“Glass Ceiling”in Intercultural HRM of Japanese Enterprises in China

Abstract Globalization promoted the popularity of intercultural human resource management. The benefits of IHRM have been well documented. However， a plethora of organizations failed to execute it. This paper found many Japanese companies in China have such problems and suffer a lot from it. And the main reason for their failure is failing to localize employee recruitment， that is， building a “glass ceiling” in staff recruitment and promotion. And it is necessary to deal with it.

Key words Intercultural HRM， glass ceiling

Introduction

As the development of globalization and Chinas accession to WTO， more and more foreign companies are established in China. Pushing forward the sound development of it has great benefits. Under such background， intercultural human resource management comes into being and increasingly becomes an essential part in HRM

Intercultural human resource management can effectively exploit the potential of people from various different culturesand promote equality of opportunities for employees. The advantages of intercultural HRM have been fully documented. However， it is found that most Japanese companies fail to conduct effective intercultural HRM in China， particularly in terms of equal promotion opportunity for Chinese employees， that is， the glass ceiling for Chinese employees.

Theoretical background

Cross cultural management refers to managing work teams in ways that considers the differencesin cultures， practices and preferences of consumers in a global or international business context.With such management model， companies have to learn to modify or adapt their approaches in order to compete in an international context. And international human resource management is the application of cross cultural management in the field of HR. International human resource management （IHRM） is the process of procuring， allocating， and effectively utilizing human resources in a multinational corporation.It is indicated that good integration of cultural diversity in the company results in fewer frictions among employees and between them and employers. Accordingly， higher motivation is achieved and so is job satisfaction resulting in reduced costs for the company.

Data Analysis and Findings

In most Japanese company， employees usually get promoted based on seniority rather than ability. They tend to use expatriates to hold the high-level position， while the low-level positions are given to local people. If employees want to get promotion， they should stay at one company longer. However， in China， job hopping is very common； people tend to not stay in one position longer， and through job hopping to enrich their experiences. So， they would not be promoted to the high-level position for their short stay.

Another reason of glass ceiling for Chinese employees is that Japanese management does not trust Chinese people. Managers make out progress evaluation chart to strictly control and access schedule and progress for work of every employee. They are afraid of that employee would do wrong things and lag the whole project to complete. Employees are stringently managed， leaving little space for them to dictate their own thoughts or behaviors. It negatively affects their moral and motivation.

Solutions

Managers should develop their Intercultural competence. Intercu- ltural competence is the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with people of other cultures. In business world， it requires that organizations have a defined set of ethics and principles， and demonstrate behaviors， attitudes， policies， and structures that enable them to work effectively cross- culturally. It requires managers understanding other cultures concepts and harmonizing the relationship with local employees， so as to enable cross-cultural employees to work effectively.

The company should change their promotion policy. They could promote some competent but relatively young employees to fill up the higher vacancy. By doing this， they provide an opportunity for these people to improve themselves both in skills and management ability and better motivate people.

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作者簡介：

王静（1996.9 —），女，就读于西南财经大学经贸外语学院。