第1页共7页编号：时间：2021年x月x日书山有路勤为径，学海无涯苦作舟页码：第1页共7页TheculturedifferencesbetweenSonyandB&OThefocusofourcomparativeanalysisliesontwomultinationalcorporationscompetingwithinthebusinessofaudio-videoequipment.ThetwocorporationsaretheJapanesecompany,Sony,andtheDanishcompany,Bang&Olufsen(B&O).Thesetwocorporationswerechosenprimarilybecausethetwowereinthesamebusinesswhichsetsthebasisforourcomparison.Secondly,wefeelthattheJapaneseandtheDanishcultureappeartobeverydissimilar.Finally,wechosethetwobecauseoftheaccessibiliyofusefulinformationregardingthem.AsSonyandB&Oareinthesamebusiness,onecandiscusstosomedegree,thatthesetwocompaniesarecompetingforsamecustomergroups;Sonyishighvolumeorientated,whereasB&Oisusingastrategyoffocus.B&Oisdifferentiatingitselfbyofferingdistinctiveproductswithfocusondesignthatappealtohigh-scalecustomers.Althoughthetwocompaniesarenottargetingonthesamemarket,theirbusinessenvironmentissimilarintheaspectthattheybothproducehighqualityaudio-videoequipmenttargetedtotheglobalmarket.Becauseofthedistinctdifferenceinnationalbackgroundsofthetwoanddespitesomewhatdifferentmarketingstrategies,webelieveitwillbeinterestingtocomparethetwo.PowerdistanceThefirstdimensionina"natural"culture,calledPowerDistance,indicatestowhatextentthesocietyacceptsthatanorganizationsiscontrollingthepower,andtheorganizationisdistributingthispowerinitsparticularway.Thisbeliefisreflectedinthemindsofbothpowerfulaswellaslesspowerfulmembersofthesociety.Thedimensioncanbeconsideredasthedegreeofinequalityamongpeopleinacountrythatis"accepted"bythepeopleofthatspecificcountry.Thisrangesfromrelativelyequaltoextremelyunequal.Wehavechosenthefollowingexamplesasextremeexamplesofhowthemindsetofthesocietyofacountrycouldbe.Thisisassaid"theextremes,"therefore,almosteverybodyshouldfitintosomewherebetweenthetwoextremes:Table2.1:ThePowerDistanceDimensionSmallPowerDistanceLargePowerDistance第2页共7页第1页共7页编号：时间：2021年x月x日书山有路勤为径，学海无涯苦作舟页码：第2页共7页Superiorsconsidersubordinatestobepeoplelikeme.Superiorsconsidersubordinatestobeadifferentkindofpeople.Thepowershouldbelegitimateandissubjecttothejudgmentastowhetheritisgoodorevil.Powerisabasicfactofsocietythatantedatesgoodorevil.Itslegitimacyisirrelevant.Thewaytochangetheasocialsystemistoredistributepower.Thewaytochangeasocialsystemistodethronethoseinpower.ThescoresforthePowerDistancedimensionarerespectively;20forDenmark’sconcern,and54forJapan.Hofstedehascategorizedtheresultsoneverydimensionsofthecountriesintothefollowingthreecategories:high,mediumandlow.Onethirdsofallthecountriesisrepresentedineachcategory.TheresultsinthePowerDistancedimensionputsDenmarkintothecategoryoflowPowerDistanceculture,althoughDenmarkisneartothecategorycalledmediuminwhichJapanispresentlyrepresented.Theproblem-formulationlistedfivehypotheses.ThehypothesesareourexpectationspertainingdifferencesintheHRMapproachofSonyandB&O.ButhowexactlywillthesedifferencesrevealthemselvesinrelationtohumanresourcemanagementintherespectivecompaniesandHofstede’sfivedimensions?OurfirsthypothesisexpectsthepowerdistanceinSonytobelargerthanthatinB&OWeassumethiswillrevealitselfbythefollowingcharacteristics:Sonyhasahigherpaydifferentialsbetweenbossandemployees.Sonyhasmoreformalrelationshipandformalcommunication.B&O’semployeesgenerallyhavemoreinformalrelationshipwi...
