Context Cultures
Japan is considered as one of the highest context cultures in the world. First of all, The Japanese Rely on groups, informal networks and tight bonds. Non-confrontational approaches are generally used by the Japanese in a group, this is simply because they value relationship as the basis of the group and in doing business. Besides that, Japanese people tend to work closer together, for example, Japanese managers are usually not to be separated from the workforce and often do not even have offices, instead they prefer to have their desks right in the middle of the action, this creates a Work space which is more communal and another enabler for high context communication. Furthermore, the Japanese employ an indirect and non-verbal style of communication. This is due to the fact that high context cultures mainly rely on non-verbal indications such as facial expressions and tone of voice. They also value traditions, rituals and statues, this provides an important context for how to act and how to interpret events. For this reason, change is slow and the Japanese prefer to take their time discussing before making a decision, this post an effect on the Japanese business culture. Finally, the Japanese do not work in a linear fashion. They tend to consider many things at once rather than just taking information from one source and hence the style of the communication in the workplace is characterised by this.
