Cross-culture management: an examination on task, relationship and work overload stress orientations of Dutch and Japanese working adults

Human capital is among the most important strategic competencies and capabilities that managers can utilise to achieve competitive advantage. In the globalised economy, it is increasingly demanding for managers to manage their culturally diverse workforce as effectively and efficiently as they manage their more homogenous employees. This study uniquely examines the task, relationship, and work overload stress orientations of people in the Netherlands and in Japan. As a result of the analysis of 439 responses, it appears that Japanese respondents have significantly higher scores on task orientations than Dutch respondents while their relationship scores are similar. In terms of gender, significant difference was found on relationship scores but not on task scores. In terms of stress orientation, no significant difference was found. In this paper, literature on the behavioural approach to leadership, stress perception, and Dutch and Japanese cultures are presented along with practical application and suggestions for future studies.