IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v113y2013i3p543-555.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sunao as Character: Its Implications for Trust and Intercultural Communication Within Subsidiaries of Japanese Multinationals in Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Joanna Crossman
  • Hiroko Noma

Abstract

Drawing upon the findings of a grounded theory study, this article addresses how sunao-sa influences intercultural communication and the process of building and developing trust between Japanese expatriate managers and Australian supervisors working in subsidiaries of Japanese multinationals in Australia. The authors argue that sunao is related to other concepts in business ethics and virtue literature such as character and its constituents, empathy and concern for others. How sunao as a value, influences the process of interpreting intercultural behaviour in relation to providing accounts, excuses or apologies in situations where a breach of some norm has occurred, is also explained. Although sunao has a particular role in hierarchical relationships between manager and subordinate, the paper concludes that becoming mutually sunao is crucial in learning and understanding the perspectives and expectations of a counterpart so that trust can deepen and flourish. The study makes an original contribution in an area that to date does not appear to have been researched from a management perspective and purports that sunao as character is an important factor in the culture of Japanese multinational organizations and indeed, international management in that context. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Joanna Crossman & Hiroko Noma, 2013. "Sunao as Character: Its Implications for Trust and Intercultural Communication Within Subsidiaries of Japanese Multinationals in Australia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 543-555, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:113:y:2013:i:3:p:543-555
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1321-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1321-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1321-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacky F. L. Hong & Robin S. Snell, 2008. "Power Inequality in Cross-cultural Learning: The Case of Japanese Transplants in China," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 253-273, April.
    2. B R Baliga & Alfred M Jaeger, 1984. "Multinational Corporations: Control Systems and Delegation Issues," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 15(2), pages 25-40, June.
    3. Naughton, Michael J. & Cornwall, Jeffrey R., 2006. "The Virtue of Courage in Entrepreneurship: Engaging the Catholic Social Tradition and the Life-Cycle of the Business," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 69-93, January.
    4. Solomon, Robert C., 1992. "Corporate Roles, Personal Virtues: An Aristotelean Approach to Business Ethics," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 317-339, July.
    5. Scott D. Watkins & Patrick L. Anderson, 2009. "Massachusetts," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Scott D. Watkins & Patrick L. Anderson (ed.), The State Economic Handbook 2010, pages 105-109, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Patricia Corner, 2009. "Workplace Spirituality and Business Ethics: Insights from an Eastern Spiritual Tradition," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(3), pages 377-389, March.
    7. Alexander Bertland, 2009. "Virtue Ethics in Business and the Capabilities Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 25-32, January.
    8. Solomon, Robert C., 2003. "Victims of Circumstances? A Defense of Virtue Ethics in Business," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 43-62, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abdallah A. Sendaro & Rohaizat Baharun, 2020. "Mediating Role of Individual Market Orientation in Emotional Intelligence and Job Performance Relationship for Banking Industry," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 21(1), pages 18-30, February.
    2. Szkudlarek, Betina & Osland, Joyce S. & Nardon, Luciara & Zander, Lena, 2020. "Communication and culture in international business – Moving the field forward," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).
    3. Rahmawati, 2018. "Deconstructed CSR and Social Audit Model: Postmodernist Paradigm Observations in Luwu Mining Areas, Indonesia," GATR Journals jfbr142, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    4. Joanna Crossman & Vijayta Doshi, 2015. "When Not Knowing is a Virtue: A Business Ethics Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 1-8, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marina Balboa & Germán López-Espinosa & Antonio Rubia, 2012. "Non-linear Dynamics in Discretionary Accruals: An Analysis of Bank Loan-Loss Provisions," Faculty Working Papers 07/12, School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Navarra.
    2. Boudewijn Bruin, 2013. "Epistemic Virtues in Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(4), pages 583-595, April.
    3. Joan Fontrodona & Alejo Sison & Boudewijn Bruin, 2013. "Editorial Introduction: Putting Virtues Into Practice. A Challenge for Business and Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(4), pages 563-565, April.
    4. Dirk Vriens & Jan Achterbergh & Liesbeth Gulpers, 2018. "Virtuous Structures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 671-690, July.
    5. Valérie Petit & Helen Bollaert, 2012. "Flying Too Close to the Sun? Hubris Among CEOs and How to Prevent it," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 265-283, July.
    6. Christopher Baird & Thomas S. Calvard, 2019. "Epistemic Vices in Organizations: Knowledge, Truth, and Unethical Conduct," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 263-276, November.
    7. Pasi Heikkurinen & Jukka Mäkinen, 2018. "Synthesising Corporate Responsibility on Organisational and Societal Levels of Analysis: An Integrative Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 589-607, May.
    8. Dulce Redín & Reyes Calderón & Ignacio Ferrero, 2014. "Exploring the Ethical Dimension of Hawala," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 327-337, October.
    9. Federico Ast, 2019. "The Deliberative Test, a New Procedural Method for Ethical Decision Making in Integrative Social Contracts Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 207-221, March.
    10. Kevin Morrell & Stephen Brammer, 2016. "Governance and Virtue: The Case of Public Order Policing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 385-398, June.
    11. Matt Statler & David Oliver, 2016. "The Moral of the Story: Re-framing Ethical Codes of Conduct as Narrative Processes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 89-100, June.
    12. Andrew Abela & Ryan Shea, 2015. "Avoiding the Separation Thesis While Maintaining a Positive/Normative Distinction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 31-41, September.
    13. David Oliver & Matthew Statler & Johan Roos, 2010. "A Meta-Ethical Perspective on Organizational Identity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(3), pages 427-440, July.
    14. Paniccia, Paola M.A. & Poggesi, Sara & Leoni, Luna, 2020. "The virtue of courage: From historical European roots to current management studies," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 547-554.
    15. Li Yuan & Robert Chia & Jonathan Gosling, 2023. "Confucian Virtue Ethics and Ethical Leadership in Modern China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 119-133, January.
    16. Andrew West, 2018. "After Virtue and Accounting Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 21-36, March.
    17. Wei, Lihong & Zhang, Xiaosan & Yang, Muhan & Lin, Liming, 2024. "Understanding the relationship between entrepreneur courage quotient and enterprises' sustainable growth," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    18. Canton, César G., 2012. "Empowering People in the Business Frontline: The Ruggie’s Framework and the Capability Approach," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(2), pages 191-216.
    19. Roberta Sferrazzo & Renato Ruffini, 2021. "Are Liberated Companies a Concrete Application of Sen’s Capability Approach?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 329-342, May.
    20. Kaufmann, Lutz & Roessing, Soenke, 2005. "Managing conflict of interests between headquarters and their subsidiaries regarding technology transfer to emerging markets--a framework," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 235-253, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:113:y:2013:i:3:p:543-555. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.