East Carolina University
Andrew Preston Curtis
MKTG 3852
Dr. Meric

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Executive Summary
Table of Contents
Introduction
I.
Hofstede’s Five Dimensions a.
Power distance (PDI) b.
Individualism versus collectivism (IDV) c.
Masculinity versus femininity (MAS) d.
Uncertainty avoidance (UAI) e.
Long-term versus short-term orientation (LTO)
II.
Individualist versus collectivist
Conclusion
Works Cited page 2 page 3 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 5 page 6 page 6 page 7 page 8

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Executive Summary
When an American car manufacturing plant shuts down in the small town of Hadleyville,
Pennsylvania, the charismatic Hunt Stevenson (Michael Keaton) is selected to travel to Tokyo,
Japan and encourage foreign manufacturer Assan Motors Company to re-open and manage the existing plant in the United States. After the Japanese top executives deliberated over re-opening the manufacturing plant, Assan Motors Company picked failing executive Oishi Kazihiro (Gedde
Watanabe) as a test of leadership to run the plant and make it profitable. Oishi is accompanied by his family, his business partners, and his Japanese culture on his trip to Hadleyville. When the plant is re-opened with lower labor wages, the Japanese collectivism way of manufacturing cars clashes with the American culture of individualism. The cross-cultural communication between the Japanese and American parties creates conflict that Hunt Stevenson resolves by acting as a mediator.
Geert Hofstede’s five dimensions of power distance (PDI), individualism versus collectivism
(IDV), masculinity versus femininity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance (UAI), and long-term orientation (LTO) are all portrayed throughout the movie in both Japanese and American cultures. The dimension of PDI is the degree to which power is evenly distributed among the citizens. The power distance dimension can also be classified as egalitarian (low PDI) or hierarchical (high PDI). A culture with a high IDV, such as the United States, is individualist whereas a culture with a low IDV is collectivist. The Japanese is a highly masculine society with a high MAS. The uncertainty avoidance dimension deals with a culture’s reluctance to change and unknown events. The final dimension of Hofstede’s model is LTO which is “society’s search for virtue.” [4]

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Japanese and American Cultures Compared
Introduction
The 1986 film “Gung Ho” directed by Ron Howard is a first-class example of how different cultures interact both positively and negatively with one another. The term “gung ho” was shortened from the original Mandarin Chinese phrase “gongye hezhoushe” which means industrial cooperative [8]. However in Western cultures, the term “gung ho” is used in reference to excitement and enthusiasm, not collective work habits. Netherlands anthropologist Geert
Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture are displayed throughout the movie.
I.
Geert Hofstede’s five dimensions of power distance (PDI), individualism versus collectivism (IDV), masculinity versus femininity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance (UAI), and long-term orientation (LTO) are all prevalent in the movie with vivid examples. a.
The power distance (PDI) dimension of Hofstede’s model states “the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally” [4]. A culture with a high PDI is hierarchical and more accepting of power being unequally spread out. A culture with a low PDI is egalitarian and strives for a balance of power and equal opportunities among citizens. Japan is a hierarchical culture respecting status and rank and has a relatively high PDI of 54 compared to the United States PDI of 40. This signifies that the Japanese culture is more compliant with power and responsibility being distributed unequally in the way that management sees fit. The lower score of forty on the PDI demonstrates that the culture in the United States is reluctant to power being disbursed unequally and will attempt to achieve equality. In the

4 Curtis movie, this concept was best shown in the scene when the American employee
Buster (George Wendt) was pulled off the manufacturing line and was reassigned to the custodial department by Japanese manager Saito (Sab Shimono). Saito, coming from a high PDI culture, expects the United States employee Buster to change positions with no objection because all positions are seen as equally important under the Japanese ran Assan Motors. However, Buster and his
American beliefs had a difficult time accepting his new position because it was seen as a demotion and a loss of power. Buster was livid and threatened to quit but Hunt stepped in and told him to not think of himself and, but rather of his family who he was supporting financially. Hunt was asking him to step out of his comfort zone as a self-centered American individualist and to act as a collectivist with the group’s best intention at mind. b.
The second dimension of Hofstede’s model is individualism versus collectivism
(IDV). A culture with a high IDV like the United States consists of individualist members that are concerned with their own personal well-being as oppose to the group’s best interest. The United States has a high IDV of 91 representing an individualist culture in which members value personal rights, freedom, and selfgovernment. [10] A culture with a low IDV of 46 such as Japan favors group dependency and harmony among the group members. [6] In Japan, the employees favor group work and make decisions that benefit the company rather than themselves. When the company is successful the workers feel pride and accomplishment. When the company does poorly the employees feel shame and embarrassment. [3]

5 Curtis c.
Hofstede’s third dimension of culture is masculinity versus femininity (MAS). A culture with a high MAS is a masculine culture with defined gender roles. The men in a masculine culture are more forceful, aggressive, and dominant. The women in a masculine culture are loving, devoted, and reserved. A culture with a low MAS is classified as feminine and gender roles overlap. Japan has a MAS of
95 representing an extremely masculine culture where the men are driven by toughness, success, and accomplishment. However, Japanese culture is collectivist and the men are not to boast about financial achievement. The women in a highly masculine culture like Japan concentrate on nurturing the children, taking care of the home, and upholding the quality of life. The United States has a MAS of 62 which indicates a masculine culture but it is not to the severity of
Japan. [10] The United States is a masculine culture but has cases of gender roles being reversed largely due to their belief of equality. An example of masculinity versus femininity in the film was when Hunt and his girlfriend Audrey were over
Oishi’s house for dinner and before business was discussed at the dinner table all of the wives of the Japanese employees left the room out of respect. However, the girlfriend of the American employee had the audacity to remain seated. [3] d.
The last dimension of Hofstede’s original model of culture is uncertainty avoidance (UAI). UAI measures a culture’s response to different unknown situations and potentially dangerous scenarios. A culture with high or strong uncertainty avoidance “tends to perceive unknown situations as threatening and that people, therefore, tend to avoid these situations.” [7] A culture with low or weak uncertainty avoidance instead, is not threatened by unknown situations. The

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Japanese culture has a high UAI of 92 meaning that the culture prepares for the future and attempts to avoid uncertain or unknown situation since they are perceived as life threatening such as a tsunami. The United States has a low UAI of 46 signifying a culture that is lenient towards accepting the inevitable unknown. This was exhibited in the movie when Assan Motors re-opened the plant and the American employees were enthusiastic about returning to work even though they were unaware of what the newly Japanese ran plant was going to entail. [3] e.
The fifth and final dimension of culture in Hofstede’s model was later added and recognized as long-term versus short-term orientation (LTO). The long-term orientation of the spectrum is “closely related to the teachings of Confucius and can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue.” [6] Japan has a high LTO of 80 and is considered a long-term oriented society that focuses on thrift and saving for the future generations. [9] In contrast to the Japanese culture, the United States has a low LTO of 29 and is classified as a short-term oriented society that concentrates on the present and requires instant gratification. [10]
II.
One of the main themes of the film Gung Ho focused on the contrast between the
American individualist culture and the Japanese collectivist culture. An individualist culture focuses on themselves and thinks in the terms of “I” and “me”. Individualism focuses on competition, personal achievement and self-dependency. A collectivist culture favors strong personal ties with one another in close knit group and thinks in the terms of “we”. [1] This concept was captured in the film when Hunt asked why the employees were rotating jobs instead of specializing in one job. Saito responded, “Every

7 Curtis man learns every job then we are a team, no man is so special.” Hunt pulled Saito to the side and said, “…Here’s the deal on that. You’re in America now you know? And the thing is Americans really like to feel special.” [3] Japanese management culture is more susceptible to higher employees that are efficient and prefer the concept of group work.
The American culture of managing a business is to delegate tasks to individual subordinates then collectively put the work together. Labor in the United States consists of more specialized jobs.
Conclusion
Geert Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions of power distance (PDI), individualism versus collectivism (IDV), masculinity versus femininity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance (UAI), and long-term orientation (LTO) can all be explained with examples drawn from the movie Gung
Ho. The Japanese and American cultures contrast in every dimension of Hofstede’s model except masculinity versus femininity.

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Works Cited
1.
Brewer, Paul, and Sunil Venaik. "Individualism-Collectivism in Hofstede and GLOBE."
Journal of International Business Studies . (2011): n. page. Web. http://search.proquest.com/docview/858402819/13F6D0ED62F4EB2E21C/2?accountid=
10639.
2.
Ferraro, Gary. The Cultural Dimension of International Business, Seventh Edition.
Prentice Hall
3.
Gung Ho. Dir. Ron Howard. Perf. Michael Keaton. 1986
4.
Hofstede, Geert. Dimensions. n.d. 20 July 2013 http://geerthofstede.com/dimensions.html
5.
Hofstede, Geert. National Culture Dimensions. n.d. 20 July 2013 http://geerthofstede.com/national-culture.html.
6.
Japan. n.d. 20 July 2013 http://geert-hofstede.com/japan.html
7.
Marcus, A and Gould, E.W., Cultural dimensions and global web user interface design:
What? So What? Now What? Retrieved July 2013, from http://www.amanda.com/resources/hfweb2000/AMA_CultDim.pdf
8.
"Origin of Gung Ho." . N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jul 2013.
<http://www.chinapage.com/word/gungho.html>.
9.
Robertson, Christopher, and James Hoffman. "How different are we? An investigation of
Confucian values in the United States." Journal of Managerial Issues . (2000): n. page.
Web. 22 Jul. 2013. http://search.proquest.com/docview/194165255/13F6D17D23D6210B9EA/20?accountid
=10639.
10.
United States. n.d. 20 July 2013 http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html

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