Workplace bullying in Japan as cultural phenomena Essay

Workplace bullying in Japan as cultural phenomena - Essay Example Workplace bullying is defined as repeated and health-threatening mistreatment that is humiliating, intimidating and threatening in a manner that interferes with full participation in work. The perpetrators desire to control the victim and bullies in the workplace select their victims and methods of bullying. Bullying at the workplace is a form of aggression and includes spreading of malicious rumours, gossip or physically attacking someone socially (Inceoglu, 2002). The topic is of great importance since bullying at workplace takes different forms such as undermining a person’s contribution at the workplace, threatening abuse, withholding necessary information, establishing unattainable deadlines, changing the work guidelines, intruding in to individual privacy, yelling, constant criticism, unwarranted punishments, assignment of unreasonable duties and tampering with individual personal belongings in order to intimidate the individual (McCarthy, 2001). Workplace bullying in Ja pan is a social problem that is linked to the current cultural phenomenon. Japanese culture is complex and multi-layered since it has been developing for the last a thousand years. Japanese people view the culture as a source of inspiration especially fashion, geisha traditional dancers and Samurai warriors wielding their two swords. Japanese business leaders perceive themselves as Samurai warriors and deal effectively with subordinates through bullying or issuing verbal commands that may be insulting. Social ranks and status in the society are clear and everyone is aware of each other’s age and status in the institution (Gordon, 1998). In some companies, the employees are issued with magazines that display the formal ages of each employee and ranking is used in various employment matters such as promotions, distribution of awards and recognition of superior performance (Jacobson, Hood & Buren, 2014, p 57). Japanese spontaneous sociability and nature of

How Convincing Is Porters Model of National Competitive Advantage in Essay - 5

How Convincing Is Porters Model of National Competitive Advantage in Explaining the Characteristics and Performance of the Business Systems of Major Economies - Essay Example The paper tells that international competitiveness of countries is an ever-growing concern for firms, governments as well as academic scholars. International competitiveness is one of the most misused and misunderstood terms in the press and academic literature of the modern world. According to Daniels, there is no consensus on how to measure, explain and predict international competitiveness of countries. The true meaning and understanding of the international competitiveness of countries have been the subject of much debate. Porter popularized the implicit assumption underlying the management theories that a firms competitiveness can be extended to a country’s competitiveness using his diamond framework and the world competitiveness reports. There are two schools of thought; the economic school and management school. The economic school ignores the notion of country competitiveness. However, the management school supports the concept of country competitiveness. To properly e xplain the differing views on international competitiveness by economists, a little background on the differing trade theories is required. The review of the trade theories will provide a platform for the analysis of Porter’s Diamond framework. Adams Smith theory of absolute advantage was the first theory that attempted to explain why countries engage freely in international trade. According to this theory; a state can enhance its prosperity if it limits itself into producing goods and services that the country has a higher absolute cost advantage over other countries. The country should also import those goods and services in which it has an absolute cost disadvantage.