The Role of Leadership in Shaping Organizational Culture Assignment

The Role of Leadership in Shaping Organizational Culture - Assignment Example Shaping organization culture is essential if the organization leadership aims at having a healthy and high performing organization culture. Since culture involves the unwritten and written rules of how people would work with each other to achieve organizational objectives. This paper attempts to outline the role of leadership in an organization by shaping its culture. Organizational culture is integral in ensuring that the organization identify and execute strategic plans. Successful leaders ensure that they shape the culture of the organization instead of letting the culture to shape the organization. Culture shaping involves strategies that can promote an integrated system in the organization from top to bottom. To ensure that the performance and growth of the company adheres to the organization goals, the leaders must ensure that there is behavior change among individuals and teams in the organization. It is therefore necessary that personal transformation serve as the foundation of culture transformation (House, 2006).   Leaders shape and influence the organizational culture through molding of values, beliefs within the organization and basic assumptions by the members of the organizations. The key and critical factor for a manager to ensure that there is enough support organization culture is empowering the employees to build a good relationship that would lead to change in organizational culture. Effective leaders engage formation of strategies that would shape the organizational culture through influencing members to a positive relationship within the organizational program. Leaders who are intelligent learn on changing the organizational culture and focus more on empowering the people to enhance good relations. There are several strategies that can be used by managers to ensure positive organization culture is applied (Wells, 2013).   The first strategy

History - King Ashoka Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History - King Ashoka - Research Paper Example King Ashoka ruled Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC, until his death. In his early life, the king was known for his cruelty, but in the later period of his life, he became famous for his great edicts and acts. It was King Ashoka who played a major role in swelling Buddhism into the whole of Asia.1 Background of King Ashoka In 324 BC, the ruler of the Mauryan Empire, Chandragupta started out to surmount the weaker in the adjoining kingdoms. The motto was to enlarge his people’s territory. Chandragupta was an explorer by nature and used to travel in the surrounding lands to evaluate whether the probable defences can raise much struggle. Then on the basis of the evaluation, he would decide about the taking up of the war. He principally avoided those lands where the defence is strong. This way Chandragupta became the first king to rule over a united India. During the end of the century, Chandragupta handed over his reign to his son Bindusara. With the passage of time, the Bindusara became ill and decided to entrust the territory to one of his sons. As soon as the king announced his intention, a â€Å"silent sibling rivalry† started. The sons of Bindusara became the victims of an assassin and this way all the men fell until solely Ashoka stood tall. He was the only one to become successful in evading a murderer. In this way, Ashoka was crowned the new king in 274 BC. King Ashoka soon came to be known as a cruel king as he would administer capital punishment for even a minimum violation.2 On the desire to win rather than to acclaim demand, the king decided to continue with the efforts of his previous dwellers through demolishing the lands and kingdoms which previously remained unconquered. In this process of invasion and conquering, he was well aware of the fact that many innocent people have even lost their lives because of the king’s order. Following all these disasters, Ashoka asked himself about the treasures that his people have won in the war that converted women and children to widows and orphans respectively. Soon after the realisation, the king became attentive towards his subjects’ welfare. In this way, an era of internal progression and peace came to being. It was King Ashoka who persuaded and taught his people to respect and love all living creatures. Gradually, Ashoka became a Buddhist practitioner and built 84,000 stupas in his emperor for housing the Gautama’s sacred relics.3 Rise of Power of King Ashoka Ashoka grew to be a sharp and perfect warrior general and went on to command various brigades of the Mauryan army. Pertaining to his growing popularity, the elder brothers of Ashoka became impatient that their father Bindusara might prefer Ashoka to be the next emperor. His eldest brother Susima insisted Bindusara to send Ashoka to Taxilla, a city of unrest and trouble, governed by Susima himself. Ashoka successfully handled those situations and all the unrest ended without any fight. Th is popularity of Ashoka made Susima even more curious and he again persuaded their father to send Ashoka into exile. Ashoka was thus sent to Kalinga. After returning from Kalinga, he was again sent to Ujjain, another venue of violence. There he was injured and eventually treated by Buddhist nuns and monks. During this period, he first learnt Buddhist teachings. There he met Devi, a Buddhist nurse who took care of him, and later on Ashoka married her.

Juvenile Court Characteristics Essay Example for Free

Juvenile Court Characteristics Essay

TRIZ Problem Solving: Design of Hammer

TRIZ Problem Solving: Design of Hammer Abstract This project introduced innovation in a concept design of hammer which is a tool used to blow (a sudden impact) to an object. Some technical contradictions occurred in the design, which made it difficult to find a solution except compromise. When TRIZ was used in the design, things seemed to get easier. A surprising and almost perfect solution was found, and finally it was put into practice smoothly. Introduction A hammer is a tool that delivers a blow (a sudden impact) to an object. A hammer is basically a force amplifier that works by converting mechanical work into kinetic energy and back. Most hammers are hand tools used to drive nails, fit parts, forge metal, and break apart objects. Hammers vary in shape, size, and structure, depending on their purposes. Hammers are basic tools in many trades. The usual features are a head (most often made of steel) and a handle (also called a helve or haft). A traditional hand-held hammer consists of a separate head and a handle, fastened together by means of a special wedge made for the purpose, or by glue, or both. This two-piece design is often used, to combine a dense metallic striking head with a non-metallic mechanical-shock-absorbing handle. Some hammers are one-piece designs made primarily of a single material. A one-piece metallic hammer may optionally have its handle coated or wrapped in a resilient material such as rubber. Objectives To innovate the design of a hammer to make it more efficient using TRIZ problem solving. To minimize the cost used to buy hammer using TRIZ problem solving. To improve the components of hammer to reduce space consumption by TRIZ problem solving. Problem Statement For years, workers have been struggling to bring different type of tools to their worksite.   One of the main tool used by the construction workers are the hammer. A Hammer is a mechanical tool that delivers a sudden impact to an object. The essential part of hammer is head, a compact solid mass that is able to deliver the blow to the intended target without itself deforming and a handle, the part where the user hold the hammer. Commonly, hammers are used to drive nails, fit parts, forge metal and break apart objects. There are different types of hammers in use, they vary in shape, size and structure. Such hammers are traditional curved claw hammer and Drywall hammer. Traditional claw hammer are used to   drives nails well and removes nails easily with the rocking action of its curved claw while Drywall hammer chops errant bits of drywall and sets nails without breaking through walls paper faces. Hammers are categorized as a heavy type tool thus creating problem for the workers t o bring many types of hammer to their worksite. Inconvenient Variety in the number of hammer needed to complete in a certain type of work causes difficulties to the workers in bringing it to their worksite. As we already know, each hammer has its own function. Hence, workers need to bring each of the type of hammer to complete their project. If it is improved it can ease the workers job in bringing different type of hammer without consuming too much energy. Costly Workers are forced to buy each type of hammer so that they can accomplish their job. This causes extra money to be spent to buy each type of hammer. Thus the total cost of project will be increased gradually. Buying less number of hammer with the same functional would causes the cost to be decreased significantly. This would give the advantage to worker as it will cut the cost to buy a hammer. Space consuming The average size of a hammer is bigger than other tool creates a problem which is in storing it. Each hammer requires a huge size of storage space to be stored and with the variety type of hammer, the needs for bigger size storage increases with the number of hammer. If less spaces are used to store this tool, more other tool can be used to fill the empty spaces. This increases the compatibility of the hammer. Function Analysis Subject (Tool)FunctionObject HandHoldHandle (Wood) Handle (Wood) HoldHammer head Hammer headHitNail Component Analysis TRIZ tools Segmentation (#1) Divide an object into independent part Make an object easy to assemble and disassemble The head and the handle of the hammer can be connected and removed freely by user. The thread on the handle ease the user to connect the handle and the hammer head by twisting the head in a clockwise direction. Function Analysis Subject (Tool) Function Object Hand Hold Handle (Steel) Handle (Thread) Hold Traditional Curved Claw (Thread) Traditional Curved Claw (Thread) Hit Nail Handle (thread) Hold Drywall Hammer (Thread) Drywall Hammer (Thread) Hit Nail Handle (Thread) Hold Body Mechanics Hammer (Thread) Body Mechanics Hammer (Thread) Hit Nail Handle (Thread) Hold Toolmakers Hammer (Thread) Toolmakers Hammer (Thread) Hit Nail Component Analysis Contradiction The feature that we want to improve is the strength of the handle by using steel. However the drawback of using steel as a handle is it is very heavy. So by using 39 parameters matrix, we have decided to choose composite material as the handle. The composite material that we have chosen is graphite fiber reinforced epoxy. This type of handle offers a blend of stiffness, lightweight and durability. These handle also encased in a high polycarbonate resin. The addition of this material around the handle increase shock absorption, improves chemical resistance and offers protection against accidential overstrike thus reduce handle failure. Wooden Handle  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Steel Handle  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Composite Handle Wooden Handle  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Steel HandleComposite Handle Partial Triz Contradiction Matrix (1 to 14) Weight of moving object Weight of stationary object Length of moving object Length of stationary object Area of moving object 1 2 3 4 5 1 Weight of moving object + 15, 8, 29,34 29, 17, 38, 34 2 Weight of stationary object + 10, 1, 29, 35 3 Length of moving object 8, 15, 29, 34 + 15, 17, 4 4 Length of stationary object 35, 28, 40, 29 + 5 Area of moving object 2, 17, 29, 4 14, 15, 18, 4 + 6 Area of stationary object 30, 2, 14, 18 26, 7, 9, 39 7 Volume of   moving object 2, 26, 29, 40 1, 7, 4, 35 1, 7, 4, 17 8 Volume of stationary object 35, 10, 19, 14 19, 14 35, 8, 2, 14 9 Speed 2, 28, 13, 38 13, 14, 8 29, 30, 34 10 Force (Intensity) 8, 1, 37, 18 18, 13, 1, 28 17, 19, 9, 36 28, 10 19, 10, 15 11 Stress or pressure 10, 36, 37, 40 13, 29, 10, 18 35, 10, 36 35, 1, 14, 16 10, 15, 36, 28 12 Shape 8, 10, 29, 40 15, 10, 26, 3 29, 34, 5, 4 13, 14, 10, 7 5, 34, 4, 10 13 Stability of   the objects composition 21, 35, 2, 39 26, 39, 1, 40 13, 15, 1, 28 37 2, 11, 13 14 Strength 1, 8, 40, 15 40, 26, 27, 1 1, 15, 8, 35 15, 14, 28, 26 3, 34, 40, 29 40-Composite Material, 26-Copying, 27-Cheap Short Living Object, 1-Segmentation Function Analysis Subject (Tool) Function Object Hand Hold Handle (Composite Material) Handle (thread) Hold Traditional Curved Claw (Thread) Traditional Curved Claw (Thread) Hit Nail Handle (thread) Hold Drywall Hammer (Thread) Drywall Hammer (Thread) Hit Nail Handle (thread) Hold Body Mechanics Hammer (Thread) Body Mechanics Hammer (Thread) Hit Nail Handle (thread) Hold Toolmakers Hammer (Thread) Toolmakers Hammer (Thread) Hit Nail Component Analysis Conclusion As conclusion, problem in reality can be practically solved using TRIZ problem solving technique. TRIZ technique use the process of abstraction as it main way to solve problem. This means that we need to use TRIZ to determine problem, improving feature, and impact feature and lastly, come up with a solution for the related problem. There are many type of TRIZ process that are available for solving problem. However, for this problem the function analysis tool, the 39 parameters and 40 inventive principles is used. We have concluded that the main problems of a hammer are inconvenient, costly, and space consuming. All of the problems are solved by applying TRIZ technique. The final solution that have been analyzed is by producing an exchangeable hammer head with graphite fiber reinforced epoxy handle. This will encounter all of the problems of the common hammer. So, it can be concluded that TRIZ problem solving can be used to problem better and efficiently. References http://me-mechanicalengineering.com/different-types-of-hammers/ http://www.innovation-triz.com/ http://www.triz.org/ https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_92.htm http://creatingminds.org/tools/triz/triz_contradiction_analysis.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIZ http://www.triz-journal.com/ http://www.mytriz.com.my/ http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_92.htm http://www.triz40.com/aff_Principles_TRIZ.php

The Role of Women in Buddhism :: essays research papers

In examining the Buddhism religion, particurally the role of women in Buddhism, it was quite clear that the religion of Buddhism is practiced very different from country to country. Buddhism is a philosophy of life expounded by Gautama Buddha ("Buddha" means "enlightened one"), who lived and taught in northern Inda in the 6th Century B.C. The Buddha was not a god and the philosophy of Buddhism does not entail any theistic world-view. The teachings of the Buddha are aimed solely to liberate sentient beings from suffering. Women have been a part of Buddhism since the Buddha first made his enlightenment known in Northeast India in the 6th century BC. Looking back to the earliest roots, several nuns and laywomen were among the Buddha’s ablest and wisest Diceples. The everyday role of women in many countries is quite different from that defined in Buddhist scriptures. Pure Buddhist ideology The Buddah originally banned women from monastic practice (nuns) but later reversed his decision, allowing them to practice in seperate quarters. The Buddist scriptures say very little about women, treating them as equals. In one scripture, the Visuddhi Magga, a monk asked, â€Å"Reverend Sir, have you seen a woman pass this way?† And the elder said: Was it a woman or a man that passed this way? I cannot tell. But this I know, a set of bones is travelling upon this road. Although this verse attempts to show the equality of women on the spiratual path, there was, and still is... sexual stereotypes present in the culture of Buddhist communities. By contrast to such bigoted practices that hinder spiritual development, Buddhism can be claimed to be the least discriminatory in attitudes towards women. There is no doubt at all that the Buddha was the first religious teacher who gave women equal and unfettered opportunities in the field of spiritual development. Although He had on several occasions pointed out the natural tendencies and weaknesses of women in general, He also gave due credit to their abilities and capabilities. He truly paved the way for women to lead a full religious life. This implied that they were equally able to develop and purify their minds and realize the bliss of Nibbana as well as men. This fact is amply proven by the testimonies of the Theris (Nuns) during the Buddha's time. The teachings of the Buddha did a great deal to wipe off numerous superstitious beliefs and meaningless rites and rituals - which also included sacrifices - from the minds of many people.

Kines Final Review

What are the 3 functions of the Menisci? 10. Which menisci Is shaped Like an â€Å"O† and which one Is shaped Like a â€Å"C†? 11. What are the 3 different zones of the menisci and what is the difference between each of these zones? 12. What are the two Excruciate ligaments? 13. Where does the PC attach on the femur? Where does the PC attach on the Tibia? 14. Where does the CAL attach on the femur? Where does the CAL attach on the tibia? 15. During non-weight bearing, what does the CAL prevent? During weight bearing, what does the CAL prevent? 16. During non-wealth bearing, what does the PC revert?During weight bearing. What does the PC prevent? 17. What force does the MAC prevent? What force does the LLC prevent? 18. Which muscles are our main hip fellers? 19. What does it mean for a muscle to be a 2-Joint muscle? 20. What are the names of our four quad muscles? Which ones affect both the hip and the knee? 21 . What are the names of the 3 hamstring muscles? 22. How do we manage or treat a quadriceps contusion? 23. For a hip dislocation, the leg will be In a position. 24. How do we manage a femur fracture? 25. Why are females more prone to CAL tears? 6.What is another name for a PC sprain? And 27. What are the common signs and symptoms of a maniacal lesion? 28. What is the difference between Osgood-Clatterers and Larsen-Johansson Disease? 29. What Is Patella Altar? What Is Patella Baja? 30. What are other names for Gene Vulgar and Gene Vary? Chapter 19- The Ankle and Lower Leg 1 . What are the four bones that make up the ankle? Ligaments are on the medial side of the ankle? 4. What are the names of the tarsal bones? 5. What are the four compartments of the lower leg and what muscles are in each compartment? 6.What two motions make up the actions probation and suppuration of the ankle? 7. Describe what pees caves and pees planks are. 8. What are the two phases of the gait cycle and what motions make up these two phases? 9. What is a more common nam e for hall values? 10. How do we manage hall values? 11. What Joints are involved in a Hammer Toe? 12. What Joints are involved in Mallet toe? 13. What Joints are involved in claw toe? 14. What is the etiology for turf toe? 15. How do we manage or treat an ingrown toenail? 16. What are the three different types of compartment syndrome? 7. What type of ankle sprain is the most common? 18. What are the signs and symptoms of an Achilles Tendon Rupture? 19. What is a more common name for Medial Tibia Stress Syndrome? 20. Define a Jones Fracture. Chapters 20-24 and 26-27- General Medical Conditions 1 . What is another name for syncope? 2. What are some signs and symptoms of syncope? 3. What is another name for Sudden Cardiac Death? 4. What are some red flags for Sudden Cardiac Death? 5. What is Commotion Cord's and how does it occur? 6. Compare and Contrast a Generalized Seizure and a Partial or Focal Seizure. 7.How do we manage or treat seizures? . What are some things that can trigger an Asthma Attack? 9. What are signs and symptoms of Asthma? 10. Compare and Contrast Type I and Type II Diabetes Mellitus. 11. What are some signs and symptoms of Diabetes? 12. What is Hyperglycemia? What are some signs and symptoms? 13. What is Hypoglycemia? What are some signs and symptoms? 14. What is the difference between food poisoning and the Flu? 15. What is normal body temperature? What is a low-grade fever? What is a high-grade fever? 16. What is the difference between a bacterial infection and a viral infection? 7. What is mononucleosis? How do we get it? 18. What are the signs and symptoms of Mononucleosis? 19. What is Seer's Sign? 20. What does OSHA stand for? 21 . What are some of our personal precautions for bloodstone pathogens? 22. What are two different types of Menstrual Irregularities? 23. What is the female athlete triad? 1 . What is triangulation? 2. What gland controls triangulation? 3. What are the five different types of heat exchange or production? 4. When should we begin hydrating for activities? 5. How do we check hydration levels? 6. What are the recommendations for hydration? 7.What are common signs and symptoms of dehydration? 8. How do we manage dehydration? 9. Why do we need to replace our fluid and electrolytes? 10. What is acclimatization? 1 1 . Who are more susceptible to heat illnesses? 12. What is hyperthermia? What is hypothermia? 13. What is heat rash? 14. What is heat syncope? 15. What causes exertion heat cramps? 16. What are common signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion? How do we treat it? 17. What are common signs and symptoms of heat stroke? How do we treat it? 18. What is exertion hypothermia? 19. What is frost nip? 20. What are signs and symptoms of frostbite? . How do we treat cold injuries? 22. What do we do if there is lightning? 23. What is the flash to bang theory? Chapter 29- Dermatology 1 . What three things can cause skin infections? 2. What four things does the skin do for us? 3. What are signs and sympto ms of bacterial infections? 4. What is follicles? 5. What is MRS.? What are the dangers of not treating MRS.? 6. How do we manage bacterial infections? 7. How do we prevent fungal infections? 8. What is tinge piped? 9. What is tinge capitals? 10. What causes fungal infections and how do we treat fungal infections?

Cross Cultural Business Negotiations (United States and Japan) Essay

Abstract Understanding Cultures and acquiring skills necessary to make a cross cultural business negotiation a successful and pleasant experience for both parties involved requires much more than just the overview of the culture and it becomes hard because of the complexity of the culture to grab the entire core of a foreign culture without investing enough time and effort into it, however initial understanding of the concepts can be a good start. General perception is that American business men or managers at times feel out of their comfort zone when negotiating with their Japanese counterpart because of the behaviours demonstrated by Japanese which are, just like any other culture, are simply based on their assumptions , beliefs, norms and customs which are unfamiliar to other party. Understanding the cross cultural aspects are highly beneficial for either of the parties involved and can highly facilitate communication by decreasing the chance of any possible misunderstanding. Either Americans or Japanese both have tendency to bring their own cultural background with them while negotiating which of course affects the behaviours and ultimately the end result. American and Japanese cultures hardly have any similarities so clashes caused by cultural differences are inevitable for example what may be considered acceptable by the standards of one party might not be acceptable by the standards of other. This makes understanding the cultural issues and behaviours in depth more important especially for Americans if they plan to negotiate with Japanese because Japanese might not give any direct clue about where the negotiation is heading as Americans expect from other American managers during business negotiations. In this paper many cross cultural areas based on different models are discussed which helped us to identify the similarities and differences between these cultures, understanding of these similarities and differences can help managers to formulate right strategies to achieve maximum output from the negotiation process and make cross cultural interactions and negotiations a pleasant experience for both  parties involved. Cross Cultural Business Negotiations (United States and Japan) In today’s global world, businesses are continuously expanding all over the world. For the business world, there are no boundaries or borders. Companies are always moving to new places and finding new business opportunities, new business partners. And in this search, they are often expanding their business across countries. Although, companies are adopting an international approach and partnering with other companies across borders, in this process they have to cope with the cultural differences of different countries. Talking about American and Japanese business culture, there are huge differences between the two. If an American businessman decides to do with business with any Japanese company, he will have to plan and prepare for his meeting extensively. First, let’s talk about the differences in American and Japanese culture. GLOBE Study was able to establish nine cultural dimensions which allowed capturing the differences and similarities between different societies and cultures in the basic nature of it, which consists of behaviours and artefacts, different beliefs and values a particular society have, interpreting patterns and assumptions. It allowed GLOBE to create country clusters. Now According to GLOBE’s country clusters U.S.A is in Anglo cluster whereas Japan is in Confucian cluster and differences become greater as the distance between clusters increase. Anglo and Confucian cultures are almost on the opposite sides. This means they hardly share similarities in context of dimensions given by Hofstede. Power distance is first and recent trends suggest that Japan has just now started making its place near the world average in power distance for example victory of the democratic party of Japan in the elections of 2009 as they vowed to diminish the power of bureaucrats which makes it evident that they are becoming less tolerant of the power distance but still they have a long way to go. Americans on the other hand always had a low power distance as the Anglo cluster ranks high in participative approach but Confucian is at the bottom before Middle East. In Case of individualism Japan is at the collective end of the individualism/collectivism. Recent trend suggests that the relationships between employee and employer in Japan are becoming strained but collectivism is still more dominant. In context of this dimension  Americans have one of the highest scores in individualism. The hierarchal structures of American organizations are designed for convenience and to make superiors accessib le. Managers have high dependency on individual employees for their expertise. Next dimension is of Masculinity/Femininity and Japan has one of the most masculine society around the globe. According to Hofstede’s original sample Japan ranked highest among all the countries in this dimension. Like many other dimensions trend in this dimension has also started shifting in Japan for example the equal employment opportunity legislation which happened in mid 80’s helped removing many barriers for the women but still according to studies more than 60% of working women quite their jobs after their first child. High ranking of Japan in masculinity also indicates that the Japanese society is driven by competition and achievement. Low score on masculinity or being placed on or close to femininity end means that the dominant values in particular society are caring for others and being more concerned about quality of life. Americans ranked just slightly above the middle on masculinity which means that distance between these two cultures in context of this dimension is considerable. Next dimension is uncertainty avoidance. Talking about Japanese, generally they have tendency to avoid uncertainty but as in past years some manufacturers left Japan and this trend affected the tolerance for uncertainty in work environment. If trend continues it can significantly reduce the number of people who are loyal to the employer and can flourish the entrepreneurial trends which are commonly seen in United States as it will affect the number of job opportunities available domestically. Students after graduation will face immense competition and will probably have one shot at employment or they will be frozen out of the job market. United States is more risk taking society but currently it had also started to lean toward uncertainty avoidance because of some different trends, for example decline of the stock market and recent recession period of 2007-2009 plus the housing bubble bust. All these factors made people to seek for security and less risky investment opportunities. Another factor which might have effected is the treat they have from other emerging nations which are economically becoming more powerful and it can cause Americans to take more defensive stance and to look for more stable grounds rather than being risk taking society. One other dimension called pragmatism which deals with the  behavioural trend of people about having the explanation of the things. If we talk about normative societies most of the people require of have a strong desire to have an explanation but in pragmatic societies, people might not require explanation for everything because they consider it almost impossible that a person can fully understand the phenomena around them because of the complexity of life. Americans have tendency to check and analyse the information they receive for validity. This trend in culture makes us consider most of the Americans as non-pragmatic but t he fact that they are very practical should not be confused. Japanese culture is more of a high context culture. In Japanese business culture, they have more sense of belonging i.e. insider vs. outsider. They are more focused towards building long term relationships. Japanese are more relationship oriented rather than task oriented. They are more focused on communicated understanding rather than formal information. On the other hand, American culture is kind of a low context culture. It is more oriented towards rules and tasks. Tasks are given more importance than relationships. Relationships are usually short-term dependant on the tasks. Now as we have established the base and have the general understanding about the differences and similarities among both cultures we can move forward to the negotiation process between American and Japanese Managers. When an American manager plans on doing business and negotiating with a Japanese manager, the American manager of course has to be more prepared compared to the Japanese. Although both managers will have to be prepared for the meeting and negotiat ion on their behalves, still in case where American is approaching the Japanese, he will have to fully understand the culture and cultural differences, and then plan accordingly for meeting and negotiation. High context cultures are always harder to enter due to the fact that you cannot instantly create close relationships which are a trait of a high context culture. Americans need enough time to understand and gather information about the culture, and plan extensively before they are prepared enough for the meeting with such huge cultural differences. They will have to work continuously to build relationship that Japanese can trust and consider an insider. Although tasks are important to Japanese, still they are more focused on feelings rather than opinions and facts. As discussed before American culture promotes individualism while Japanese culture is more  towards collectivism. It is due to these and many other differences that the Japanese culture is looked at as a big obstacle in the way of doing business with Japanese companies or in Japan but once they have enough understanding and have enough preparation the simple differences and ways of Japanese culture are not that hard to start building relationship and earning the opportunity to become a part of Japanese business. For example, if an American manager wants to do business with a Japanese manager, and he is looking forward to a great start and getting a positive response, the first step in the meeting will be the greeting. Greeting is an important part of Japanese culture. Japanese people are always too polite. The bow is an integral part of Japanese greeting, to show gratitude. Although, westerners are not expected to bow, they are greeted with handshake combined with a slight bow from their Japanese counterpart. The next step is the exchange of business cards. In Japanese culture, followed by greetings, all the professionals present in the meeting are expected to exchange their business cards. It can be seen as a way of introducing yourself and your organization. An American manager should collect enough information and work on clarifying meanings of different aspects before getting into a meeting with any Japanese manager, as in Japanese culture, it is considered impolite to directly say somet hing or directly refuse. Disagreement is usually expressed nonverbally. Even if the Japanese are not interested to do business with you, they will not communicate it verbally or directly, in fact they will wait for you to lose interest. Even if talking about employees, in Japanese culture, non performers don’t get fired. They could be transferred to another department or any other organization but are not fired. So the American manager has to be prepared for understanding this type of situation where he could anticipate the response of his counterpart. When talking about meetings, American manager must understand that to Japanese, meetings usually mean the opportunity to exchange information. Decisions are not usually made in meetings. In Japanese culture, meeting could be attended by subordinates but no one is expected to give any response at that time. It might seem to the foreigner in this situation that no one is taking interest but he should not be disheartened. This is how Japanese usually do bu siness. They don’t discuss with outsiders. What American managers can do is they can take along an interpreter to help  better understand the Japanese counterpart and the meaning of their behaviour. Japanese people also take time to develop trust and a better relationship. So it is not expected to get on the spot response from them. Japanese managers want to develop good and long lasting relationships before moving ahead in the business. In Japanese business culture, the core pillar of the culture is the company. The company shapes the image of the person. So much importance is given to the company that even in their usual matters of life; decisions like marriage or renting out property are based on the company one works in. If someone wants to rent an apartment, the landlord will want to know in detail about the company that person works in. Even if that person changes the job, he will be obliged to let the landlord know. Then the landlord will take decision about continuing to let that person live there or not based on the reliability of the new company. Japanese people are socially ranked based on the company they work for. Japanese people are not expected to change jobs. The careers are developed within the company compared to careers developed within the market in American culture. In Japanese culture, people are expected to work for the same company throughout their life until they retire. This is helpful for both the company and the employee. Company saves the cost of new hiring and training while employees choose to be on a safe path and they have a sense of security in their careers. The same thing can be connected to business partners. Japanese managers will not move forward until they get to build a trustworthy relationship with an American manager. But once the relationship is developed, it will go a long way and the Japanese would like to keep on doing business as they look for consistency . This Japanese sense of loyalty could be very beneficial for the foreign company. Another part of Japanese culture is punctuality. So when planning for a meeting, the American manager should take note of being on time. They have exact specified start times and end times. Even deadlines are strictly followed. So being on time also shows your interest and helps develop some of the trust. Another aspect of Japanese business culture is that they don’t talk about money specifically. If money is discussed right away, it is taken as if the only concern is money here and that is all the reason negotiations are taking place. Japanese managers like to refer to money by expressions that are associated with it like payments, profits, wages, salaries etc and they only discuss it  what they consider to be the right moment for it. Still their major concern is always about building relationships. If any manager starts away by talking about money he will be considered greedy and ill mannered. One reason of not talking about money is that they consider counterparts to be outsiders unless they are able to develop enough trust. Also in cases where Japanese managers think that they are comparatively in weak position, they avoid using negative words while talking about their organizations. It is expected that the other company will not be interested to do business with them if they are in a weak position. So in such cases, they attract the interest of the other company by using words such as profits and success. Japanese managers try to develop interest in their company by taking confidence in their company and showing satisfaction in their performance. At first, Japanese managers like to gather as much detail as possible about their counterpart and about the organization they are representing. It is then followed by a careful decision of whether they are ready to do business with them or not. So American managers should not get in any hurry and should not be expecting on the spot response. The first step for the Japanese managers is to determine the value of whatever is being offered. Even the foreign manager should not jump to talking about money as this is considered as an ill manner when one talks about money before them making a decision whether or not they want the service or business partnership. So any manager should wait for them to start talking about money as for Japanese, money or price is the second step in any negotiation although for Americans, this is considered to be an important part of any negotiation. Before entering into negotiation, American manager should study or understand the importance of nonverbal communication in Japanese culture. As we know that Japanese managers or businessmen are not that much straightforward, so their response is often portrayed by non verbal expressions or their body language. Non verbal communication could include facial expressions, eye contact and other body language. But it could prove to be hard to detect as Japanese people are very subtle compared to Americans. Another strong part of Japanese culture during any business meeting is the exchange of gifts. Japanese always present their counterparts with gifts or exchange gifts as this is considered to be a demonstration of appreciation and courteous feelings. They consider it to be the part of  their manners to give or receive gifts by standing up and using two hands. If these manners are not followed, Japanese feel hurt and take it as no value was given to their gift. A gift also serves the purpose of showing that they want to have some kind of relationship built with each other. The intention of building a relationship is made clear. Exchange of gifts is considered to be a part of Japanese greetings. As for Americans, gift giving is usually associated with asking for any favour or getting a return out of it. But for Japanese it is a mere custom and a way to praise. Contrary to American business culture, a delay in making any decision is not considered to be someone’s inefficiency. They rather take it as a difference in decision making process. But once they take the responsibility of completing a job, one can easily put their faith on them even if it is out of reach of their capabilities and they have a way of coming out with exceptional results. Conclusion Compared to other business cultures in the world, the Japanese business culture is unique in its own way. And it may seem like an obstacle, but once one get to understand the basics of culture, it also provides security to their business by building life time relationships. Some of the traits of Japanese culture are their loyalty, consistency, collectivism, their way of giving respect. If American managers do their research before meeting Japanese managers for negotiations, and take care of little details while complimenting them in accordance with their culture, Japanese will be very pleased and any negotiation can be expected to result in favour of both the parties. 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