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Dr. Farid Elashmawi, President

Dealing with the Japanese Samurai

True or False

____1. If a Japanese smiles and nods his head, he definitely likes what you are saying or offering.
____2. When a Japanese sucks air through his teeth, it is a sign that he has a problem.
____3. Japanese supervisors will usually give minimal instruction to their foreign subordinates to encourage them to work in groups.
____4. In a group situation, Japanese sometimes use silent periods to sense others' feelings and thoughts.
____5. Japanese culture rewards individual rather than group achievements.
____6. In Japanese, group harmony and consensus are important and highly respected.
____7. The Japanese are often direct and not concerned with losing face.
____8. Most Japanese managers have a private office with a family picture on the wall.
____9. Most Japanese decisions are made by senior managers.
____10. When a Japanese says "yes, yes," he is confirming his agreement.

Quiz Answers

Issues in Doing Business Globally | Home

A Personal Tale

When I first decided to enter the Japanese market with my multicultural training seminars, I wanted to make a presentation to the people at Toshiba, one of the largest and most successful Japanese electronics conglomerates. I asked a professor-friend at Tokyo University for a reference to someone at Toshiba and he gave me the name of a manager in the training department, a Mr. Suzuki.

I immediately drafted a proposal and sent it to Mr. Suzuki, proposing to meet with him during a visit to Japan next month. Two weeks passed without any response, so I decided to take the initiative and called him directly. He immediately thanked me for the information, but apologized for not being able to meet with me. Apparently Mr. Suzuki did not have a strong enough relationship with my friend, and so I was not properly introduced.

Not giving up on Suzuki, however, I invited him to lunch the next time I was in Japan. He accepted and later invited me to make a presentation at his office. When I arrived at the office, I was surprised to find on the presentation table an American flag, a Japanese flag, and, in recognition of the country of my birth, an Egyptian flag. I felt confident that my proposal was well received, but they never made an offer.

The lesson I learned was that Suzuki was not the proper sponsor I needed, and I put this knowledge to use when I next approached a Japanese company. At Sony Corporation I sought the highest introduction possible. Earlier I had attended a conference in Tokyo where the chairman of Sony, Akio Morita, was giving a speech. After his speech, I asked him for the opportunity to visit his company. He looked to his assistant with a smile and the assistant asked me to call him on my next trip to Japan. Two months later, the assistant set up a meeting with Mr. Yamamoto, the manager of Sony's training department.

At 11:00 a.m. sharp, I arrived at the reception desk at Sony, where I was met by a young lady named Yoko. She apologized that Mr. Yamamoto had been called to a meeting, and inquired whether I had brought any information for him to review. Disappointed, I handed her my material and a copy of my book, wondering why my meeting had been overlooked. Later, I realized that most Japanese managers will not meet with you until they have a good amount of information about your organization.

One month later I received a fax from Yamamoto indicating that he was ready to meet with me. He was very interested in our programs, and I felt he would make a good sponsor. After three months, however, I learned that Yamamoto had been moved to a different position. He did refer me to his successor, Mr. Hara, but I was nevertheless forced to start the whole process over again.

Unfortunately, Hara informed me that he had already developed a relationship with one of my competitors. I immediately began to point out the benefits of my programs over those of my competitors. Hara simply smiled and asked me to be patient. Six months later, I was awarded my first contract with Sony.

Learning from my experiences, I sailed into Fujitsu Corporation with ease, but this time I had to negotiate prices. As I expected, Fujitsu countered my first price with an offer to pay 50 percent of my proposal, claiming budgetary restraints. I countered with a discount of 10 percent, and after a delay of two weeks, my sponsor came back with a final offer at a 20 percent discount.

Recognizing the lengthy process that the Japanese undertake to make decisions, I decided to accept their final price. It was for less money than I would usually accept, but it did give me the opportunity to be offered a second program after three months. To my surprise, they offered me 20 percent less for the follow-up program. Although I explained that my price was already discounted, they maintained their offer. I declined.

Six months later, after recognizing that the experience I would gain by doing business with Fujitsu would be worth the discounted price, I decided to accept their offer. Now that I had established a relationship with Fujitsu, they were willing to offer me a third program. Later, and to my astonishment, they asked for another 20 percent discount when they offered me a fourth program. I considered this too low for my expertise, and I decided to drop them as a client.

That was how I discovered the essence of the Japanese keiretsu system, in which a company guarantees business to a supplier on one key condition: the supplier must always adhere to the company's budget.

The experiences related above illustrate some of the ways in which the Japanese conduct business, and they are a reflection of Japanese culture as a whole. From personal introductions and negotiation tactics to decision-making processes and other expectations such as the keiretsu system, it is important for multicultural managers from other cultures to understand and adapt to Japanese business practices. The Japanese must also adapt to other cultures, because numerous Japanese manufacturing firms have been forced to establish plants overseas due to the high costs of production in Japan. Setting up these plants involves hiring, training, and managing thousands of local workers who come from societies and cultures that may be very different from Japan. The success of these overseas ventures hinges on managing the inevitable cultural conflicts that arise in such an environment.

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Issues in Doing Business Globally | Home

This material is presented to you by Global Success, a leading multicultural management, negotiation, training, and consulting organization. The company develops managers' skills in dealing successfully with global diversity in employees, clients, partners, and suppliers. It was founded by Dr. Farid Elashmawi, author of Multicultural Management 2000.