Motivation That Could Be Applied by an

¶ … motivation that could be applied by an international marketer in other countries. A clear principle that emerges from the National Office Machines (NOM) case is the need to adapt to the local environment. Simply transplanting a traditional, American competitive model into Japan will not 'work' to encourage all Japanese employees to succeed. Granted, younger workers are more competitively-minded than their older counterparts and more comfortable with job insecurity in exchange for higher salaries. But NOM cannot advance within Japan simply using younger salespersons.

It cannot afford to fire all long-standing, older employees who might not feel motivated by a more Americanized system. First of all, the older workers have important relationships they have cultivated with other businesses. These types of businesses are important in Japan, even in the new, global environment. Second of all, NOM does not want to lose potentially valuable older employees, simply because it is trying to institute some changes. These employees have demonstrated their loyalty to the company.

When working in an international environment, every company must analyze the local cultural environment. Evaluating the degree to which a culture is 'high-context' (relationship-based) versus 'low-context' (result-based) in its priorities helps clarify the degree to which teamwork should predominate when developing its hierarchy of values for a pay scale.

Understanding whether communitarian or individualistic values are more important in motivating employees will help the company create a performance model that maximizes a competitive advantage without generating employee resentment that some employees are being 'favored.' One of the positive aspects of NOM's endeavor is that it is being conducted as part of a joint venture, which ensures that it will have cultural input from its partnering company.

Joint ventures are often more successful than attempts to merely set up shop abroad and transplant a foreign model of doing business into a local environment. Besides the practical aspects of dealing with local government regulations and bureaucracy, the nationally-based company can provide a potential 'check' upon the foreign company if it is violating national ideology and unspoken cultural norms. In a high-context nation such as Japan, where 'how you say' something is often equally if not more important as what you say, this is especially essential.

Changes must be instituted gradually, rather than immediately phased in, and the options must be carefully weighed. For example, is the loss of corporate good will justified by the cost savings of ending the Japanese system based solely on reciprocity when dealing with other businesses? Will the greater motivation of younger employees to succeed be counterweighted to a great degree by the resistance of older employees to a competitive system? Employees often exhibit.