Your Japanese colleagues probably have a pretty good command of English, but they may not be aware of the nuances a seemingly simple sentence such as “We must confirm” may...
Western communication style relies heavily on words. In contrast, Japanese communication relies less on verbal manipulation, and more heavily on non-verbals. Japanese are able to rely more on...
Japanese can be turned off by slick presentations…handwritten things more clearly show the effort of the person who was making it, and thus have more power to pull on the...
For Americans who are used to a more straightforward style, kishotenketsu can be very confusing…It can be hard to follow what Japanese have to say as they go on and...
Japanese companies often fail to appreciate the unique aspects of Mexican culture. The result, many Japanese firms experience high turnover and other problems in their Mexican operations. These can be...
When wanting to convince someone Japanese to do something in accordance with American customs or commonly-accepted practices, I find that it’s useful to assume that they are not necessarily familiar...
The Japanese excel at indirect communication, they do it though extreme tact and understatement, rather than irony. When they listen to Americans, the Japanese tend to believe our words and...
This style difference between Americans and Japanese often causes Americans to have difficulty determining what Japanese want to say…The Japanese assume that there is shared background information that put both...
Often Japanese sit quietly in the meeting and do not offer their opinions...
Just because people are debating a point intensively or excitedly does not necessarily mean that harmful conflict is occurring...