Japanese firms might gain from looking to outsiders for insights
Consultants who have worked with a range of companies have a better overall view than Japanese employees themselves of how Japanese companies differ from each other....
Free Resources
Giving a presentation in Japan? Think about sending it in advance
You may think this detracts from the appeal of the presentation, but if your audience includes people who are not comfortable with English, prefer group based decision-making and don't like...
Business presentations should be thought of like math exams
Rather like a math exam, you have to show the working out in your presentation, not just the answer, to get full points....
Oidashibeya – Japanese Purgatory
Employees are typically placed in a room, often windowless...
Strive to let your Japanese counterpart see what you mean
Next time you need to make a proposal to a Japanese person, see if you can draw it first....
Honne and Tatemae
My biggest concern about including honne and tatemae when explaining Japanese culture to non-Japanese is that it makes it sound like Japanese have a unique propensity to be liars...