You Cannot Underestimate Manners & Customs, Culture for Successful Global Business – Japanese Businesses vs MNCs Operating in Japan

As in previous posts, regulations/rules and language, knowledge of market and customers of foreign market, and operations are key factors in going global yet difficult to overcome. 

There is one more thing you cannot simply ignore – business manners & customs, and culture.

I actually was asked to do an hour consulting over phone of an American business professional about this last year. They had set up a joint venture with a Japanese local company and started their Japan business but were having problems and he concluded it was because of corporate culture.

He seemed to have tried to understand this issue by reading some books but decided to have my consultation. From our conversation he seemed to have been spot on and told me he would immediately take actions based on my consultation.

The Japanese companies going global also have the very same issue.

This is one of the topics I have covered in my two eBooks I wrote, which was published by StartiaLab, a leading Japanese eBook publisher in November, 2015.

English version: 7 Things to Know to be Successful in Business in Japan

Japanese version: 世界を相手に勝つための教科書 – グローバル社会で事業を拡大する7つの方法と8つの事例

Maybe the Biggest Hurdle for Successful Global Business – Japanese Businesses vs MNCs Operating in Japan

As in previous posts, regulations/rules and language, knowledge of market and customers of foreign market are often named as key factors in going global yet difficult to overcome. 

In reality, selling, distributing and collecting money in doing business (something more operational) especially in going global is a huge obstacle. This is vital in business yet sometimes underestimated in planning phase.

You cannot say your business is successful unless you managed to sell, distribute/provide to your customers and they pay you, i.e. you receive money from them, not account receivable).

In making Japan market entry and doing business in Japan, this may not be as critical as some other countries/regions because Japanese people tend to keep their promise once made. Perhaps Japanese companies and business professionals going global find this more difficult.

But still, when you are not so familiar with the Japanese market, developing the total operational process and making sure you manage the process and collect money from your customers in a way that your cash flow is in good condition is not easy, especially when you cannot set up an entity in Japan from the start etc.

A solution is setting up a Joint Venture with a Japanese company but this is still too much a burden for many small & mid-sized businesses. In that case, there are other possible solutions, too.

This is one of the topics I have covered in my two eBooks I wrote, which was published by StartiaLab, a leading Japanese eBook publisher in November, 2015.

English version: 7 Things to Know to be Successful in Business in Japan

Japanese version: 世界を相手に勝つための教科書 – グローバル社会で事業を拡大する7つの方法と8つの事例

Overcoming Lack of Market and Customer Knowledge in Going Global – Japanese Businesses vs MNCs Operating in Japan

Besides regulations/rules and language, knowledge of market and customers of foreign market is key in going global.  This cannot be acquired and truly utilized in product/service development and marketing overnight.  And, without this, you cannot decide which product/service to launch in which geographical market, and how.

In making Japan market entry and doing business in Japan, business professional outside Japan do say such knowledge is something they lack.  To me, many LinkedIn discussions of groups about Japan are about seeking some help to overcome this issue.

Similarly, Japanese companies and business professionals also need help in acquiring and leveraging knowledge of the overseas market and customers when they expand their business outside Japan.

Even if such knowledge cannot be acquired overnight and even if you may not have time and system to develop employee/talent who truly has such knowledge.

One solution is hiring appropriate talent, but finding, hiring and developing such full time employee may well be too much a burden for you.

It does not mean there is no way to overcome this issue.  You can overcome this by leveraging appropriate resources around the globe.

This is one of the topics I have covered in my two eBooks I wrote, which was published by StartiaLab, a leading Japanese eBook publisher in November, 2015.

English version: 7 Things to Know to be Successful in Business in Japan

Japanese version: 世界を相手に勝つための教科書 – グローバル社会で事業を拡大する7つの方法と8つの事例