I need to find out why employees in Asian companies are not as keen as their
American counterparts on giving their own opinions to the company or
criticizing the company on the way they do business.

Points like the following would help, and evidence / examples /
reference (if available) would be even better. You may elaborate more
on the following points or suggest different points.

1) Asian cultures are more conformist and discourage dissent more than
the West.
2) Asian employees in these countries tend to be more loyal to their
employer, and hence question their decisions less.
3) Asian cultures, some, produce a hierarchy that does not always
include the bulk of their staff in the decision making.

I need the answer by 20 Mar 2003 23:59 PST.

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Clarification of Question by discover-ga on 20 Feb 2003 03:45 PST

I need the answer by 20 Feb 2003 23:59 PST.

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Request for Question Clarification by aardvark-ga on 23 Feb 2003 22:24 PST

Are you still interested in this answer?  If so, I can provide
references that I found very interesting and informative when
investigating Asian culture myself.

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Clarification of Question by discover-ga on 25 Feb 2003 19:30 PST

Yes, please post your answer. Thank you!

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Clarification of Question by discover-ga on 26 Feb 2003 16:12 PST

I need this to be answered in a few hours or I will close this question.

My suggestion to you would be to go pick up "Confucius Lives Next
Door: What Living in the East Teaches us about Living in the West" by
T.R. Reid.  It's a fairly quick read and covers the differences
between all aspects of Asian and American culture.  All of the points
you made are accurate according to the book.  An anecdote from the
book that seems applicable is that companies in Japan hold meetings,
but at the meeting the issue is never discussed.  The plan for what is
going to happen is determined before the meeting, where everyone
expresses their opinions, and a consensus is achieved.  Then at the
meeting, The plan is announced, and everyone puts their signature on
it, which symoblizes that the executives are all working as one, and
that all of their reputations are at stake.

Your third point is probably the weakest of the three.  The book has
many examples of the company asking the workers for guidance in how to
direct the company.  For example a large steel company was hit hard by
Reagan's foreign policy, and went to it's workers basically saying,
"We'll support you for ten years, figure out what direction we can
take this company in."

Another more recent example was in the latest issue of Business 2.0
(March 2003).  The subtitle of the article was "Japanese toymaker
Takara was almost bankrupt.  Then it made a bold bet on a piece of
fruit -- and its employees' passion."  Probably an article you should
look into.  This issue should still be on store shelves.

I think the key is that in Asian cultures, it is very important to
maintain a level of respect for superiors as well as maintain harmony
with everyone.  To contradict someone, especially a superior, is a
grave faux pas.  In his book, T.R. Reid says, "...Confucianism puts a
high priority on loyalty to the ruler and respect for one's superiors,
and thus people are expected to put up with their corporate or
governmental superiors, no matter how corrupt (and of course, the
corrupt bosses do their best to convey this view of Confucian duty.)

Another bit of the book discussing Japanese elementary schools is a
catch phrase that would be considered reprehensible in the states;
"Dreu kui wa utarareru," which translates to, "The nail that sticks up
gets hammered down."  This flies in the face of everything that the
American youth get taught.  In the United States, "thinking outside
the box" is a desirable quality, in Asia, it is not.

I hope this helps!
Anoop

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Clarification of Answer by aardvark-ga on 26 Feb 2003 18:43 PST

Here is a link to the book at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679777601/103-0199734-0065447

I also feel I didn't quite do Confucius justice when I mentioned him. 
Although Confucius says that you must respect those in authority, he
also says that those in authority must be benevolent and virtuous. 
Anyone who references Confucius as the reason to overlook corporate
corruption, is not a Confucian.

I think it is really hard to talk about an Asian culture in general. I
deal with Chinese every day and they tend to be rather outspoken and
straight forward.

Fons

Many Asian people are trying to "give face" and "keep face". Eastern
tradition implements a strict hierarchical system which does not
easily allow criticism directed at those above; often this results in
form over content. However I agree with Fons that it's hard to talk
about one Asian culture, since Asia has such a variety of cultures.

Sorry to rattle on about this.
The whole concept of giving face might be seens as Asian, but the
French, Spanish, Italian, South Americans, Africans and the Russians
have the same concept. In fact, it is only Northwest-Europeans and
Americans who think being rude is an asset.

Fons

I need this to be answered in a few hours or I will close this question.