Masanori works for a Japanese company with its headquarters in Tokyo. He was rec
ID: 463833 • Letter: M
Question
Masanori works for a Japanese company with its headquarters in Tokyo. He was recently promoted to director of the international marketing department. He is now leading a team of employees located around the world. Although Masanori is feeling a little nervous in his new role, he is very excited about the opportunities he has to travel overseas and is determined to work hard so he can be successful. Masanori's first business trip is to Omaha, NE, where he is participating in a series of meetings with senior leadership to develop global strategy. Due to the importance of the topic, the meetings are scheduled to last for a full week. Although English is his second language, Masanori can communicate quite well, and he understands most of what is being discussed during the meetings. He actively socializes with his new colleagues during breaks and is delighted to have been invited to participate in happy hour two nights in a row. On the last day of the session, as the final draft of new global strategy is being reviewed, Masanori speaks up. This is the first time he has contributed to the discussions since the meetings began. His voice is a little meek. He apologetically offers his input into one part of the new strategy, which happens to be a critical point that is key to the strategy's success. When he finishes speaking, silence fills the room. Suddenly, the meeting facilitator, one of the new colleagues with whom Masanori spent happy hour, turns to him and says, "Why are you speaking up now? You should have mentioned these things when we first started this discussion!" Masanori is shocked. Be sure to include answers to these questions in your response: From an intercultural communication perspective, describe what happened. What is the problem? What accounts for this cultural misunderstanding? What beliefs or values underlie Masanori's behavior and the differences in reactions?
Explanation / Answer
Masanori belongs to Japanese culture where active listening and understanding the others viewpoint is considered important. It is the part of their value system. That’s why, Masanori actively contributed on the last day. Though, It is quite baffling to the US culture in Omaha, NE in USA. The belief system in this culture encourages people to socialize fast and contribute during the discussion from the beginning, so that be a good learning & cooperative environment is built to produce strategic outputs.
Though, It could not happen to Masanori, there was a conflict between two value and belief system followed by different participants. English as a second language used by Masanori also played a role as he became nervous and subdued (meek) in the discussion. So, he could not mixed up and openly put his ideas. It is not a popular approach as per the US cultural system. Later on, inputs made by Masanori shocked everyone as these aspects were not made by him during discussion as it could give new dimensions to the strategy. Thus, whole audience became silent and felt themselves to be a letdown.