Contested Japanese-ness: Examining the Meaning of Japanese Companies’ Country-of-Origin in China as a Product of Communication

Li, Nan

doi:10.1080/08961530.2022.2124574

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Wong (2014) argues that the sense of superiority of Japanese expatriates over their local counterparts has become a management issue. Products labeled with "Japan" have contributed to the promotion of national identity (Li, 2022) and the formation of a stronger ethnic identity (Fujimoto, 2002). These cases demonstrate an "ideological justification of the inequality between Japanese expatriates and local staff within the company" (Wong, 2001, p. 87).…”

Section: Transnational Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, along with declining economic power and long-term depression, later studies have mostly criticized the ethnocentrism in human resource management in many Japanese companies overseas (Wong, 2001; Li, 2002) and illustrated how the Japanese tend to consider themselves superior to the rest of Asia (Iwabuchi, 2002). Furthermore, this sense of nationalism was fostered by a series of governmental initiatives, such as “Cool Japan,” which aimed to promote the image of Japan through popular culture and played an essential role in reinforcing the idea of a uniquely Japanese cultural identity (Hambleton, 2011).…”

Section: Perpetuation Of Dominant Discourse In the Companymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The politics of smiling: the interplay of emotion, power and discourse in sensegiving and sensemaking

Zhu

2024

JOE

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PurposeThis research investigates the politics of smiling as a central driver for employees to navigate power dynamics within the prevailing discourse at a Japanese retailer in Hong Kong. Existing critical management studies emphasize power in organizational language, often neglecting the role of employees’ emotions in sustaining discourse. This paper examines employees’ smiles as tools for legitimizing (sensegiving) and interpreting (sensemaking) discourse. It explores how the use of their emotional display influenced the outcome of the company’s attempt to legitimize discourse. This research divides the discourse process into five phases: formation, codification, implementation, monitoring and adaptation.Design/methodology/approachUsing the critical sensegiving and sensemaking approach, this paper discusses how employees’ interpretations of corporate policies shape the perpetuation of dominant discourse and outcomes. Data were collected through the author’s long-term participant observation in the Hong Kong branches of Japanese retailers.FindingsThe formation phase discusses the emergence of a dominant discourse favoring Japanese practices in the company’s Hong Kong operations. Codification involves the conceptualization of standard smiles in customer service policies. In practice (implementation, monitoring and adjustment), employee smiles serve as tools for negotiating power—shaping careers, earnings and shift preferences. This paper argues that this discourse shapes organizational norms while employees’ sensemaking influences the discourse implementation. Furthermore, this paper highlights the transnational impact of Japanese culture in Hong Kong, which has shaped the way Japanese top management and local employees interpret the dominant discourse.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates the importance of discussing the display of emotions and employees’ intentions to understand their impact on the outcome of discourse implementation. This study also reiterates the significance of discussing the influence of one culture on another to understand the broader social context that affects the perpetuation of discourse.

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Section: Transnational Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%