Part 1: Post a Response

"Influence of Institution and Cultures" Please respond to the following:

From the case study, imagine that you are the CEO of Yamakawa Corporation's U.S. subsidiary. You are faced with the dilemma of either cutting salaries or cutting jobs.

Analyze the role that institutions, cultures, and ethics played in this case and determine whether you will cut salaries or jobs. Provide a rationale for your decision.

Examine the overall manner in which formal and informal institutions combine to influence firm behavior. Provide two (2) examples that depict the effects that formal and informal institutions can have on a firm's strategy.

Part 2: Respond to a Peer

From the case study, imagine that you are the CEO of Yamakawa Corporation's U.S. subsidiary. You are faced with the dilemma of either cutting salaries or cutting jobs. Analyze the role that institutions, cultures, and ethics played in this case and determine whether you will cut salaries or jobs. Provide a rationale for your decision.

This is a tough issue for me to actually have to think about as if I was the person responsible for making this decision because I don't particularly like either choice. People who have been giving their time and energy to working for the company shouldn't have to face either potential outcome. Also, I look at the fact that every employee is depending not only on their next paycheck to maintain the standard of living that he or she has achieved but that every employee is looking forward to their next 6 months to 6 years of paychecks to keep on maintaining their standard of living (as well as that of the families they support).

I suppose that I would offer to cut salaries so that everyone can still have an income even if it is smaller than before. I would like to think that as the CEO I would have seen this coming and I would have actually incorporated the employees into my efforts to save both salaries and jobs by asking for cost-cutting suggestions from employees about ways that might streamline production lines, save energy and power wherever possible and ideas from management about the possibility of increasing efficiency. America is a relatively "low power distance" country so this does not seem like such a far-fetched approach to trying to save the company from having to take the drastic measure of cutting the workforce or their salaries.

I do realize that sometimes budgets must be tightened in businesses as well as in personal lives and that always entails cutting out some activity and often times the people associated with that activity but jobs matter so much in people's lives (all over the world - regardless of culture, ethnicity, race or religion) that I would try to save as many jobs as possible and hope that the company would be able to rebound in short order so that salaries could be returned to their previous levels.

Examine the overall manner in which formal and informal institutions combine to influence firm behavior. Provide two (2) examples that depict the effects that formal and informal institutions can have on a firm's strategy.

Informal: Throughout high school and college I enjoyed waitressing because of the tips that I got to walk home with at the end of every shift.

At most restaurants there is a standard practice that have evolved over time with regards to making sure that a server gets all of his/her tips earned from their shift. See, my shift may have ended at 5pm but a table of five diners who were seated in my section at 4:45pm will surely not be done with their meal at 5. So, the basic rule is that I would tend to those diners until 5pm and then excuse myself and introduce their new server.

Then the server who takes over will split the tip with me by leaving my half in an envelope with my name on it which I will retrieve whenever I come in for my next shift. Most servers are pretty fair and honest with this practice but some do take advantage - especially in restaurants where cash is still the preferred currency of choice for diners (b/c many who pay by credit card will write the tip on the receipt which can be checked later).

Servers who are dishonest with this practice usually don't remain working at their respective place of employment very long because (not sharing tips fairly is not illegal and never grounds for expulsion). However, they are ousted socially from the wait staff and that makes waiting tables no fun at all!

Formal: I became a licensed insurance agent at one point in my life and sold life, health, medical and medicare insurance once. The job wasn't my favorite ever - lots and lots and lots of paperwork - but I loved meeting all kinds of people all of the time. I would often meet people who I felt were perfect candidates for the insurance that they wanted to purchase but the approval process is so very formalized! I would write the application, submit it and wait and communicate with the home office and the client.

Sometimes they would get approved and other times not because the underwriters were professionals who never met the clients and didn't know them beyond their medical history, credit rating, age, ability to pay, etc. Some denials hurt my feelings as much as the clients. The home office would always justify why the applicant didn't qualify for approval and that is just how it goes when rigid, formalized processes are in place and upheld by an institution.