Differences Between American & Japanese Organizations Organizational behavior can be studied a

Organizational behavior can be studied across cultures and regardless of the country in which a company is based. However, it is important to understand that companies operating in any given culture are likely to have common denominators among them, and differences when compared to companies based in other cultures. The differences between American and Japanese companies with regard to organizational behavior stretch across the entire spectrum of issues that organizational behavior encompasses. In some cases, the differences are diametrically opposed, while in other instances, companies take a similar approach to solving problems that are likely to arise in any organization. Although generalities are sometimes difficult to draw across an entire nation's industrial sector, some observations are possible with regard to the general approach that Japanese and American companies take with regard to organizational behavior.

Organizational behavior covers a broad range of issues in any company. These issues include the company's overriding mission, the way in which it conducts business, how employees are brought into the organization, how they are inculturated in the company, and how they are promoted within or encouraged to leave the organization. Japanese and American companies have solved the problems associated with organizational behavior in different ways, in large part due to the differences associated with the societies at large. The Japanese

l of simplification that maximizes productivity without risking worker discontent. In practice, most managers have been more likely to focus on increasing productivity at some cost to worker satisfaction. A level of worker discontent that causes a strike or serious insubordination should be avoided, but levels that fall short of those extremes are sometimes used by managers in order to increase productivity in the short-term in American organizations (Vecchio, 1991, p. 219). Promotion Strategies One of the key differences between American and Japanese firms is the method and source of promotions of employees. While American companies may promote employees from within the organization, oftentimes, employees are brought into companies from outside. This applies at all levels of the organization and results in employees serving only a few years with any one company before moving to another. An example of this type of outside recruiting can be found at the Walt Disney company, which brought in Michael Eisner from Paramount in the mid-1980s. Although Eisner had not been trained in the Disney corporate culture prior to joining the company, his leadership provided the impetus to move Disney into one of the nation's most successfu

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