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

You Cannot Underestimate Japanese Language in Business in Japan – Japanese Businesses vs MNCs Operating in Japan

Though I would not say it is the first priority as in my previous post, for MNCs operating in Japan, language is usually named as the first obstacle for their market entry into the Japanese market and being successful.  And it is true you cannot underestimate language issue in doing business in Japan.

Only very limited Japanese people are fluent in English.  That is even those working in large MNCs operating in Japan.  That is why translating/localizing documents and tools into Japanese is “must” in all businesses and occasions.  Whenever you are to have a meeting or event involving non-Japanese speaker(s), interpretation is the issue you need to think about / solve.

Japanese companies and business professionals also say language (English) is the first challenge they face in going global.  Similarly, language is not the first priority but it is an obstacle they need to overcome.

Language is a tool of communication in doing business.  Without it, no way you can be successful in your business.

But, it does not mean you always need to be fluent in Japanese to succeed in business in Japan.

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

This article was originally posted on Megumi Oyanagi’s Blog About Japan

Obstacles in Going Global is Not Only Language – Japanese Businesses vs MNCs Operating in Japan

For MNCs operating in Japan, language is usually named as the first obstacle for their market entry into the Japanese market and being successful.

Also, Japanese companies and business professionals also say language (English) is the first challenge they face in going global.

Well, to me, it is yes but no.

Regulations and rules such as tariff and laws, whether applicable for all industries or of a specific industry is the primary barrier.

They shape the external business environment and the game rule each player play the game / do business.

They determine whether you can do a certain business in a specific country or region.

What is tricky is that some rules are not necessarily clear / written down and thus difficult for foreign investments to fully understand and comply.

For overview and some details with a few examples, please kindly refer to 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

Going Global in Globalized Economy – Japanese Businesses vs MNCs Operating in Japan

The background or reasons for global includes market situation (size, quality, positioning etc.) as in the previous post.

And of course, it is more than natural in today’s global economy in which capital, goods, people and information moves around the globe.  How they moves around the globe with such an ease has completely changed how we live as well as how we do business.

Although I did not really mention this in English version eBook, when talking going global from Japan / going global positioning Japan strategically, “Japan Brand” might be something you could leverage for your business success depending on what kind of business you are engaged in, whether Japanese or non-Japanese companies/businesses.

These are the kind of things I had in mind in the two eBooks I wrote is all about, 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

I get inquiries about Japan market entries via LinkedIn and this is just a small example of how we can get information and work/do business beyond boundary.  And, when I did a 90 minutes seminar in December 2016 in Japanese about the same theme as my Japanese version eBook, the attendees were amazed to know how I interact with business professionals around the globe! 

The organizer have finished making their monthly brochure for March 2016 including a session about my seminar and the printed version should be sent to me shortly…

Why Going Global is Hot Now (1) – Japanese Businesses vs MNCs Operating in Japan

In short, for Japanese companies, when the Japan domestic market is saturated for most established products industries, products & services, Japan market size is unlikely to grow yet shrinking with aging population, they are forced to go global.

That has been the trend even for FMCG companies that were slow in going global unlike companies of automobile and electronics.

As for MNCs, it is about looking at the Japanese market from a bit different perspective.  Although emerging marketing may seem more attractive than the Japanese market, Japan is still a country you cannot ignore.

Actually it can be an ideal market to develop a new business model and roll out worldwide, positioning Japan as a “test marketing” country.  This is because expectation of Japanese consumers are the highest in the world.

These are the kind of things touched on in the two eBooks I wrote is all about, 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

I get inquiries about Japan market entries via LinkedIn.  And, it was interesting to see Japanese attendees were very attentive when I did a 90 minutes seminar in December 2016 in Japanese about the same theme as my Japanese version eBook.  The organizer have finished making their monthly brochure for March 2016 including a session about my seminar.

The participants were very attentive, and what really attracted their interest is that there can be a way of creating business in such an aging Japanese market – after all it is about how you perceive market without “barriers” with out-of-the-box way of thinking.