The diagram illustrates the layout of a typical American and a Japanese office.
Overall, the two office designs are completely different. While the Japanese office is organised to encourage more collaboration and communication among staff, the American office reflects a more individual and independent work style.
In terms of seating arrangement, personnel in the Japanese office are arranged into two separate sections, with desks placed close together and parallel to each other around rectangular tables. The section managers’ desks are situated at the head of each group, allowing them to supervise their team members easily, whereas the department manager sits in the central position to oversee the whole office. By contrast, the American office contains several L-shaped desks arranged in the middle area of the room, while the offices of both the section managers and the department manager are located on the right-hand side.
Regarding other features, the Japanese office has only one large window placed behind the department manager. In comparison, two windows on the western and eastern walls are featured in the American office, enabling more natural light to enter the workspace. Moreover, the American office has functional facilities such as a printer and copier room, storage space, and two conference rooms on the left side, which are not present in the Japanese office.