In Japan in 1918 Konosuke Matsushita founded Matsushita Electric a consumer electronics company which is known today as Panasonic. Panasonic has offices in 58 different states and is regarded as one of the world’s largest electronics companies. ( Panasonic. 2013 )

Panasonic likewise many other Nipponese companies was established on a Confucian value system. The Confucian value system consists of three chief elements ; mutual duties. honestness and trueness. These elements form a bulk of traditional Nipponese values. ( Smits. 2010 ) Hofstede. even though his work has been criticised. recognised some important facets of Nipponese civilization. These facets included high uncertainness turning away. high maleness and a swing towards Bolshevism. These facets besides contribute mostly to traditional Nipponese values. These values were represented in such policies as lifetime employment and generous retirement fillips. ( Hofstede. 2013 )

However civilizations are dynamic. they change over clip. The major displacement in Nipponese civilization occurred during the 1990’s. which was chiefly attributed to the alteration in position of the coevals born after 1964. This alteration was apparent in 1999 when Panasonic gave its new employees a determination between different employment bundles. The first bundle gave the employees a big retirement fillip. subsidised lodging and services and company societal events. The 2nd bundle gave the employees the same fringe benefits except alternatively of a retirement fillip a larger get downing salary. The 3rd bundle gave the employees an even larger still get downing salary nevertheless none of the other benefits. In contradiction to traditional values 41 % of new employees chose the 2nd bundle. ( Hill. 2011 ) This shows a move off from high uncertainness turning away which was triggered by an addition in mean wealth and a move towards individuality.

The primary unfavorable judgment of this coevals was their deficiency of committedness to traditional Nipponese values in comparing with their parents. One of the more perceptible alterations was a switch from a collectivized civilization to a more single civilization. ( Hill. 2011 ) It has been theorised that there is a correlativity between economic development and a displacement towards an
individualistic society. This theory correlates with the article which states that a cause for the displacement is the fact that the coevals born after 1964 grew up in an economically richer society. This displacement besides affected organizational trueness in the signifier of people altering occupations with greater frequence than of all time before. ( Reiner. 1991 )

This displacement in the paradigm of Nipponese cultural values has an consequence on traditional values. The ‘modernised’ value system in consequence is polar antonym to traditional values which were achieved by a complete cultural displacement. Which in bend insinuates that the further the civilization evolves the less tradition is left in the value system. if trends current stay changeless. This displacement in cultural kineticss changes the undertones of making concern in Japan. A major alteration is traveling to be keeping of employees. This is due to the switch from Bolshevism to individuality and the lessening in personal designation based on company strata in concurrence with reduced company trueness. The deduction of this is companies are traveling to hold to construct their HR sections and happen ways to take down employee turnover to cut down preparation costs. However if tendencies continue the mean worker is traveling to hold an increased apprehension of a broad scope of markets due to legion calling alterations which allow houses entree to a greater figure of thoughts to get by with progressively dynamic concern conditions. If companies want to optimize the new cultural rules of lowered uncertainness turning away and the displacement towards individuality they are traveling to hold to promote new merchandise development and add support to research and development. ( Reid. 1999 ) Panasonic have already identified this and traveling towards a greater figure of policies in this country. Panasonic have besides identified the deficiency of traditional facets in the concern environment and have implemented policies such as ; fillips based on public presentation and the new employment bundle programs. ( Hill. 2011 ) If uncertainness turning away and individuality continue to increase to Western degrees there may be an addition in start-up companies which would increase competition in the market and perchance diminish the market portion of bing companies. These alterations could besides hold been influenced by a greater presence of western civilization within Nipponese society. However there could be the inauspicious consequence of reduced productiveness attributed to a lessening in the figure of
employees holding a personal designation with the company. decreased trueness every bit good as a move off from mutual duty and towards entitlement. This besides works in the opposite way and companies may non experience trueness or duty to Nipponese employees and alternatively off-shore operations to lower pay states in order to increase borders. ( Reid. 1999 )

Between 1986 and 1989 there was a rapid acceleration of plus monetary values in Japan. This besides caused uncontrolled recognition enlargement and money supply in add-on with overheated economic activity. Due to guess and certitude of plus monetary values. the plus monetary values began to drop in 1991 and collapsed by 1992. The plus bubble prostration lasted for more than 10 old ages and was by and large referred to as the doomed decennary for Japan. This besides led to economic stagnancy and as consequence of lower net income Nipponese households decided to pay off debts which caused a deflation spiral. ( The Economist. 2010 )

Since these events the Nipponese economic system has struggled to retrieve. Even though recent determinations by the Nipponese authorities has caused the Nikkei to retrieve somewhat it is presently approximately a 3rd of the value it was in 1990. Presently the hard currency rate in Japan is 0 % which means that altering pecuniary policy can non increase GDP. This means that for Japan to obtain a significant addition in GDP it has to increase its goods market. Japan has a debt to GDP ratio of 214 % which is the highest in the universe. ( US CIA. 2013 ) Therefore an addition in ingestion. investing or net exports is needed to progress Japans economic system. Panasonic every bit good as a figure of other companies have realised this and has moved to promote individuality. Individualism encourages entrepreneurship which presently could hike the Nipponese economic system if successful new merchandise development takes topographic point. ( Saito. 2000 )

The traditional Nipponese civilization was a benefit to Panasonic during the period of 1950 to 1980. A group oriented civilization assisted with strong teamwork between employees leting greater productiveness within the workplace. Due to the component of mutual duty in the Confucian value system policies such as lifetime employment and inexpensive lodging were seen as gifts and in reciprocation of these gifts employees worked harder. Loyalty played a big
portion in edifice strong concern public presentation. this is because employees would remain in a concern for the entireness of their calling so they were able it larn all facets of the concern and better manage it. This amongst other factors besides lead to designation with the concern by employees. alternatively of stating “I am a web developer” they would state “I am from Panasonic” . This designation encouraged employees to work harder so that their company would win. A high uncertainness turning away allowed directors to merely take a deliberate hazard when the needed to. which reduced the companies liabilities. ( Strath. 1996 )

However even though the traditional Nipponese civilization was a benefit to Panasonic in the period of 1950 to 1980 it was a liability station 1989. Even though Confucian values encourage squad work and other positive properties it discourages individuality. During this clip period due to the economic crisis in Japan Panasonic would if benefited more from an entrepreneurial thrust towards new merchandise development. A high uncertainness turning away besides meant that directors were non willing to take hazards unless they knew what the result was traveling to be. due to the economic force per unit areas and heightened gait of alteration within the concern community directors were less likely to alter things in an environment where the lone manner to last is alteration. During this clip period concern was going more dynamic due to globalization and increased rivals which meant that Panasonic needed to alter its scheme. nevertheless directors did non cognize how to make this because they had merely of all time worked in the one company and merely knew one manner of making things. Panasonic alike other Nipponese companies finally had to put people off and cut benefits due to economic conditions. These Acts of the Apostless were seen as a disregarding employee’s trueness and to a point treachery due to the strong designation with the company which caused productiveness alterations. ( Huffman. 1997 )

In the last fiscal twelvemonth Panasonic recorded a loss of 754 billion dollars and forecasts a loss of 765 billion dollars next fiscal twelvemonth. Even though there is no best civilization for a concern environment. Nipponese companies including Panasonic are move towards incorporating the current cultural alterations into their patterns in order to accomplish greater efficiency and
productiveness. The inquiry is will Nipponese civilization continue along its current tendencies or make an about face? ( Panasonic. 2013 )

Mentions
Hill. Challes. 2011. Gobal Business Today. 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill. Pp 125-128 Hofstede. Greet. 2013. Japan – Geert Hofstede. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //geert-hofstede. com/japan. hypertext markup language. [ Accessed 24 August 2013 ] . Huffman. James. 1997. Modern Japan: An Encyclopedia of History. Culture. and Nationalism ( Garland Reference Library of the Humanities ) . Edition. Routledge. The Economist ( US ) . 2010. Japan syndrome. the hereafter of Japan. ISSN 0013-0613 Volume 397. Issue 8709. p. 18 Reiner. Thomas. 1991. Bequests and Ambiguities: Postwar Fiction and Culture in West Germany and Japan. 1 Edition. Woodrow Wilson Center Press. Panasonic. 2013. Annual Report. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //panasonic. net/ir/annual/ . [ Accessed 26 August 2013 ] . Panasonic. 2013. Global Network – Panasonic. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. panasonic. com/global/global-network. hypertext markup language. [ Accessed 22 August 2013 ] . Reid. David. 1999. Changes in Japan’s Post-Bubble Business Environment: Deductions for Foreign-Afflilated Companies. Journal of International Marketing. Vol. 7. No. 3. pp. 38-63 Saito. Mitsuo. 2000. The Nipponese Economy ( Economic Ideas Leading to the twenty-first Century ) . Edition. World Scientific Pub Co Inc. Smits. Gregory. 2010. Economic Thought in Early Modern Japan ( Monies. Markets. and Finance in East Asia. 1600-1900 ) . Edition. Brill Academic Pub. Strath. Bo. 1996. The Organization of Labour Markets: Modernity. Culture and Governance in Germany. Sweden. Britain and Japan ( Routledge Explorations in Economic History ) . annotated edition Edition. Routledge. United States Central Intelligence Agency. 2013. The World Factbook. Public Debt. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. Central Intelligence Agency. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank. hypertext markup language. [ Accessed 22 August 2013 ] .