Is there any factual basis for the "shame training" in the opening scenes of the movie? I'd like to use this movie in my classroom when I teach the impact of cultural differences on international strategy, and I'm wondering about the veracity of what's represented in this scene.
It actually was done in Japan in the '80s, I saw a picture and brief description in an old "National Geographic" article. Sorry I can't help as to a more accurate citation, or whether it's still done or was just a business fad.
Donuts...is there anything they can't do?
Yes, I've seen a documentary on it and it can be pretty brutal, psycholigally, anyway.
shareI don't know if it exists or not, but it sure was funny to watch. And the guy in charge was so nasty to Hunt when he walked in, wasn't he?
share"Ribbons of Shame!!!...". Hilarious!
Actually, I saw a news segment in the 80's about Japanese "boot camps", that were being conducted in the U.S where much of the content involved public humiliation. They sat around a campfire and each took turns standing up and confessing their "failures". This was done, like in the movie, with much emotion, crying etc.
"Well, how was it?".
"It was degrading, humiliating, emasculating... and somewhat enjoyable".
That "ribbons of shame" scene plays almost like an American parody of Japanese corporate culture, but apparently they really do that sort of thing in Japan.
All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?
Although it existed and in spite of others' comments, it wasn't common. It was just as weird to Japanese people including my dad as it was to American people.
It existed at two major companies during the 1980s, suggested by an idiotic consultant to inspire better work performance, but they stopped using this idiotic method after it was publicised in Japanese and English media and when proved it didn't work. In short, it was a fad.
It still doesn't mean the 'name and shame' practice doesn't exist in Japanese corporate field because it does in some ways. A common occurrence would be a branch manager issuing verbal abuse directed at a poorly-performed employee in front of the others, or lumping all employees on one floor as a group to be blamed if one of their team performed poorly. An individual's failure is the whole team's failure. As a result, there is peer pressure among teams to perform well.
Regardless of that, it always depends on each manager. Some prefer an one-to-one discussion in private, some prefer to shout abuse at an employee in private or in front of the others, and some prefer to address a problem as a team issue instead of an individual issue. It always varies, from a manager to a manager and sometimes from a company to a company. I guess it's same all over the world?
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They really do that kind of thing in the US too although not usually not the same style. Be very concerned if you're ever asked to go to a "management retreat" or some such. I just laughed at some of the nonsense they wanted people to do one time and promptly got my resume together. Any company that thinks having people do little tricks is going to make the slightest difference has serious problems.
Your typical corporation is a totalitarian regime and cult rolled into one. It's natural in this environment for the strong to dominate and humiliate the weak.
Unc John "We makin' trouble?"
Stacy "Yeah"
Unc John "What kind?"
Stacy "...The forever kind"
Ribbons of shame is a Japanese management practice of giving ribbons with criticisms to employees who fail to meet expectations. According to some authors that in Japanese Management Programs, employees participating in truth exercises would declare those weaknesses which have been known to cause errors in the past. Although an element of Japanese style of management, ribbons of shame have been used by Apple Computers.