REPORT

Japanese Decision Making Process

Japanese Decision Making Process

Introduction

Decision making is a primary activity of managers. The importance of the decision making becomes more significant and critical when different cultures are involved in decision making. Because the process of decision making is influenced by the cultural aspect of the society and in some cases the cultural difference may result in the catastrophic results.

It is the duty of the business managers to take effective decisions that positively effective their organization. But the decision making of managers is greatly impacted by their socialization process and the business environment where the decision is being taken. Similarly, the Japanese decision making process is different from other country's decision making process due to the cultural change.

The aim of this report is to identify the important aspects and cultural factors of Japanese business decision making process so that foreign business organizations use them effectively to avoid the chances of communication barrier while negotiating with Japanese business organizations. Some of the important aspects of Japanese decision making process are discussed below. Discussion

One of the important and most common practices of Japanese regarding to the process of decision making is the value of group orientation. Most of the decisions of Japanese companies are taking considering the cultural value of group consensus. The formal representation of collective and harmonious decision making is called Ringi System which involves the process of writing proposal which is circulated among all concerned and would be affected parties and individuals. The process of circulation of the Ringi is based on hierarchical chain, and the reservation or any other relevant information and input are written of the proposal. In such a way, the collective opinions of all members are recorded.

Another common practice of Japanese in decision making is the system of Nemawashi which ...