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In Japanese culture, the ability to exactly follow an example is important, and is stressed in a variety of ways in Japanese education. If everyone is following the same process, when an enhancement is found then everyone can adopt it quickly. However, the benefits of standardization may not be r Read More

One of the ways to make sure that your meeting has been an effective one is to end with a clear conclusion. A good way to tie up the loose ends of a meeting is to circle back to the initial goal statement. But what about situations where the initial goal has not been accomplished?

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A call that we frequently receive from HR managers regard Japanese expatriates who do not get along with the American staff. Often the behaviors are ones that would not be considered appropriate in a U.S. business environment, such as yelling at subordinates, or making comments that seem like sexu Read More

It’s the job of the company to provide the employee with all skills and explanations and information that they need to do their jobs well. So why should anyone have to steal anything in the workplace?

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Looking at the root causes of a problem is a typical Japanese approach to business. However, in other cultures the work environment may not necessarily be conducive to open discussion of root causes. Read More

All I heard from my Japanese friends were tales of long hours. An officemate so overwhelmed by long hours that she had to get medication for depression…it just seemed like one more sad tale of overwork after another. Read More

Often Japanese sit quietly in the meeting and do not offer their opinions... if their opinions are not expressed clearly then the meeting can end without a definitive conclusion. Read More

As each part of the organization is listened to and its needs addressed through one-on-one discussions and small meetings, decisions are made by group consensus…it’s difficult to get something accepted if the organizational higher-ups have not been properly briefed ahead of time. Read More

At some point, the group has to narrow down its options. The suspension of judgment that prevailed during brainstorming is now over, and it’s necessary to start weeding out some of the least viable ideas.

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There’s not much point to having a meeting if nobody shows up. How can you make sure that people choose to come to your meeting? Today, people have so many meetings on their schedules, they often have to choose from among more than one happening at the same time. Read More