Economic Models - Convex Optimization

Toward a Theory of Japanese Organizational Culture 139
norms, and behavior patterns, which promotes higher level of achievements
(Kilman et al., 1985; Marcoulides and Heck, 1993; Schein, 1997).
Organizational culture, for a large and geographically dispersed organization,
may have many different cultures. According to Kotter and Heskett
(1992), leaders create certain vision or philosophy and business strategy
for the company. A corporate culture emerges that reflects the vision and
strategy of the leaders and experiences they had while implementing these
strategies. However, the question is whether it is valid for every NC.
A combination of MAVs, MEVs, and MIVs creates a specific OC,
which varies from country to country according to their differences in
NC. Hofstede (1980; 1985; 1990; 1993) showed the relationship between
NC and OC. Global leadership and organizational behavior effectiveness
(GLOBE) research project has tried to identify the relationships among
leadership, social culture, and OC (House, 1999).
Cameron and Quinn (1999) have mentioned that the most important
competitive advantage of a company is its OC. If an organization
has a “strong culture” with “well-integrated and an effective” set of values,
beliefs, and behaviors, it normally demonstrates high level of CPs
(Ouchi, 1981).
Denison and Mishra (1995) have attempted to relate OC and performances
based on different characteristics of the OC. However, different
types of OC enhance different types of business (Kotter and Heskett, 1992).
There is no single cultural formula for long-run effectiveness. As Siehl and
Martin (1988) have observed, culture may serve as a filter for factors that
influence the performance of an organization. These factors are different for
different organizations. Thus, a thorough analysis regarding the relationship
between culture and performances is essential.
3. Japanese National and Organizational Culture
Japanese firms are considered to be of a family unit with long-term orientations
for HRM and with close ties with other like-minded firms,
banks, and the government. The OC promotes loyalty, harmony, hard
work, self-sacrifice, and consensus decision-making. These, along with
lifetime employment and seniority-based promotions, are considered to
be the natural outcome of the Japanese NC. (Ikeda, 1987; Imai, 1986;
Ouchi, 1981). Japanese workers’ psychological dependency on companies
emerges from their intimate dependent relationships with the society and the
nation.