Achieving more productive meetings with Japanese and American participants
Meetings are becoming the most hated part of everyone’s workday at the company — they take up time, and nothing ever seems to get done. Japanese feel like they...
Free Resources
A tale of three Japanese Presidents
In Japanese companies, the periodic rotation of the President presents a constant challenge. Successfully managing these transitions is one of the most challenging activities for Japanese-affiliated firms....
What do American engineers want?
High turnover among the engineering staff is becoming a headache. Other than just money, it seems that American engineers want something else that their Japanese employers may not be...
Effective meetings with Japanese
By expecting a Japanese participant in the meeting to commit to a decision, you put them in a difficult position… clarify beforehand the purpose of the meeting, and whether decisions...
“Career woman” and “feminine” — mutually exclusive for Japanese?
The idea in Japan that successful businesswomen can’t be feminine seems to go beyond clothes. There is a traditional notion in Japan that aggressive behavior is unattractive, and that...
Strategic alliances with Japanese firms: making them work
There are any number of reasons why a strategic alliance may be unsuccessful....
Why do Japanese take so long to make decisions?
Japanese are conscious of time and particularly deadlines, but tend not to feel the need to rush things unnecessarily…The traditional Japanese approach to change and decision-making is increasingly out of...
Are Americans always making excuses?
Japanese take very seriously the concept of personal responsibility. When westerners refuse to apologize and instead dwell on all the extenuating circumstances that caused the problem, Japanese view this...
Japanese and English – Bridging the language barrier
There is a tremendous linguistic gap between the Japanese language and English....
Japanese and American attitudes toward risk
Different structures and incentives of the business environments in Japan and the U.S. also have a major impact on attitudes toward risk. Americans are comfortable charging forward even if...