatically with other words in the sentence.

11. Spelling: correct spelling is used.

12. Apostrophes: indicate ownership or contraction.

Executive summary

Woolmark Company was first owned by the International Wood Secretariat in 1937. Later the

company came to the ownership of Australian Wool Innovation in 2001. Australia is known for Merino

sheep and products of the wool is mainly produced for military garments to the V-neck jumper to fine

tailored suits to little black dress. Beginning from late 1930s, world’s topmost wool-manufacturing

countries resolved it was in their best interest to boost their merchandise on an international scale.

Since then, the company continued to spread the industry across the world. The study attempts to

present various factors including country specific, industry, cultural factors and Human Resource

Management practices in Japan to successfully introduce Woolmark Company in Japan. The study

found out that Merino sheep wool produced in Australia is known for its best quality in that world and

that Japanese values quality products would make it the best country to open up the wool industry.

The study indicates that to open up a business in Japan would be challenging but possible provided

Australia considers cultural differences in terms of business negotiation, business etiquette,

communication style, consumer ethnocentrism and safety and legalities.

ContentsAssignment Cover Sheet.........................................................................................................................1

Executive summary..................................................................................................................................3

Introduction................................................................................................................................................5

Country/ region specific factors...............................................................................................................6

Industry specific factors...........................................................................................................................6

Manufacturing process.........................................................................................................................6

Training..................................................................................................................................................7

Health and safety..................................................................................................................................7

Cultural factors..........................................................................................................................................7

Relationship building culture...............................................................................................................7

Language...............................................................................................................................................8

Staffing culture......................................................................................................................................8

Safety and legalities.............................................................................................................................8

Cultural differences...................................................................................................................................9

Negotiations...............................................................................................................................................9

Preparation and site selection...........................................................................................................10

Team selection....................................................................................................................................10

Opening Talk.......................................................................................................................................10

Discussion............................................................................................................................................11

Agreement...........................................................................................................................................11

HRM Practices........................................................................................................................................11

Cultural challenges.................................................................................................................................12

Communication style..........................................................................................................................13

Translation...........................................................................................................................................13

Consumer ethnocentrism...................................................................................................................13

Measures to overcome challenges.......................................................................................................14

Investment decision................................................................................................................................14

Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................15

References..............................................................................................................................................15

Introduction

Woolmark Company was first owned by the International Wood Secretariat in 1937. Later the

company came to the ownership of Australian Wool Innovation in 2001. Australia is known for Merino

sheep and products of the wool are mainly designed for military garments to the V-neck jumper to

fine tailored suits to little black dress.

Today, Woolmark brand is best-known textile quality in the world, as a result of which beginning from

late 1930s, world’s topmost wool-manufacturing countries resolved it was in their best interest to

boost their merchandise on an international scale. Since then, the company continued to spread the

industry across the world.

In this regard, the focus of the paper is to open up Australian Woolmark Company in Japan. The

study is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter deal with the country specific factors followed by

industry specific factors. The third chapter highlights about cultural factors followed by cultural

differences. The fifth chapter details about business negotiations and it is followed by a chapter on

Human Resource Management Practices(HRM). This is then followed by a chapter on cultural

challenges and finally the chapter underscores investment decisions.

Country/ region specific factors

The study considers opening up Woolmark Business in Japan for several reasons. Firstly, as per

Torrens (1947), the country desires to revitalize the growth and development of textile industry

because without adequate raw materials sometimes in the late mid-1950s, the government of Japan

has to deliberately put to an end to textile industry. Likewise, with the objective to maintain its strong

international competitiveness towards the realization of textile industry revitalization, Japanese

Textile Federation (JTF) is in the process to promote wool business in Japan (JTF, 2011). Similarly,

the fact that Japanese Government is currently making greater efforts to attract companies and

visitors from overseas, while creating a more open market reassures greater success of wool market

(JETRO, 2017) in Japan. Moreover, study carried out by (Cristiano, Liker & White III, 2000) indicate

that wool mark company produces the finest quality of wool and that Japanese consumers prefer

quality inclusive of textile products further guarantees the success of the wool mark business in

Japan.

Industry specific factors

Woolmark Company observes several industry specific factors in order to establish similar company

across the globe. Some of the key steps include manufacturing process, training and health and

safety.

Manufacturing process

The Woolmark company based in Japan will follow all the manufacturing processes done in Australia.

The main manufacturing methods will be followed to produce high quality woolen products. The

smoother yarns will be processed by worsted system and woolen system will produce high quality

yarn which will be bulky and have more texture (Woolmark, 2018)

Training

Since Woolmark is known for its authority in Marino wool quality across the globe and as the

company desires to continue to maintain its quality, Woolmark Company prefers to provide training

on technical specification for wool products and wool care products. So, technical specification

training will be provided at Japan Based Woolmark to produce textile quality fiber and also to provide

guaranteed fiber content and assurance of quality. (Innovation, 2018).

Health and safety

The Woolmark in Australia follows the shearing occupational health and safety guidelines of the state

where they are based. The company have their own occupational health and safety policies and

procedures (Wool harvesting Safety Resource Centre, 2018). Similarly, Japan also has OHS for the

textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industry sectors. They also ensure the international labour

standards through their national legislation and code of practice (JICOHS, 1999). Since both the

countries follow similar OHS at work, the new expanded Woolmark shall frame their own relevant

policies and procedures in compliance with state legislation.

Cultural factors

In order to successfully establish wool mark company in Japan, Australia need to first know Japanese

culture. Of many, Australia needs to focus in understanding key business culture including

relationship building culture, language preferences, staffing style and safety and legalities of Japan.

Relationship building culture

Chew Chye Lay (2006) found out that unlike most of the western countries, Japanese prefer

relationship building before the start of business and that can happen with a simple gift giving culture

because it represents sincerity and friendship in business. Similarly, Japanese values ceremonial

exchange of quality name cards levelled which means foreign business counterparts need a business

card whenever you meet a person in a business or professional setting (Khan,2010) and Hasegawa

(1966).  These customs are currently highly regarded in Japanese business culture as they are risk

adverse people (Chang,2006).

Language

Language is one of the other cultural factors to consider to expand business in Japan. Culturally,

Japanese come from high context-culture, Japanese prefers to use indirect but polite words to the

business counterparts basically to not hurt others (Chang, 2006). For example, instead of saying

directly “No”, Japanese use indirect and polite words including “we’ll consider”, frankly speaking”,

sorry to say...”; and you don’t understand (Chew Chye Lay, 2006) and Chang (2006). Additionally,

business counterparts need to understand that Japanese do not speak fluent English and they feel

embarrassed or uncomfortable to see the others communicating in English to them. For this,

Japanese culturally feel impressed to see own lack of understanding or English language ability

(Ojanperä, 2014). Hence, it indicates that in order to expand business in Japan, Australians business

counterparts need to learn indirect and polite ways of saying “No” and employ translator for the best

outcomes of the business interactions. 

Staffing culture

Japanese have a unique way of human resource management practices. Culturally, Japanese prefer

lifetime employment, seniority-based wage and upholds gender bias in the workplace. Which means,

if Australian wanted to expand their manufacturing business, it is important to prepare to pay the

salary for the Japanese business counterparts according to the seniority and equally important to

employ more men to women in the work place because traditionally, women are treated not equal to

men in Japanese working place (Powell, 2016). 

Safety and legalities

Japan upholds different attitude towards safety and legalities’ business culture. Although the practice

is changing, unlike most of the western countries, Japan still does not too much focus on written

business contracts between the parties involved in business. Even if there is a written form of

contract (Chew Chye Lay (2006) they would have, ambiguous, concise documents that do not spell

out specific details sufficiently to evade disputes at later periods (Rathore, Agarwal &

Agrawal,2018).  Instead, culturally, Instead, Japan values interpersonal conversation and messages.

In view of the above, it indicates that in order to expand business in Japan, Australia needs to focus

on conversational and normal messages to that of formal business contracts.

Cultural differences

For the success of Woolmark business in Japan, studies indicate that Australia needs to give due

consideration to cultural differences. Firstly, it is imperative to be aware of the fact that Japan

belongs to a high-power distance meaning they value ranking hierarchy in making decisions

(Lebaron,2003) whereas Australian people belongs to low context culture where it values equality,

freedom of speech and do not follow the rules of superiority with one another. Similarly, Japanese

people are collectivists and prefer working in groups whereas Australians are individualists they

prefer doing things individually.

Another dissimilarity that among the two cultures that needs to be concentrated is their uncertainty

avoidance. The Australian culture has a very low uncertainty avoidance which indicates they are

more exposed to diverse ideas and accept each other’s ideas and way of working whereas, the

Japanese culture is very structural, and they tend to be more anxious about determining new

concepts which makes them high context people. Japanese culture supports structured settings and

workers show a great level of commitment to a company by staying in the company for a longer

period of time (Hofstede 2001). In gist, considering the above differences would immensely help

succeed woolmark business in Japan.

Negotiations

The expansion of businesses beyond the borders now has become an inevitable part for the success

of the international entrepreneurs. However, cultural differences between the counterparties has

always been the outmost challenges in building and maintaining the good relations. If not handled

with proper planning and negotiations, cultural differences could form certain barrier in the business

communication (Nowakowski, 2005). Considering the differences, Australians need to consider the

following steps of negotiations as per (Chaney & Martin, 2014).

Preparation and site selection

The negotiation site is comparatively not important for Australian negotiators as they can accept

either over the phone or in the office. On the contrary, conducting meetings in the spacious room with

proper hierarchy sitting arrangement is necessary in the Japanese culture, where higher rank person

sit furthest from the door (Wilen, 2000) and he will be the first to exit the room after the meeting.

(Chew Chye Lay, 2006).

Team selection

Careful team selection is of paramount importance to ensure a fruitful negotiation. The negotiators

selected should possess relevant qualification in the field. Other areas to be accounted are gender,

age, social class, cooperativeness and the authoritarianism. Furthermore, the number of members on

the Japanese team could consist of four to seven. Therefore, finding out the size of other team is

recommended to balance team sizes. Moreover, one should be mindful of the power distances, that

Japanese particularly doesn’t appreciate when young person of a lower rank come to negotiate with

the top official of their company (Leaptrott, 1996).

Opening Talk

Australians believe to involve in small conversation for short while to build rapport prior to engaging

into business and the discussions are focused based on their objectives (Morrison & Conaway,

2006). But the Japanese negotiators like to cover on many topics at one time (Chaney and Martin,

2013). Therefore, the negotiators from other parties are expected to be prepared accordingly.

Discussion

Higher level of individualism in the Australian culture focus on individual achievements and rights, but

the collectivist culture of Japanese emphasis on the overall benefits of the community and the

interdependence (Hofstede Insights, 2018). Moreover, it is difficult to communicate with the Japanese

since they use complex verbal and nonverbal cues to avoid disappointing others. Silence is an

important part of nonverbal communication and informal behaviours like standing at the table,

doodling or crossing the legs are considered disrespectful.

Agreement

To close the negotiation properly is important but delays are to be expected. It is wise to keep some

considerations to continue with the negotiations even after the signing (Leaptrott, 1996). Japanese

considers signed contracts as the flexible instrument and resolve any problems found even after

signing the agreement through mutual agreement with other party.

HRM Practices

In order to successfully launch Woolmark manufacturing company and effectively manage the

business in Japan, studies show that Australia needs to be aware of typical Japanese HRM

practices.

Firstly, Australia needs to know that Japanese HRM practices is significantly influenced by Japanese

tradition and cultural believes. For example, the HRM is more governed by the philosophy of

collectivisms (Hofstede, 2018). Despite the global competitive forces, the core features such as life

time employment, enterprise unionism, seniority-based wage and promotion are evident in HRM

practices. In addition, quality management system in HRM of Japan is well known over the world.

There are also other notable practices like consensus decision-making and employee loyalty (Powell,

2016).

On the other hand, Australian HRM is rooted in the labour law and governed by individualization due

to which, the managerial strategy is shifted to non-union or co-operative enterprise (Mitchell & Fetter,

n.d). HRM focuses more on flexibility, empowerment, performance related reward, total quality

management and loyalty.

Hence, looking into the matter of HRM practices, new Woolmark company will recruit employees from

both the countries looking and come up with its own innovative and effective HRM practices to have

set of motivated and hardworking employees to penetrate the business and embrace the success.

In consistent to that, the intercultural HRM adjustment of two countries should be done for expatriate

‘s success in international business. To be effective, the company should focus on making work

adjustment by modifying on the system of interaction and other general dimensions (Kanai, 2011).

Woolmark need to merge the philosophy of collectivism and individualism. In this note, Woolmark in

Japan should introduce team work, but team member will set up their own individual roles,

responsibilities and job specification along with descriptions of reward. HR should consider providing

its employee with the options of both individual contracting and life time employment to gain loyalty.

The company should provide remuneration in the form of performance related pay and provide work

flexibility to motivate its employees.

Cultural challenges

For more than decades, the Woolmark Company was progressively executing successively not only

in their home country, but also internationally (Ekeledo & Sivakumar, 2004). However, it will be

challenging to accomplish the similar outcomes while broadening the manufacturing business in

Japan, due to massive cultural differences. On the basis of various literatures, there are numerous

cultural challenges any business would encounter in Japan. The three most significant challenges

include communication style, translation and consumer ethnocentrism. Nevertheless, Woolmark

Company in line with the studies, propose some measures that could potentially overcome these

challenges.

Communication style

Language is one of the most significant issue arises while doing business in Japan (Eckard Marchiori,

Carraher, & Stiles, 2014). Comprehending communication style becomes complex as most of them

do not speak English and those who does the speaking are not so fluent. Moreover, Japanese are

not habituated to speaking up to convey their views, as a result, communication in English

considerably becomes difficult and challenging. Hence, Japanese prefer high context communication

over directly expressed communication.

Translation

Translation can act as a resolution whenever the language becomes a problem (Kim & Peterson,

2002). The interpretation level is determined by the translator’s level of English depending upon how

much he or she understands the content. On the other hand, translation from English to Japanese

rather becomes difficult because the translated text needs to be inherent so that it is easier and

comfortable for native Japanese to perceive the actual meaning.

Consumer ethnocentrism

Japan are often considered ethnocentric. Racial coherence is their primary advantage for political

and economic system, thus over 2000 years Japan have been successful without foreign breeds. In

consistent to that, it is difficult to satisfy Japanese consumers easily, because as mentioned by March

(cited in Uzama, 2009), they have high hopes on the quality foreign products over domestic. At the

same time, Berggren and Thomas (2000) emphasised that the extraneous firms must exhibit their

consumer merchandise into the view of their customs and beliefs and societal hierarchy. Also,

consumers expect lasting commitment from the firm with constant supply of high quality products or

services to keep healthy relationship.

Measures to overcome challenges

Although, many international firms failed their business expansion in Japan due to numerous cultural

challenges, based on the existing studies and through our critical analysis these challenges can

easily overcome if the business workforce undergo training programs on cross cultural awareness

and relationship building extensively, prior to start of the business (Jianfeng, Solan & Bo, 2014). This

will not only help the company make necessary cultural adaptations, but also build interculturally

experienced and efficient manpower to successively launch new market. Moreover, as said by

(Herbig & Milam, 1994), manufacturing high quality products at sophisticated prices can elevate the

customers and gain their trust and long-term relationship.

Investment decision

Starting a business in a new site can be rough but with good ideas and hard work investing in this

project will not only increase our revenue but it will also give us an opportunity to increase our

consumer market in one of the fastest developing country. Japanese people are evolving, and

women are becoming more inspired which is making a huge improvement in their daily and

professional regime (Uzama,2009). In the past, Japanese customers have always been reluctant to

buy foreign products, but now they are gradually more exposed over the time and they are always

eager to buy stuffs from abroad. Japanese customers are extremely diverse when it comes to

comforts and interests. According to Monden (2013), Japanese people are one of the most loyal and

friendly customers. Japanese employees are very hardworking, and the labor cost is also very cheap

in comparison to Australia. Japan also has a very low employee turnover rates and employees are

very productive in the organizations as they are always willing to work extra hard for the company.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Japan offers the best place to open up Woolmark Company for the reason that there is

a huge demand of quality wool by Japanese people. The fact that Japanese Government is currently

making greater efforts to attract companies and visitors from overseas, while creating a more open

market reassures greater success of wool market. However, for the deeper penetration of wool

business, Australia needs to address typical Japanese business culture.

References

Berggren, E., & Thomas, N. (2000). Why good ideas go bust. Management Review, 89, 32.

Chaney, L., & Martin, J. (2013). Intercultural business communication (6th ed.) [6th ed.]. Pearson

Education UK. (2013). Retrieved October 27, 2018, from INSERT-MISSING-DATABASE-

NAME.

Chang, L. C. (2006). A study on Japanese culture and styles of business negotiation. Hsuan Chuang

University, Taiwan.

Chew Chye Lay, G. (2006). The Influence of Culture on Differences in Australian and Japanese

Communicative Behavior and Work Styles'. In LAUD Symposium on Intercultural Pragmatics,

Universität Duisburg-Essen

Cristiano, J. J., Liker, J. K., & White III, C. C. (2000). Customer‐driven product development through

quality function deployment in the US and Japan. Journal of Product Innovation Management:

AN INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION OF THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT &

MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, 17(4), 286-308.

Eckard Marchiori, B., E. Carraher, C., & Stiles, K. (2014). Understanding and overcoming business

etiquette differences in japan, turkey, and the united states of america. Journal of Technology

Ekeledo, I., & Sivakumar, K. (2004). International market entry mode strategies of manufacturing

firms & service firms: A resource-based perspective. International Marketing Review, 21, 68–

101.

Hasegawa, N. (1966). The Japanese character: A cultural profile. Tokyo: Kodansha International.

Herbig, P., & Milam, R. (1994). When in japan, do as the japanese do; when in rome, do as the

japanesedo. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 12(11), 26-35.

doi:10.1108/02634509410071819Management in China, 9(3), 274-288

Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and

organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.

Hofstede, G. (2018, 9 15). Country Comparision . Retrieved from Hofstede Insights:

https://www.hofstede-insights.com/

Japanese Textile Federation (2011)

JETRO (2017). Why Japan? 5 reasons to invest in Japan. Retrieved from

https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/invest/whyjapan/ch1.html

Jianfeng, W., Solan, D. and Bo, X. (2014). Cross-culture integration and global new product

development. Review of Business & Finance Studies, 5(1), 93-98.

Kanai, R. B. (2011). Challenges of Human Resource management in Japen: Chapter 6. Japan :

Routledge Contemporary Japan Series .

Khan, Y. (2010). Tips on Doing Business in Japan. Global Business Languages, 2(1), 16.

Kim, C., & Peterson, D. (2002). Cultural differences in developers' perceptions of information systems

success factors: Japan vs. the united states. Journal of Global Information Management,

10(2), 5-13. doi:10.4018/jgim.2002040101

Leaptrott, N. (1996). Rules of the game: Global business protocol. Cincinnati, OH: Thomson

Executive Press.

Lebron, M. (2003). Beyond intractability. Cultural Based Negotiation Styles, 2-12. Retrieved from

http://www.ukrmediation.com.ua/files/content/culture-based-negotiation-styles.pdf

Monden, Y. (2013). Management of service businesses in japan (Japanese management and

international studies, 9). Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific. (2013). Retrieved October 20,

2018, from INSERT-MISSING-DATABASE-NAME.

Morrison, T., & Conaway, W. (2006). Kiss, bow, or shake hands: The bestselling guide to doing

business in more than 60 countries (2nd ed.). Avon, Mass.: Adams Media.

Mitchell,R., & Fetter, J. (n.d). Human Resource Management and Individualisation in Australian

Labour Law. Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, 1-35.

Nowakowski, M. K. (2005). Biznes międzynarodowy. Od internalizacji do globalizacji (International

Business. From internalization to globalization).

Ojanperä, M. (2014). Effects of using English in Business Communication

Powell, M. (2016). Human resource management practices in Japan: Are they really changing? .

MERICI — VOLUME 2, 77-91.

Torrens, J. (1947). Japan's Textile Industry. Far Eastern Survey, 16(11), 124-127.

doi:10.2307/3023210

Uzama, A. (2009). A critical review of market entry selection and expansion into japan's market.

Journal of Global Marketing, 22(4), 279-298.

Wilen, T. (2000). International Business: A Basic Guide for Women. Xlibris Corporation.

WoolMark. (2018, 10 06). Manufacturing . Retrieved from The Woolmark Compnay :

https://www.woolmark.com/education/manufacturing/

Woolmark. (2018, 9 16). The WoolMark Company . Retrieved from Innovation :

https://www.woolmark.com/innovation/developments/