ABSTRACT
Many companies spend a great amount of money for advertising but do not have an effective management tool to manage marketing costs, except a budgeting system. This chapter introduces a way of managing marketing costs by using the example of advertising expenses in Kao. Kao has three businesses in its consumer products line: beauty care, human health care, and fabric and home care. Each business is under the control of a manager of this business unit. Many Japanese management control practices are based on this high-context culture. When Japanese companies expand overseas (especially to low-context countries), there is often conflict between local and overseas employees. To operate companies effectively, it is important for both Japanese employees and employees from other countries to understand their cultural differences. The chapter discusses this aspect of Japanese culture is important for understanding the cases of management control systems in Japan.
