Moshi moshi, Japan? (1) — Managing the Japanese from distance

We enjoyed the first meeting of “Moshi moshi, Japan?”, held Geneva, 23 January 2015.

Tokyo railway station conserves its history surrounded by hi-rise buildings

Anne opened the floor by presenting her experience with a sales team in Tokyo. All the people around the table shared his/her experience and insights on Japan.

Key words:

“We wanted the branch in Japan to adhere to the global process. The Japanese team said, ‘yes’, but in practice, there was no change. They continued doing it in their own way as before.”
“To do business with Japan, one must meet people regularly, say, 3 to 5 times a year.”
“Meeting with the Japanese in informal opportunity is important.”
“It is annoying though that one must think what’s behind all the time.”
“Be careful, the Japanese don’t say ‘No’, but say it in very different manners.”
“Japan is at the highest end of the ‘High context culture’. Emotional intelligence counts in communication.”
“Stay open-minded, accept what it is and build the trust, before business.”

Thank you very much for all the people who participated in the meeting.

Forthcoming meetings —

Friday 13 February, The Japanese mindset seen from a recruiter

Friday 13 March, Japanese market for innovative start-ups

Friday 17 April, Uchi and Soto, the key concepts of the Japanese relationship building

Friday 26 June, Negotiations with Japanese companies (To be confirmed)

Participants: Anyone interested in business with Japan.

Time: From 18h00 to 19h15

Place: Starbucks, Rive, Geneva central area

Languages: French and English

Organisation fee: CHF 10.-

Registration: By e-mail or phone call to Yoshiko Kurisaki, Europe-Japan Dynamics

Yoshiko.kurisaki@gmail.com, Tel. 076 411 6076

Moshi moshi, Japan? — Geneva, Fridy, 23 Jan.

A Happy New Year!

At the beginning of the new year of the sheep, you are cordially invited for the first meeting of “Moshi moshi, Japan?” to be held in Geneva on Friday, 23 January.

“Moshi moshi, Japan?” is an informal meet-up with people who are doing business with Japan. Though Japan is a fascinating market, its business culture is nothing like other cultures. In addition, handling the culture well is the key to success in business with Japan.

What are other people doing to work well with Japan?

What works and what doesn’t?

What breakthrough did other people make?

Let’s exchange experiences and discuss over coffee!

Mme. Anne Van Walleghem, Head of Compensation & Benefits, Global HR, Nobel Biocare, will share her experience on “How do we work with Japan over the distance?”

Participants: Anyone interested in business with Japan.

Date and time: From 18h00 to 19h15, Friday,23 January

Place: Starbucks, Rive, Geneva central area

Languages: French and English

Organisation fee: CHF 10.-

Registration: By e-mail of phone call to Yoshiko Kurisaki, Europe-Japan Dynamics

Yoshiko.kurisaki@gmail.com, Tel. 076 411 6076

Enlightening women by the social media – Women in Digital Switzerland

The digital life has been well established in Japan and Switzerland. In contrast, however, the presence of women in the ICT (information and communication technologies) conferences and the industries is surprisingly low — twenty percent (20%) of all the workers in the ICT industry, and only five percent who speak at ICT conferences!

To encourage women to participate in and become visible in the ICT scene, Ms Taïssa Charlier launched “Women in Digital Switzerland” (WDS, hereafter), a group created in LinkedIn in January 2014. Starting with about 20 people in the group, WSD had grown to host 200 members in a few months! These members came to know WSD only via word of the mouth.

Need to push forward more opinions from women

Taïssa is a young and dynamic professional of digital marketing. The original reason that made her to stand up to unite women via WDS was a prohibitively high cost of the kindergarten in Switzerland. Being a single mother, she needs a kindergarten to keep her child while she works in daytime. She soon found that the fee for the kindergarten is almost the same as her monthly salary. “Women can’t work outside home! We must make the opinions of women heard in society”, she thought.

Taïssa soon realised that women are heavily under represented in the ICT industry, despite an increasing number of professional women in the industry. “Something must be done”, she thought. Her answer was to create a system on the network for women to inspire and to be inspired, to be connected with peers, to share best practices and, thus, to increase their visibility and presence profession.

Mutual support by information exchange and discussion

WDS rightly hit the needs of professional women, who have been scattered around and rather isolated in digital profession in Switzerland.

Taïssa said, “I wish WSD to grow starting from the information exchange to become a platform for women to inspire each other. I wish WSD become a media to empower women in the future.”

The language of WSD is English. Taïssa, though she is a Franco phone herself, decided to use English as the language of the group so that women in other language groups of Switzerland may join and exchange information across the different language zones in the country.

“It’s my giving back project”

For Taïssa, having a large number of participants is not a major purpose of the WSD. “I wish to give back to those wonderful people I met by providing WSD for women to meet wonderful people.”

She further went on to say that fully utilising women’s talent is a part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for companies. Giving opportunities to women and grow them is a contribution to the society.

The author has come to know a workingwomen’s network launched based on a similar idea in Japan. The social media helps you to be connected with like-minded people even though you find none around. With the policy of the Prime Minister Abe to utilise women for the economic development of Japan, networks of professional women’s mutual support based on the social media will grow.

THE ARTICLE POSTED ABOVE IS A SUMMARY. The original article is in Japanese and published in “Akebono”, a monthly journal in Japan, in June 2014. Ten thousand copies are issued every month.

Europe-Japan Dynamics on the JETRO Switzerland Newsletter

JETRO Geneva, a branch of Japan External Trade Organization issues monthly Newsletter. The feature article for its November issue is Europe-Japan Dynamics.

“Consultancy services doe cross cultural Management

Yoshiko Kurisaki has started a consultancy business ‘Europe-Japan Dynamics’ to help Swiss and European companies for cross-cultural management with Japan.

25 years in Europe

Business manners in Japan

Services for Swiss and Japanese companies”

JETRO (日本貿易振興機構）のジュネーブオフィスでは、毎月ニュースレターを発行し｢英語）、スイスの日本企業や、日本経済の動向などを伝えています。11月号の、企業紹介に（1ページ目）、ヨーロッパ　ジャパン　ダイナミクスが紹介されました。

“Why does my customer put me in copy, though it’s not my job?” — Hidden gaps in business between Europe and Japan (5)

It is said that the Japanese works in a group. What does that mean to you? There is always a risk to take a simple statement on one culture such as this word by word. The statement could help you if you interpret it in each case you may encounter. A simple statement may not help if you interpret it in your own cultural context alone. Nancy recently had an experience to understand what “the Japanese works in a group” could mean to her.

Nancy works for a large travel agency in Switzerland. She is in charge of business travels of large accounts. Her company has travel, and event & entertainment logistic departments. Nancy belongs to the travel department.

One day, she asked me, “Yoshiko, why does my Japanese customer always put me in copy of his messages for the subject which I’m not involved in? I know him well as I take care of his business travels, but this is too much. ” “What happened, Nancy?” “He asked me a few months ago if my company could organise an important event for his company. I introduced my colleague, Ingrid, who works for the event & entertainment department. Mr. Suzuki, my customer, and Ingrid started discussion on the event. That is fine. My problem is that he always puts me in copy of his e-mails! I don’t need to be informed on the ongoing discussions. It’s Ingrid who is in charge of the event logistics, not me. I can’t help him.”

I’d understand why Mr. Suzuki always puts Nancy in copy. He trusts Nancy as she has been helpful for him, whereas Ingrid is new to him. He most probably thinks that Nancy should be in the communication loop on his discussions with Ingrid. In his eyes, Nancy introduced Ingrid to him. Therefore if he gets some problem in organizing the event logistics, he’d ask Nancy to help.

Mr. Suzuki’s behavior is popular in Japan. People share tasks in the workplace in Japan. Each person has his/her assignment but the boundaries of responsibilities are not always clear-cut. People work by sharing responsibilities. The decision-making is largely based on consensus, rather than on decision by one person who is delegated some levels of responsibility. Under such circumstances, it is not unusual that four or five or even more people are in copy of e-mails exchanged on one subject. If someone is missed out from the loop, he/she would be upset. People are comfortable to be kept in copy, even though the subject matter may be only marginally relevant to them.

In such a work culture, it is safe to keep all the people informed, even some may only be remotely involved. For Nancy, it is on the contrary. Boundaries of responsibilities are clear in Europe, or at least clearer than Japan. In her eyes, the event support for Mr. Suzuki is solely under responsibility of Ingrid. Nancy does not need to know what’s going on with it or can’t help Mr. Suzuki in her position.

That said, Nancy’s emotional intelligence tells her that Mr. Suzuki wants to keep her in copy. “It’s OK”, she thought. She just let the e-mail exchange going without stepping in the discussion.

A few months later, Nancy went to the airport to see-off Mr. Suzuki, who was leaving Switzerland to assume a new position back in Tokyo. Being a travel agent, Nancy usually doesn’t do the same for other customers. When I asked why she did it, Nancy said, “When Mr. Suzuki had advised me that he was going back to Japan, I read his mind. He wanted me to say ‘Thank you and good bye’ at the airport. He was a good customer, so I thought it’s OK, I’ll do. ” Nancy well assessed her customer’s mind-set! Assessing what’s in other person’s mind is very important in communication with the Japanese.

Why no reply? — Hidden gaps you may not notice, Business communications between Europe and Japan (3)

No reply to e-mails?

“Japanese don’t reply to my e-mail when they don’t have an answer.” said Mary with a sad face.

She suggested to her colleagues in Tokyo some nice places for the next meeting of global project leaders of her company to be held in Switzerland. Mary lives in the country, so she was excited to offer good ideas.

I understand why she was disappointed. She worked hard to find and list places that had a good access from the airport, offered reasonable price and quality for corporate executives. It’s disappointing to hear no echo responding to her willingness to help and engagement for the success of the meeting.

That said, I was not fully convinced.

I said to Mary, “I understand your feeling, but the same is true for Europeans. “

Mary was not convinced. “Yes, but Japanese do it more often.”

I didn’t argue further, as I agree with Mary, unfortunately.

I understand that the silence of her Japanese colleagues didn’t mean to dislike or ignore her offer. It is rather a cultural reason than a lack of politeness to respond to e-mails.

It was a nice surprise for me to know that one may say, “I don’t know” in Europe. It was one of the first major cultural differences I noticed when I started working here. Knowing that no one gets upset even if I say, “I don’t know”, it was freedom from fear for me! I’m not obliged to say “Yes” or “No”, but have the third choice to say, “I don’t know”, meaning I really don’t have an answer.

Japanese unconsciously believe, “We must say yes or no”, especially in a formal occasion like business. There is no answer between “Yes” and “No”. Japanese unconsciously think that they must answer to the question straightforwardly. While this way of thinking signals their honesty, it also tend to push them too much. Such spirit is not far from the “Harakiri” mind-set.

On the contrary, being able to say, “I don’t know” allows a buffer in mind. It does not come from lack of responsibility, but it is merely a status of knowledge. There is no value judgement involved in this answer.

If one creates a buffer in dialogue, it will allow another avenue of communication. For example, one could continue; “I don’t know it now, and will ask the project leader when she comes back from her business travel. Could you wait for a week?”

Thus life continues. No need to rush to commit Harakiri.

My solution is to say, “I don’t have an answer”. Being Japanese, I still have a psychological block to say, “I don’t know”. In Japanese mindset, “I don’t know” sounds rather unkind. If someone says to me “I don’t know”, I’d naturally utter in my mind, “If you don’t know, why don’t you try to find an answer to my question?”.

“I don’t have an answer” is a way to say “I don’t know” for me, but implies that I am willing to find an answer.

Thus I build a bridge between European and Japanese in myself.

Thank to gifts — Hidden gaps you may not notice, Business communications between Europe and Japan (2)

Thank to gifts

“Japanese people don’t thank to the gifts. They thank when receive it, but no comments on the gift afterwards.” says Mary, a General Director for Europe of a Japanese Company A. She looks sad a little.

She is kind and cares for people’s hearts and minds in business, as much as she does in her private life.

Every time she travels to Japan for business, she brings some gifts. These are not only for senior executives she meets, but for managers and assistants who help her meetings and travels. Gifts are rather simple but carefully selected; for example Swiss cookies which are traditional from the northern region of the country.

Being European, she has difficulty in understanding why her Japanese colleagues do not give her a feed back of the gifts, though they welcomes them when they receive them. Mary naturally expects comments such as “I liked the Swiss chocolate you gave me. It tasted very special!”

One day, Mary brought to her Japanese boss a bottle of a high quality brandy made at the year of his birth. Knowing her boss’ age, I’d think the gift quite expensive and she had to search it spending time. It is her gift with her heart.

To her disappointment, Mary got no response from him.

“Why??? He is not closed-minded. He is well aware of the international business manners. Nevertheless, why he doesn’t say anything about the brandy?”

I understand both Mary’s sadness and Japanese habit.

I explained her that Japanese don’t have a habit of opening the gift in front of someone who gave it to him/her, and that Japanese do appreciate your caring mind represented by the gifts but that they just don’t have a habit of telling you afterwards how they felt about the gifts.

Mary was not convinced. She said, “We are carrying on international business. Japanese people should follow the international business manner.”

She is right. I however think that it will take years for home-grown Japanese to adapt an international business habit, especially on gifts. It will be one of the last things which Japanese men would absorb and integrate in their mindset. While Japanese women are freer to express their feeling than men, men would still shy off to express their emotion.

I am sorry to Mary, but please rest assured that Japanese do appreciate your caring mind.

Hidden gaps you may not notice — How to better understand cross-cultural communications in business with Japanese (1)

Having lived in Europe for 20+ years, and being Japanese myself, I have come to notice a number of hidden gaps in business communication between Europeans and Japanese. In international business, people communicate in English, and they write well. It is ironical that well written English hides essential communication gaps, while there is no problem in the texts.

The gap is not a matter of communicating with foreign languages, but largely a cultural issue. In other words, the context of languages used by both Europeans and Japanese are different. Languages in business need to be understood in line with the way of thinking of your counterpart of communication, not yours.

Such hidden gaps fascinate me, as they offer valuable clues of cross-cultural communications.

I am writing essays on the hidden communication gaps in business from time to time, picking up interesting episodes I come across in my day-to-day business life.

Please share with me a joy and magic of cross-cultural communications!

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Japanese don’t say NO. Understand the answer in the context.

Mr. Suzuki’s case

Mary, a director general for Europe of Company A, plans to meet with Ms Tanaka, a director of a company B, during her next business travel to Japan. Mary has asked Mr. Suzuki, a manager in the Tokyo branch of Company A, to take an appointment with Ms Tanaka. Though Mary knew her in person, she has asked Mr. Suzuki for coordination, as she knows it a Japanese way of working.

During the course of e-mail exchange with Mr. Suzuki, however, Mary has become unsure if she is meeting with Ms Tanaka on Wednesday or Thursday as Mary requested.

To clarify the date, Mary wrote to Mr. Suzuki; “Dear Mr. Suzuki, Please could you seek her confirmation as to the good date for her, Wednesday or Thursday?”

Mr. Suzuki replied: “Dear Mary-san, I already communicate with Ms Tanaka-san. She is so busy from Wednesday to Thursday.”

Mary thought, “Yes or NO??? Mr. Suzuki appears to be still negotiating the date, though Ms Tanaka will be busy during these two days. Will I meet Ms Tanaka?”

Ms Tanaka’s case

Mary has decided to write to Ms Tanaka directly, as Mary didn’t want to push Mr. Suzuki further. Mary is well aware of the delicacy of communications with Japanese people.

“Dear Tanaka-san,

I hope you are well. I understand that you will have engagements on Wednesday and Thursday. Please do not worry, we can organise another time. If you come to Europe, let me know in advance so we can organise lunch or coffee here.”

If Ms Tanaka would reply, “I am so sorry that we can’t meet this time. I look forward to seeing you my next travel to Europe”, there will not be a meeting in Tokyo. If her reply would be, “Yes, we are going to meet. I advised Mr. Suzuki that I was still working on my agenda to spare time to see you.”, Mary will meet Ms Tanaka.

To Mary’s surprise, Ms Tanaka’s reply was beyond her imagination.

“Thanks, Mary-san.

I hope you enjoy Japanese spring and syabu-syabu!!

Best regards, Tanaka (Ms)”

Mary has finally interpreted that Ms Tanaka wanted to say “No”, without saying “No”.