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| January 28, 2003 |
E-learning Task Tools for Better Business |
Vol. 2, Issue 02 |
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Insider Insights
Brushing up on cultural differences before attempting to do business outside our borders always makes good business sense. This issue we focus on the exciting business opportunities opening up in Japan.
We hope that this will be just the beginning of a new era of cross-cultural opportunities that will help understand the many different ways of doing business worldwide.
The JED New Media Team
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Today’s Quote
“If you are in Rome, live in the Roman style; if you are elsewhere, live as they live elsewhere. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
- Saint Ambrose (Aurelius Ambrosius, c. 340-397)
(Quotation courtesy of the Idea Bank. Visit: www.idea-bank.com for a free trial.)
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| Feature: Rules of the Rising Sun |
The business climate in Japan is rapidly changing, and the doors are opening ever wider to include outside interests. With the potential for pitching products to a tech-savvy and forward-thinking population of over 125 million, many companies are anxiously vying for a share of the world's second-largest market.
Robert Crane, Assistant Director of Research and Investment for the Toronto Office of JETRO, (Japan External Trade Organization) explains: “Japan is currently undergoing a sweeping process of deregulation that is making it easier than ever for foreign companies to do business there. Now is an excellent time to be doing business in Japan.”
But doing business in Japan is not simply business as usual. The people of the rising sun have many ingrained practices, cultural protocols, and strict adherence to traditions that can confuse and often defeat even the most enthusiastic of potential partners.
“The Japanese business community will usually make considerable allowances when dealing with foreigners,” says Mr. Crane. “However, sound preparation is absolutely essential, and any attempt to learn Japanese customs and protocol are not only genuinely appreciated but will go a long way to ensuring business success.”
To learn more about exciting business opportunities in Japan, visit JETRO’s Web site at www.jetro.go.jp.
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| New JEDlet: “Doing Business in Japan” |
Realizing an urgent need for an authoritative and easily accessible guide to the unique prerequisites of breaking into this promising market, JED New Media Inc. has recently produced this indispensable JEDlet. Subscribe to "Doing Business in Japan" through the Business section of www.jedlet.com.
We wish to thank the Montreal office of JETRO for their assistance in the production of this JEDlet, and Louis Boisvert of the Canadian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for his most helpful input.
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| Business Boosters: It’s in the Cards |
Westerners are often astounded at the importance that the Japanese business community places on exchanging business cards. Many are unprepared for the sheer volume of cards one can expect to exchange in a day. Protocol dictates that you should hold the card by the corners in both hands and study it for a moment before putting it away. Providing bilingual cards (your language on one side and Japanese on the other) is highly appreciated, and originality of design helps it to stand out from the pack.
Do you need help in developing a cutting-edge card? Subscribe to “Business Card Design” in the Business section of www.jedlet.com .
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| Critic's Corner: Matt Stone Reviews the JEDlet “Doing Business in Japan” |
The unique cultural and business environment in Japan requires adherence to many cultural and behavioral protocols. There is a multitude of ways to inadvertently offend or appear untrustworthy if you do not do your homework.
The JEDlet “Doing Business in Japan” is a perfect primer for anyone embarking on a business trip or attempting to make contact with Japanese interests to conduct business. It covers everything you need to know, except for one small oversight. When a Japanese host attempts to fill your glass, it is common courtesy to pick it up with both hands and angle it toward him. Aside from that, I highly recommend this tutorial.
Matt Stone is an Electrical Engineer with 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications field. He has traveled to Japan nine times as a representative for Nortel Networks and has developed numerous new Access products, including the world's smallest POTS / ISDN linecard for NTT Japan.
(Note from the JED New Media Team: Thanks, Matt. We will be updating this JEDlet shortly to include the aforementioned oversight in the “Doing Business in Japan” JEDlet content.)
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| Megatrends: Globalization |
René J. Aerdts, Ph.D., EDS Fellow, EDS
Globalization as a concept has been around for as long as companies started trading outside their respective countries. With the ongoing alignment of Information Technology (IT) and business goals, globalization takes on a whole new focus: how to manage global IT systems where 7/24 access to data and enterprise resources is no longer a necessity but a requirement.
Globalization is based on many drivers, including growth, resilience, leverage, and (data and legal) requirements. As businesses grow, the IT infrastructure needs to grow accordingly. As growth may occur in an organic way and through acquisition, the IT infrastructure can be located anywhere. Decentralization may be a requirement to ensure resilience. As businesses become more and more global, localized processing close to a large concentration of employees may prove beneficial, not just from a cost, but also from a performance perspective: an average transaction can observe a network delay of 100 milliseconds (0.1 seconds), which is close to the currently observed average coast-to-coast network delay of 60 milliseconds (0.06 seconds).
Furthermore, cross-Atlantic network bandwidth comes with a high price for the transfer of large amounts of data. Whereas localized IT infrastructures may take advantage of the local resources to optimize IT infrastructure cost, these decentralized locations can also be deployed for disaster recovery to provide IT infrastructure resilience. Additionally, legal requirements may force data to remain in-country for processing. As businesses and e-businesses grow, the alignment of Information Technology and business goals provide optimization and growth opportunities through localized and globalized processing in a global enterprise
We welcome your feedback. Published entries will receive a complimentary JEDlet subscription of choice. Send your questions, comments, and concerns to info@jedlet.com .
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