The amount of business communication on the job is influenced by cultural traits (McDaniel, Samover, 1997) and every organisation is a reflection of the culture in which it exists. In this analysis, I shall use Japan and America to illustrate how cultural traits affect communication on the job, which in turn affects the organisational structure.
The Japanese have evidently succeeded in developing an organisational setting that more accurately reflects the culture and needs of their people (Franklin Jr., 1981). Hardly a newspaper or business article can be picked up that does not include some reference to the Japanese industrial mystique - whose products - once repudiated as cheap junk - are now recognised as fine quality. .
The Japanese managers are not the only giant-killers in the international marketplace. American corporations are well known for being the industrial kingpins of the world with their competitive corporate paternalism. .
With every nation applying universally sound business and management concepts that have been established throughout the years, what sets Japanese and American organisations ahead of the rest of the world? Franklin Jr. (1981, pp 36 - 39) established then, that "it can be safe to say that successful, highly productive organisations are a cultural phenomenon: they give form and expression to what motivates the people and groups that work in them".
The Japanese culture has developed over a thousand years. They are holistic people, seeing a natural harmony in all dimensions of life, which serves to integrate social and economic needs. Relationships between individuals are quite intimate and more open and trustful compared to the Americans. They tend to view themselves as a national family with duties and loyalties to each other. "Naturally, this submerges the importance of the individual and gives rise to strong cooperative group orientation" (Franklin Jr. 1981, pp 36 - 39).