Working Hard, Hardly Workin'
             The essay "Japanese and American Workers: Two Casts of Mind," is written by William
             Ouchi. This essay is a short comparison of American and Japanese employee working systems,
             and a short explanation of why the author believes they are the way that they are. The Japanese
             culture is known for its strong ideals, values, and ways of life, which depend strongly on
             teamwork. For the whole nation to be united, trust within each other makes their working style
             that of collectivism. Adversely the American culture is based mostly on freedom, self-
             individuality, and rarely stresses teamwork. Which creates an individual working system, where
             even one person can make lots of money on their own. The Japanese and American working
             styles are very different and efficient in their own way due to their cultures.
             The Japanese culture has a huge impact on their current work ethic, it emphasizes the
             importance of the group. To understand these ethics one needs to understand their cultural and
             religious foundations underlying Japanese society. Their culture defines human equality, which
             come from religious influences such as Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shintoism. This equality
             shows itself in the ethics of diligence and self-actualization. Workers feel compelled to work hard
             to contribute their efforts to something greater. These ethics make the company respect workers
             who work hard. This process is like an expression of self-actualization for the worker, that
             through sacrifice and commitment the individual can comply himself with the ethical expectations
             of Japanese society. Since Japan is a very small country it forces its inhabitants to work and live
             really close. Since "a dozen families working together can produce a surplus," this shows that by
             working together, because they were forced to live really close, the amount of profit is a...