Japanese reaction to management problems in Europe: Cultural aspects

When faced with problems with foreign employees, Japanese managers try to avoid discussion and tend to withdraw. This is often interpreted by foreign employees as hostility or contempt, expressed actively. Various explanations are given, such as the Japanese penchant for saving face, but these are too simple. Magoroh Maruyama points to different characteristics of Japanese culture which have not been used in explanation. In the end he recommends using more foreign managers instead of Japanese and avoiding this particular problem altogether.