Managing for Creativity in Japan » foreign work evironment http://a-small-lab.com/managing-for-creativity-in-japan Talking with Foreign Executives in Japan Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:02:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 On Being a Foreign Employer http://a-small-lab.com/managing-for-creativity-in-japan/on-being-a-foreign-employer/ http://a-small-lab.com/managing-for-creativity-in-japan/on-being-a-foreign-employer/#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2011 02:00:44 +0000 Chris Berthelsen http://a-small-lab.com/managing-for-creativity-in-japan/?p=392 “First of all, it’s a risk to work for foreigners. Two, it’s not a safe, established Japanese company – there isn’t that cliché status of working for a well known Japanese company. Even if you are an established company like Unilever or something people still think ‘oooh no, a foreign company’ even though they are like the biggest manufacturer in the world.
Also, people like security and hierarchy and they like to know their position. They don’t like to know that they have to do a bit of everything whereas in a foreign start-up they do have to do a bit of everything. Our people who do research do have to do client presentations and this, that and the other and you know what? If there are bowls in the sink at the end of the night we don’t have an office manager who just sits there all day waiting for people to go home so he can wash the dishes we wash our own dishes. For some people that is shocking.
Also, younger companies, especially foreign start-ups, tend to be a lot less structured. We don’t say ‘this is what you need to do, this is the checklist’ we tend to be a bit more creative and say ‘this is your time, we need you to achieve this…and what else can you come up with’. People don’t know what to do with that. (CB: So how have you dealt with that in your company?) There has to be a lot of mentoring and that’s an area that we really need to improve on. You have to mentor people, hold their hands, give them the confidence to say ‘I know I’m doing this but there is a possibility that I could do this or this’. In contrast, I think that people in London and New York are very keen to prove themselves. They also know that it’s not a job for life and they want to get the most out of it that they can and then go on to the next bigger, better place. Here the attitude is that you join a company and might possibly stay there for a long time. So perhaps they have a view that longevity is better than immediate results.”

]]> http://a-small-lab.com/managing-for-creativity-in-japan/on-being-a-foreign-employer/feed/ 2 Foreign Style Work Environment http://a-small-lab.com/managing-for-creativity-in-japan/foreign-style-work-environment/ http://a-small-lab.com/managing-for-creativity-in-japan/foreign-style-work-environment/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:00:48 +0000 Chris Berthelsen http://a-small-lab.com/managing-for-creativity-in-japan/?p=181 “C: From your personal experience, even in terms of dealing with your staff can you see any concrete advantages to being a foreigner?

Well, you can promise people a different environment. You can set up a merit-based environment if you are hiring people, for example. In an international company there may be opportunities to travel. But, are people genuinely prepared to accept what a merit-based system actually means? This is something that I would really, really, question because you wonder if people coming to you because they can’t fit in their own culture or if are they coming to you because they’re high achievers and they’re frustrated. Or maybe they think they are high achievers and the people that they work for don’t agree and the people that they work for are right – in some sense it’s not a cultural issue but the fact that you have an incorrect evaluation of yourself (and of course we all believe that we are better than we are….) I do believe in picking talent and that has upset people in the past. Don’t come to me and think that your degree from Keio University is going to make it easier for you to progress in this company if your work is crap. Maybe as an outsider you can say that it’s not going to be like what it is in the normal stifling domestic office – if your work is good you will succeed. Then again, if you work in a merit-based culture then you are going to have to perform, and people are not used to the concept that they really are accountable for their personal performance. (C: So, you have the opportunity for setting up this framework for working and it is up to the employees to work within that…) Yes, but I’m not sure that I have a successful formula for that yet though. I tend to think that going too far towards the merit-based system may not be that successful and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a Japanese employee motivated or having their motivation significantly increased by money. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give it them, but it’s not the reason that they come to work. In fact you can cause offense if you make that assumption.”



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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
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