Jan's Blog 2025

 Hello G'Day everyone! The time has come to say a big thank you and goodbye to our legendary Mr. Geert Hofstede as we will be discussing today the last dimension on the list Indulgence vs Restraint. Generally speaking this index describes the relation towards "doing what your impulses want you to do"[1], friendship importance and understanding of life. So an indulgent culture will be characterized by: feeling good following the impulses (all sorts of'em - from shopping to sexual ones), high value of friendship (the more friends the better) and a notion that everything in life is in our control; fate does not dictate our path.  Let's leave the mic to our guest and allow him to outline the restraint culture:  "In a restrained culture, the feeling is that life is hard, and duty, not freedom, is the normal state of being."  [1]  Thank you Mr. Hofstede. Moving on to our favorite country comparison...  [2] [From the left: Canada, Japan, Poland]   Ah yes...

Hello G'Day everyone, Today we will be discussing the shopping culture in Japan and obviously we will compare it to Poland (sorry Canada, I did avoid shopping as much as I could when I lived there). Alrighty, let's do the outline and comparison in bullet points so it's just easier to read.   Customer service - is the customer really always right?   We all know all too well that the customer service (CS) in Japan is just exceptional, from the way the workers are greeting you, through how they treat and help you to even walking you outside the restaurant just to wish you a safe travel home. When the last thing happened to me, I was just awe struck. I dare even say that I felt a bit out of place at the moment. But that's the way it is here. If I were to describe the Japanese CS, I would use only two words:  Hospitable and Respectable . The Japanese staff is known for their politeness, absolute unwavering attention to their clients and they will go out of their way just to ...

 Hello G'Day everyone! Today we will discuss Hofstede's yet another index, and I can already feel that you are very very excited to read this blog.  The index is called Long-Term Orientation Index (LTO), yet it has nothing to do with this blog's title. To be honest it was meant to mislead you and evoke an emotional reaction, so that you would be more attentive. LTO is also known as Confucianism Index, so it orients how cultures deal with change and how they react to it.  I'm giving mic to Mr. Dutch: In a long-time-oriented culture, the basic notion about the world is that it is in flux, and preparing for the future is always needed. In a short-time-oriented culture, the world is essentially as it was created, so that the past provides a moral compass, and adhering to it is morally good.  [1]  Congrats, now you became smarter by one more term!  So as we usually do let us compare Japan (grey), Poland (blue? I honestly have no idea what is this color, don'...

 Hello G'Day, Today we will discuss the most interesting parts of Japanese political system and link them to my own personal experience and opinions. Starting right from the big shocker - Japan has a Dominant Party System, meaning that there is one main party and some non relevant other parties. Since 1955 Liberal Democratic Party has been ruling this beautiful country, that's precisely 70 years! According to some political theories, when one party rules for more than 11 years, the risk to the democracy turning into authoritarian system is significantly elevated. Yet, in this case it somehow does not apply.   For me elections are like a buffet. You enter, you take your plate and ponder, which dish will suit my appetite the most. Some years you carve a steak, and the other for a chocolate ice cream. So having one party system can be compared to constantly attending a buffet with only one dish, or with one high quality very nicely served dish, and other that are 3 days old,...

Hello G'Day welcome to yet another post on the most respectable Mr. Hofstede and his cultural model. Honestly speaking, I think at this point I can write his surname without even thinking about it given that it's my 4th consecutive year of dealing and chewing upon his work. So without further ado, we shall proceed to our little tradition of comparing Japan, Poland and Canada. Alas, I have forgotten to properly define what we are supposed to discuss today. The answer is Uncertainty Avoidance. Allow me to perhaps cast a light on this vague term by quoting Hofstede. Uncertainty avoidance has nothing to do with risk avoidance, nor with following rules. It has to do with anxiety and distrust in the face of the unknown, and conversely, with a wish to have fixed habits and rituals, and to know the truth.       Ahhhhhh POLAND WINNING AGAIN!!!!!! But here comes the interesting part, while Poland scores around 93 in this index, Japan scores 92. Which makes these two culture...

 Hello G'Day welcome to this instructional post on how to conduct business in Japan.  Well more like how to behave in professional settings. OK, so as you might imagine the business culture is waaaay different than what we are used to. Meaning that people behave and treat company setting with a certain degree of reverence and personal importance.  Back in the days, Japanese were connected by family ties forming clans. The home ( ie)  was everything to them. They would not do things that could put their name in a bad light and would take great pride in their honor.  The times are changing, so there is no shogun nor samurai that you should bend you knee to, naturally corporations took their place. The company is your home, and people within it are your family now.  We Europeans draw a definite and clearly visible line between work and private life. It is not uncommon to put on masks during the work hours, just to rip it off as soon as we get home. Sort of a d...