Panasonic, Japans Changing Culture, network communication technology
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Abstract
Panasonic was established in 1920 but it's initially it was known as Matsushita before 2009. It is one of the building blocks of the rise in Japan as a major economic power. It was a company that embraced the Japanese traditional culture. The company treated its employees with great care from ‘cradle to the grave'. However, the company started experiencing changes that affected the traditional culture it had adopted. The prolonged economic slump that Japan experienced in 1990s was the final blow to the company. It started laying off some employees as well as revising the traditional employee benefits.
However, the company started its recovery and moved into new industries such as software engineering and network communication technology. It is still undergoing a slow transition as it tries to incorporate new culture into the traditional culture. The company started making profits again in 2009 and similar to other companies, the global recession had an impact on its operations and it ended up closing some plants as well as laying off more workers which was the end of the life time employment commitments which was a vital component of the traditional culture (McInerny, 2007).
Contents
Introduction
What were the triggers of cultural change in Japan during the 1990s? How is cultural change starting to affect traditional values in Japan?
How might Japan's changing culture influence the way Japanese businesses operate in the future? What are the potential implications of such changes for the Japanese economy?
How did traditional Japanese culture benefit Panasonic during the 1950s-1980s? Did traditional values become more of a liability during the 1990s and early 2000s? How so?
What is Panasonic trying to achieve with human resource changes it has announced? What are the impediments to successfully implementing these changes? What are the implications for Panasonic if (a) the changes are made quickly or (b) it takes years or even decades to fully implement the changes?
What does the Panasonic case teach you about the relationship between societal culture and business success?
Conclusion
Introduction
What were the triggers of cultural change in Japan during the 1990s? How is cultural change starting to affect traditional values in Japan?
How might Japan's changing culture influence the way Japanese businesses operate in the future? What are the potential implications of such changes for the Japanese economy?
How did traditional Japanese culture benefit Panasonic during the 1950s-1980s? Did traditional values become more of a liability during the 1990s and early 2000s? How so?
What is Panasonic trying to achieve with human resource changes it has announced? What are the impediments to successfully implementing these changes? What are the implications for Panasonic if (a) the changes are made quickly or (b) it takes years or even decades to fully implement the changes?
What does the Panasonic case teach you about the relationship between societal culture and business success?
