Testimonials

We wanted to give our American and Japanese team members a better understanding of the cultural differences that can impact communication and collaboration. The training was practical, engaging, and directly relevant to the situations our employees encounter in the workplace. The facilitator encouraged open discussion and did a great job keeping participants involved throughout the sessions.

Since the training, I’ve heard employees from both groups reference lessons from the class and discuss how they’ve applied them in real workplace situations. That feedback tells me the training made a meaningful impression and provided tools people continue to use.

Working with Japan Intercultural has been such a positive experience for us. We have hosted more than 10 different sessions of Working Effectively with Japanese Colleagues for our associates so far, and plan to schedule many more. In our experience, JIC Instructors have always been professional, knowledgeable, and seem to enjoy what they do. Even some of our associates who have worked for Japanese companies for years have found something worthwhile in these classes. We cannot recommend JIC enough for their quality content and excellent instructors.

We have received consistently excellent feedback from our Japanese senior managers for the People Leadership and Performance Management courses delivered in Japanese that Japan Intercultural Consulting developed for us. They have always been responsive and proactive in improving and refining the training they offer us. There is clear expertise based on many years of dealing with Asian cultures which is demonstrated through both their design and their delivery.

Japan Intercultural Consulting did a one-day seminar on Working Effectively with Japanese Colleagues for about 12 people at my company and it was very helpful. We are in partnerships with Japanese companies in large energy projects, where many decisions require all partners to approve. The overview of Japanese company decision making processes, business values and etiquette were eye opening. While we had observed many behaviors in our partners that were different from American practices, the seminar put these behaviors in the context of underlying Japanese beliefs and values that allowed our team to appreciate why our partners behave as they do. We have since made simple practical adjustments in our communication style and approach with our partners that are clearly helping to facilitate consensus building and therefore better results for these projects.

For years, our new employees attended in-person classes with Japan Intercultural Consulting in targeted cities across the country…. until COVID-19 hit us. Everything suddenly changed – remote work, remote interviewing, remote onboarding, and now remote learning. It was a new way of thinking for me and for many, but we quickly adapted! The in-person class, Working Effectively with Japanese for Americans, became a virtual class, not only for new hires in our area, but for those in the Eastern and Central time zones as well. Best part is the participants raved about the class and mentioned it was quite interactive between students and teacher in a webinar setting.

Some years ago, I had the pleasure of a one day personal training with Japan Intercultural Consulting that has proven to be instrumental in improving my understanding of the Japanese (business) culture. Tailored to my needs, the learnings gave me directions on how to navigate the challenges also of the daily life in Japan. Following that session, the consultant Paul Jaffe’s availability for advice before engaging in critical meetings complemented the training. Acknowledgements and compliments from distinguished Japanese science and business leaders are proof of success of Paul’s expertise.

JIC’s cultural expertise has been invaluable to us – providing really user-friendly e-learning to help new starters understand and thrive in a Japanese company; and then executive-level workshops to culturally assimilate the top management of newly acquired companies; plus Pernille runs quarterly virtual seminars for our inhouse trainers to deepen their understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture and working practices. They have quickly become more of a partner than a supplier; their products and services fit culturally, they’re constantly updating their products and collaborate to find solutions to our challenges.

When I got transferred from Tokyo to Atlanta to work for the Coca-Cola company, getting training from Japan Intercultural Consulting helped me to learn about intercultural communication, and that it requires an understanding that different cultures have different customs and even thought patterns between Japan and the U.S. The consultant I worked with helped me realize that effective intercultural communication is a vital skill for me working across countries or continents.