Business Culture in Japan and the World


This week’s lesson on Business Culture helped me understand how Japanese workplaces focus on harmony 和 (wa), respect for hierarchy, group orientation, and very high levels of punctuality and detail. These points from our 8th lesson made me reflect on similarities and differences with my own culture, Lithuania. While Lithuanians value respect and teamwork, daily life is generally less formal and group decisions are usually quicker and more direct.

The video "A Day in the Life of a Japanese Retail Worker" clearly showed how important customer service and precision are in Japan. The worker checked every detail, greeted customers politely, and followed routines very carefully. In Lithuania, customer service matters too, but the expectations are not usually as strict.

For extra research, I looked at the famous Japanese concept Kaizen 改善, which means "continuous improvement." It focuses on making small, steady changes every day. As Sarah Harvey (2019), a writer on Kaizen pointed out, Kaizen is an everyday improvement - every day, everybody, everywhere. And I think this idea explains a lot about Japanese commitment and loyalty at work.

Comparing the two cultures, I see that both Lithuania and Japan value reliability, but Japan’s focus on harmony and steady improvement makes its business culture feel more collective and detail-oriented.




Reference:

Harvey, Sarah. Kaizen: The Japanese Method for Transforming Habits, One Small Step at a Time. 2019.

Komentarai

  1. Felicia2025 m. lapkričio 24 d. 22:14

    I think its very beneficial on both ends for there to be continuous improvements and also precise details. It makes everything better. ;)

    AtsakytiPanaikinti
  2. Zimnako2025 m. lapkričio 24 d. 22:15

    Nice blog, interesting to read about the 'continuous improvement' research you did.

    AtsakytiPanaikinti
  3. cary2025 m. lapkričio 24 d. 22:16

    I like this idea of 改善. If you improve at something a little every day, you'll have improved a lot over a long period of time. I suppose that's normal, anyway.

    AtsakytiPanaikinti
  4. Takumi2025 m. lapkričio 24 d. 22:18

    Just as employees in Japan must adhere to certain rules and manners, there are also expectations and unwritten rules that customers are expected to follow. While similar concepts exist in Europe, the Japanese examples are often unique to the culture.

    For instance, two common examples include:

    Not entering a shop during the last 10 minutes of their business hours to allow staff to complete closing procedures on time.

    Leaving promptly after finishing a meal or product at a popular restaurant or shop with a long queue (待ち行列 - machi-gyōretsu) to ensure a high turnover and consideration for waiting patrons.

    AtsakytiPanaikinti

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