Ciuche Sabin Vasnic George

Cultural Differences
Monochronic vs Polychronic

Monochronic versus polychronic cultures and the impact that can have on
communication:
Monochronic cultures like to do just one thing at a time. They value a certain orderliness
and sense of there being an appropriate time and place for everything. They do not value
interruptions. They like to concentrate on the job at hand and take time commitments very
seriously.
In addition monochronic people tend to show a great deal of respect for private property
and are reluctant to be either a lender or a borrower. This is part of a general tendency to follow
rules of privacy and consideration as well as adhere religiously to plans.
Polychronic cultures like to do multiple things at the same time. A manager's office in
a polychronic culture typically has an open door, a ringing phone and a meeting all going on at
the same time. Though they can be easily distracted they also tend to manage interruptions well
with a willingness to change plans often and easily. People are their main concern (particularly
those closely related to them or their function) and they have a tendency to build lifetime
relationships. Issues such as promptness are firmly based on the relationship rather than the task
and objectives are more like desirable outcomes than must do's.
If you live in the United States, Canada, or Northern Europe, you live in a monochronic
culture. If you live in Latin America, the Arab part of the Middle East, or sub-Sahara Africa,
you live in a polychronic culture.
Interactions between the two types can be problematic. Monochronic businessmen
cannot understand why the person they are meeting is always interrupted by phone calls and
people stopping by. Is it meant to be insulting? When do they get down to business?
Polychronic businessmen cannot understand why tasks are isolated from the
organisation as a whole and measured by output in time instead of part of the overall
organisational goal. How can you separate work time and personal time? Why would you let
something as silly as a schedule negatively impact on the quality of your relationships?
 Concepts of Time between Japan and India

Japan is a monochronic culture with a long-term orientation towards time. In other

words, people tend to think linearly and prioritise depending on importance. Attitudes towards
punctuality are strict. When doing business in Japan, being early or on time for all appointments,
regardless or their formality, is a show of respect and therefore any event of being late requires
forewarning and an apology. Furthermore long term time orientation translates to values in
Japan that include persistence and ordering relationships by status

Punctuality in Japan
As we all might have noticed, Japanese people are concerned about being punctual. It is
common sense for Japanese to ‘be prompt,’ and we all need to aware that ‘being prompt’ in
Japanese society has a significantly different meaning to that in other countries.
When you are told to come at 10:00 a.m, it means that your boss is expecting you to be
able to start working from 10:00 am and not from 10:15. Therefore, you are expected to come
before the time you are told to come and preparing yourself to work.
By now, I think you all have understood how Japanese perceive punctuality and knew
that being late just even for 1 minutes can be a huge matter in Japan. Even if you have
understood the importance of punctuality, there are still many chances for you to be late for
work due to different reasons.

What to do when you are late?

There are many different reasons that make you be late for work. The train might delay
due to the accident, or you might oversleep. When you know you are going to be late, the first
thing you should do is to contact your workplace. You can either call your boss by phone, or
you can send a message through LINE. And when you are sending a message, there are 3 crucial
things that you need to mention in your text:
1. Apologize
2. Reason
3. Time you can arrive
Apologizing to your boss and your colleagues is the first and the most crucial thing to
do. When you could not arrive on time, there should be someone who was covering your work.
If the work is operated by a small amount of people, your absence might have caused a huge
problem for other workers. So when you are telling your workplace that you are going to be
late, you should start up with an apology.
After you have apologized, you need to tell your workplace why you are late. It is
considered as a manner for Japanese to explain why you are late for work. Here you need to be
careful of what to say for your excuses. For example, you should not be telling them you are
late because you were drinking with your friends and overslept this morning, otherwise they
might see you as an untruthful person.
After you have told your reason why you are late, you have to mention at what time you
can arrive. This is also important as you are affecting the working efficiency of the workplace,
and your boss needs to know when you are coming. This is also a way to show your sincerity
by giving enough information about yourself because that can tell your boss that you do care
about the work.
By now, I think you have understood the importance of punctuality in the Japanese
society, and how to deal with it when you are late for work. These days, there are more and
more Japanese who have become more relaxed about time, but still ‘being punctual’ is an
important element in Japanese society.
To build up a good relationship with your boss as well as your colleagues, you have to
be extremely careful after making one mistake. So when you are late to work, try not to make
the same mistake again!

The Indian culture perceives time in a polychronic manner. Time is elastic and meeting
times are flexible in India. In a polychronic culture like India, time is generally not considered
as the objective guideline for planning and scheduling one's business activities

IST Indian Standard Time is also perceived as Indian stretchable time by many. In most
cases it may be true especially if you are dealing with an Indian government department or a
public sector organization in India. However, in the Indian private sectors the situation is
certainly better than that in the government organizations. If you are dealing with Indians' who
have a professional attitude towards work then things do happen on time

Punctuality in India.

In general, punctuality is not an Indian quality but this Indian habit would certainly
develop patience and tolerance inside you. If you want to create business activity in India
without becoming insane, you need to develop the equanimity towards those events or situations
which you may not like. This quality of equanimity will certainly take you on the path of
Buddha towards enlightenment.

The work day in India typically starts at 10am, though in major cities it can be
considerably earlier, so if in doubt schedule meetings no earlier than mid-morning. It is
considered good manners in India to be slightly late, so make sure you factor this into your
schedule. You need to be ready to face the reality of people being late for their meetings or their
work. In fact, if you are going for a meeting or a special function where an Indian VIPs is
expected, then have patience as often Indian VIPs turn up late.