Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 3

PART-1-SUMITOMO BACKGROUND 4

1.HISTORY 4

2.THE MARKET STRUCTURE 4 a)Market value and volume 4 b)Segmentation 5 c)Forecast 5 d)Competitors 5

3.PRODUCTS 6

PART-2-JAPANESE CULTURE 7

1.THE GROUP 7

2.THE STATUS 7

3.HARMONY & RELATIONSHIPS 7 a)“NO” 8 b)Silence 8

4.PRESENTATION 9

5.BEHAVIOUR 9

6.WORK SHEDULE 9

7.WOMEN 9

8.MAKING CONTACTS 10

PART-3-SUMITOMO CORPORATE CULTURE 11

1.RESPECT OF PEOPLE 11

2.ELIMINATION OF WASTE 12

3.THE KEIRETSU 13

4.OFFICE LAYOUT 14

5.THE WORKING STYLE 14

6.THE HOLIDAY TIME 15

PART-4-GEERT HOFSTEDE: CULTURAL DIMENSIONS 16

1.THE FRAMEWORK SUM-UP 16

2.THE FRAMEWORK APPLICATION 17 a)Germany 17 b)Japan 18

PART-5-COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TWO CORPORATE CULTURES 20

1.ACCORDING TO THEIR CORPORATE CULTURE VALUES 20 a)Similitude 20 b)Differences 22

2.ACCORDING TO HOFSTEDE FRAMEWORK 23 a)Similitude 23 b)Difference 24

PART-6-RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSION 25

BIBLIOGRAPHY 26
INTRODUCTION

We are instructed by Continental to carry out a research with a cultural point of view about the possibilities of a merger with the Japanese firm “Sumitomo”.
The purpose of this report is to analyse the Japanese culture and the corporate culture so as to suggest some recommendations about the merger.
This report is organised into five parts:

← Sumitomo’s Background ← Japanese Culture ← Sumitomo’s Corporate Culture ← Geert Hofstede: cultural dimensions ← Comparison between both corporate cultures ← Recommendations

PART-1-SUMITOMO BACKGROUND

1. HISTORY

Sumitomo Rubber is the second largest tires manufacturer in Japan. Sumitomo headquarter is based in Hyogo (Japan), its activities are diversified. In fact, Sumitomo produces tire, sporting equipment and also rubber products.

The