Intercultural perceptions in United States subsidiaries of Japanese companies

Japanese and U.S. managers working together in eight Japanese-owned commercial banks in the United Stales participated in the study. Senior and upper-middle level managers of both nationalities rated employees from each national group on 13 bipolar semantic differential adjective items. In contrast to typical studies of intercultural stereotypes between groups having no actual contact with one another, the present study focuses on groups working together in international businesses. Individual responses were analyzed to compare perceived similarities and differences by the two employee groups. As anticipated, considerable differences were found. Implications for mutual understanding between these cultural groups in international business are discussed.