The culture differences between Sony and B&O

The focus of our comparative analysis lies on two multinational corporations competing within the business of audio-video equipment. The two corporations are the Japanese company, Sony, and the Danish company, Bang&Olufsen (B&O). These two corporations were chosen primarily because the two were in the same business which sets the basis for our comparison. Secondly, we feel that the Japanese and the Danish culture appear to be very dissimilar. Finally, we chose the two because of the accessibiliy of useful information regarding them.

As Sony and B&O are in the same business, one can discuss to some degree, that these two companies are competing for same customer groups; Sony is high volume orientated, whereas B&O is using a strategy of focus. B&O is differentiating itself by offering distinctive products with focus on design that appeal to high-scale customers. Although the two companies are not targeting on the same market, their business environment is similar in the aspect that they both produce high quality audio-video equipment targeted to the global market. Because of the distinct difference in national backgrounds of the two and despite somewhat different marketing strategies, we believe it will be interesting to compare the two.

Power distance

The first dimension in a "natural" culture, called Power Distance, indicates to what extent the society accepts that an organizations is controlling the power, and the organization is distributing this power in its particular way. This belief is reflected in the minds of both powerful as well as less powerful members of the society. The dimension can be considered as the degree of inequality among people in a country that is "accepted" by the people of that specific country. This ranges from relatively equal to extremely unequal. We have chosen the following examples as extreme examples of how the mindset of the society of a country could be. This is as said "the extremes," therefore, almost everybody should fit into somewhere between the two extremes:

Table 2.1: The Power Distance Dimension

Small Power Distance	Large Power Distance
Superiors consider subordinates to be people like me.	Superiors consider subordinates to be a different kind of people.
The power should be legitimate and is subject to the judgment as to whether it is good or evil.	Power is a basic fact of society that antedates good or evil. Its legitimacy is irrelevant.
The way to change the a social system is to redistribute power.	The way to change a social system is to dethrone those in power.

The scores for the Power Distance dimension are respectively; 20 for Denmark’s concern, and 54 for Japan. Hofstede has categorized the results on every dimensions of the countries into the following three categories: high, medium and low. One thirds of all the countries is represented in each category. The results in the Power Distance dimension puts Denmark into the category of low Power Distance culture, although Denmark is near to the category called medium in which Japan is presently represented.

The problem-formulation listed five hypotheses. The hypotheses are our expectations pertaining differences in the HRM approach of Sony and B&O. But how exactly will these differences reveal themselves in relation to human resource management in the respective companies and Hofstede’s five dimensions?

Our first hypothesis expects the power distance in Sony to be larger than that in B&O We assume this will reveal itself by the following characteristics:

·             Sony has a higher pay differentials between boss and employees.

·             Sony has more formal relationship and formal communication.

·             B&O’s employees generally have more informal relationship with their employer.

Individualism

The second dimension is individualism. It concerns the degree to which people in a country prefer to act as an individual or as a member of a group. The opposite extreme to individualism is collectivism. Collectivism is characterized as low individualism. In a collectivist-oriented culture one learns to respect the group. It is typically family, organization, or clan that serves as a platform for a group, and one learns to respect the members. One expects a group to protect themselves as its members. As a member of a collectivistic culture, one differentiates between in-group members and out-group members. In countries with a individualistic culture, one is educated to think of oneself as "I" instead of as a part of "we." One learns how to stand on one’s own feet, and accordingly, feels a very low loyalty to the group. On the other hand, one also doesn’t expect that the group will stand up for one in retuen. The extremes on the Individualism-collectivism dimension, in a negotiation perspective is described in the following:

Table 2.2: The Individualism Dimension

Collectivist	Individualistic
Friendship are predetermined by stable social relationships, but there is need for prestige within these relationships	The need is for specific friendship
"We" consciousness hold sway	"I" consciousness hold sway
There is emotional dependence of individual on organizations and institution	There is emotional independence of individual on organizations and institution

There is also a difference between the Individualism dimension. Denmark has scored 75 on this dimension. As Denmark is considered as a "high individual culture," Denmark differed somewhat from Japan which only scored 46, which indicated a medium collectivistic culture.

In relation to our hypothesis, the values of B&O compared with that of Sony is more individualistic; we expect following findings:

·             Sony is, to a higher extent, looking for potential employees with teamwork-skills.

·             The one time annual hiring done by Sony creates a belonging to a group of a certain group year.

·             Bonus and salary are based on seniority and department- and company-performance.

·             B&O’s salary are based on individual performance.

·             Training-sessions in Sony try to create teamwork by excursions, parties etc.

·             Sony try to occupy their employees in their spare time.

Masculinity

The third dimension is called masculinity, and its opposite pole is femininity, just as the collectivism was the opposite pole to individualism. The dimension explains to what degree the "tough" values (masculine values) prevails over the "tender" values which are associated with the role of women. The "tough"/masculine cultural values cover such areas as money, assertiveness, performance, success and competition. The "tender"/feminine values are values like quality of life, maintaining warm personal relationships, service, a care for the weak, and solidarity. Although roles of women and men differ from country to country, the masculine societies are characterized by the larger differences between the role of men and women. The most relevant and extreme poles on the masculinity are listed below:

Table 2.3: The Masculinity Dimensions

Feminine

Masculine

Sex roles in society are more fluid

Sex roles in society are early differentiated

People and environment are important

Money and things are important

One sympathizes with the unfortunate

One admire the successful achiever

The margin between the scores for Denmark and Japan on the masculinity reveals a large difference in relation to this particular category. The score is 17 for Denmark, indicating one of the most feminine countries, whereas Japan is the most masculine country with a score of 95.

Assuming that the values of Sony is much more masculine compared with that of B&O, by putting this into the perspective of HRM-strategies it could reveal itself by following:

·             In the management in B&O there is a higher percentage of women

·             Women in Sony are not recieving the same amount of training as the male counterparts.

·             Women in Sony are getting a lower salary compared to their male counterparts

·             Men and women are provided in B&O equal opportunities for promotion

·             Sony’s employee value salary as the most important motivator

·             Competition within Sony is tougher than in B&O

·             Sony tries to create a more competitive atmosphere within the company

Uncertainty Avoidance

 

The fourth dimension is labeled uncertainty avoidance, and refers to the extent to which people prefer structured vagainst unstructured situations. A structured situation is one characterized by many rules, and an individual employee always knows what he/she should behave and what is expected of him/her in a specific situation. The rules can be written or unwritten, similar to traditions. The main thing is that individuals are aware of these rules. Countries which score high on uncertainty avoidance have much nervous energy towards the unknown. Countries which score low on the dimension consists of people that are characterized as more "easy going". A weak uncertainty avoidance can be characterized as more flexible culture.

Table 2.4: The Uncertainty Avoidance Dimension

Weak uncertainty avoidance

Strong uncertainty avoidance

The uncertainty in life is more easily accepted and each day is taken as it comes.

The uncertainty inherent in life is felt as a continuous threat that must be fought.

Deviation is not considered threatening; greater tolerance is shown

Deviant persons and ideas are dangerous ; intolerance holds sway

There is a more willingness to take risks in life

There is great concern with security in life

The Uncertainty avoidance dimension indicates a large difference between Denmark and Japan, and perhaps ultimately between Sony and B&O. Denmark is categorized as a low certainty avoidance country (a score of 26) and Japan falls under the label of high certainty avoidance countries (a score of 92).

The HRM policies in B&O is reflecting a lower degree of uncertainty avoidance than in Sony. Some areas of HRM that we are able to measure a lower degree of uncertainty avoidance are:

·             The Sony employee has a higher extent of guidance during training.

·             Sony checks the performance of their employee more frequently.

·             B&O’s ETD is left to the individual employee.

·             Long-term employment is relatively more important for an employee of Sony

Long term orientation

The fifth and last dimension in the "extended" framework is long-term vs. short-term orientation. Countries which score high on this dimension value future obligations, and future opportunities. The countries which score low can be characterized as short-term oriented. They are oriented towards the present and consider the following as important: experience and fulfilling social obligations. We find the following three factors as the most important polar extremes regarding to HRM.

Table 2.5: Long Term Orientation

Long Term Orientation

Short Term Orientation

Opportunities and relationships is evaluated on future possibilities

Opportunities and relationships is evaluated on past experience

Relationships is more important then experience

Experience is more important then relationships.

Opportunistic behavior is often ex-post

Opportunistic behavior is often ex-ante

As this dimension has not yet been measured in Danish corporations, we make an assumption that Denmark lies in between Holland and Germany in the interval of 31 to 44, which Hofstede categorizes as the medium group. The differences between Denmark and Japan on this dimensions is relatively large, as Japan scores 80. Its not surprising that Japan scores high on this dimension, keeping in mind, this dimensions is "rooted" in the values of Confucius, the Chinese philosopher of 500 BC. However, Japan does score lower than many of the Southeast Asian countries.

Compared to B&O, Sony has longer term orientation. But what implications does this have on HRM? We think the following could indicate a longer term orientation.

·             B&O believes that international experience outside of the company is a plus to an employee.

·             Sony values the importance of employee training as the company expects to have the employee for a long term

·             Sony´s management is recruited from within the company

·             B&O is more likely to hire experienced persons.

Summary

As discussed above, the cultural differences between Denmark and Japan are noticeable. These differences have background in history, geographic influence and several other factors. The Japanese culture profile could be overall defined as medium on Power Distance and Individualism and high on the remaining three dimensions. Denmark can be defined as having low Power distance and low Uncertainty Avoidance, high on Individualism, very feminine and medium term oriented.