Felicia's 2025 Blog

 I will be comparing my experiences in the workplace in the US and what I’ve learned about work culture in Japan.  I think that when it comes to hierarchies in the workplace, the United States and Japan differ somewhat, but only recently have the differences started to show. In the past in the American work place there was a clear line between positions across multiple companies, but as the years have passed that line has slowly started to blur. I will be focusing on the decision-making aspects of the workplace.  I would say that recently people tend to speak out about certain topics in the workplace such as maltreatment and such, I noticed from my experience at work and talking with some of my coworkers and friends who are also in the workforce that the companies have started to actually care about what the subordinates think, and along with that the subordinates also have a somewhat equal standing. This ties in with the concept of maintaining the concept of Wa in the wo...

 When it comes to masculine and feminine Cultures of the world, it is a relatively new concept for me. I personally think that it's an interesting way to explain the reason why certain cultures either get along or don't get along.  From what I have learned so far, Japanese culture is mainly characterized by male dominance and high ambitions which is similar to American society, and somewhat similar to Ghanaian culture (although it is a little bit more feminine leaning). I would say that the only factor that goes into Ghanaian culture being feminine is due to the mindset of working to live and not living to work or achieve material success. It is a definite contrast from the hustle culture of both Japanese and American society. Competitiveness is a key component in masculine societies, for example in Japan one of the most common examples is working overtime often to do better and get a promotion. This is the same case in the United States where they mainly follow a “work hard o...

 An insanely important aspect of Ghanaian upbringing is respect. Unlike where Amae–which is the mother-child-like bond given to those in the inner circle–is a given in Japanese inner circles. It is only unlocked after respect is established and in Ghana it comes under the condition that you will give the appropriate title of respect to your elders. Elizabeth Ohene states that “it is a sign of bad upbringing to call an elder person without a title, as in calling me Elizabeth without "Auntie", or "Da", or "Madam" or "Miss" or whatever title comes to mind” (Ohene, 2017). When you do use the proper titles that is where Amae comes to play. It's like having to use a code to unlock a safe but you can only use your right hand(because using your left is highly insulting) and curtsy with one leg every time you enter a number with a small smile the whole time. Similar to Japan where there is that benevolence of whoever the dependent relies on is a given...