Akira (Organisational culture)
Specification topic: Organisational culture
Case Study: Akira
Akira, a leading Japanese manufacturer of electronic products, recently announced that it would
“seek to change”. The declaration made by newly appointed Japanese CEO, Kai Jenga, would
involve a change in organisational culture. Historically the company experienced growth through
leading the market in innovation. However over recent years, its market share significantly
declined as more agile competitors, such as Apple and Samsung, took sales away from them.
Akira’s over-dependence on its core products such as the Walkman and televisions, meant that it
failed to react to the changing needs of the market. Akira’s television division has been loss making
for ten consecutive years, but there are no plans to change this part of the business.
When first set up, Akira bucked the trend for a Japanese company, promoting employees at a
young age and being adventurous with product ideas. However, as the business grew into many
different divisions, it became a victim of its own success. The organisation developed a more
traditional hierarchical structure, typical of Japanese firms, with formal communication channels
and a clear chain of command. Different departments started to work in isolation from each other,
only concerned about their own performance and success. As a result, Akira’s product offerings
became disjointed and at times overlapped each other. No new, innovative “wow” product had
been developed in years and the prestige of the brand for being creative and a “must have” fell.
This organisational structure and “silo” mentality (a mind-set found where different departments
do not want to share information or knowledge with others within the business) still prevails in
Akira today. Decision making continues to be slow and cautious. Communication is closed. If Jenga
is to be successful in “changing the organisation” improving its efficiency and profitability, he will
need to make some tough decisions. Reviewing and restructuring the organisation will be at the
forefront of his mind. Undoubtedly redundancies will be a consequence of any restructure.
However part of the national culture of Japan means that people show extreme loyalty to their
employer, viewing employment with a company, such as Akira, as a “job for life” and part of their
own personal identity. As a result any layoffs in Akira would be nationally perceived as extremely
negative and culturally shocking. This would undoubtedly influence the timing and size of Jenga’s
tough corporate decisions.
Jenga has a rocky road ahead. He firmly believes that Akira has always been an entrepreneurial
company and that an entrepreneurial spirit is still at the heart of the organisation. Whereas it
could be argued that other western businesses which had been loss making for eight years, would
have changed more rapidly, Akira must act bravely now to avoid further changes in the future. It
must invest in its core corporate strengths and seek out new ones in order to improve its fortunes
and regain market share from the innovative experts that dominate the technological market
today.
Exam-style questions
1. Analyse the main influences on Akira’s organisational culture (12 marks)
2. To what extent do you think it will be easy for Jenga to change the corporate culture of
Akira? (20 marks)
© Tutor2u Limited 2016 www.tutor2u.net
Akira (Organisational culture)
© Tutor2u Limited 2016 www.tutor2u.net
