The Challenges of Managing Cross-Cultural Employees of Japanese Manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia: Raising Employees’ Learning Consciousness

Management of cross-cultural employees of Japanese manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia is the subject of the present study. In particular, this study focuses on raising local employees’ learning consciousness and sheds light on the effect of communication and organizational culture. Learning is a distinctive feature of Japanese companies. In Malaysia, however, Japanese SMEs are struggling to maintain their culture of learning. An empirical survey on learning was conducted with the local employees in our study. First, the survey results highlighted the importance of communication. Japanese SMEs can overcome the language and cultural barriers by effective frequent communication. Clarity on the job, on issues such as current responsibilities, rewards, and promotions, is critical to raising learning consciousness. Second, the study also focuses on the role of Japanese management culture. Japanese companies exemplify learning behavior and the present study clarifies how this unique culture increases employees’ affection and raises learning consciousness. The study provides evidence that affective commitment alone is not sufficient to boost learning consciousness. The study results also have important implications to the practitioner.