Every country has its own business culture. And everybody is accustom to it. This article provides good insight of Japanese business culture.
I attended one Indian-UK business forum here (london), where an english guy share his experience of Indian businesses. He said same things as late arrival etc. But he said "I like the way Indians utilise time, I can get meeting with CEO of top company on the same day if matter is THAT important, whereas in UK they dont understand this concept. An english will open his appointment diary and even if he has empty slots, he will not give meeting till 3-4 weeks. With top people it has to be booked 6-12 months in advance. Its not that Indian CEO is not busy, but he can find 5 minutes between his busy schedule for a quick meeting. Indian software developers handle many concurrent projects than others because they live in flexible schedule. If they have fixed schedules hour by hour, they would not have provided same output."
As fixed & flexible schedule has its own pros and cons, understanding these things and adopting to your business sector is important aspect. Striking balance is important factor. Understanding culture of people with whom you work is very important as well.
RE:very useful article
by bharti boy on Feb 25, 2007 03:14 PM Permalink
Yes Indian do think about others out of individualism prevelant in western society.
No doubt , Japanese are hard working, punctual, etc. BUt please do not criticize our country. Our country is a wonder with so many diversities in culture, religion, languages, dmographics, etc etc, still is on one piece. With so much population, can you expect everyone to be considerate towards others at the cost of one's livelihood? Only when the basic needs are met, then the discipline, punctuality, obeying rules, etc are followed. Even in developed countries, if not for the enforcing agencies viz police, securities and measures like fines, jail terms, etc, people by nature tend to break the common laws. Even japan is not immune to corruption. Main reason is population and its related consequences of poverty, etc. Andmost of the developed countries are away form equator? Is this a coincidence or the climatic variations also plays a role in populating the countries? IN summary, love( or hate) your own country for what you are today. How many people have the patience to wait if a seller genuinely tells his product/service limitations. Immediately we start searching for another seller who can meet our expectations or better our expectations. Nothing wrong in our society. In order to establish ourselves globaly it is also important to meet the expectations of the other people in their own way.
RE:Japanese vs Indian
by punit vakharia on Feb 23, 2007 11:11 AM Permalink
Very well said Mr. Balasubramaniyam. I have noticed a thing in rediff articles, I may be wrong, tht most of its articles and the writer or repoter are always presenting the negative side of us. Have ever they mentioned tht these ppl from UK, US or any west or european country would never give u an immediate appointment how ever it may be urgent, in the best interest of the business. I think Indians are the most flexible ppl where business is concerned.
RE:RE:Japanese vs Indian
by Vikas D on Feb 24, 2007 02:07 AM Permalink
Rediff selects only those articles that are negative to the reader. In rage, the reader starts posting his views. More people come in. Also the number of controversial articles has increased for the same reason.
RE:RE:Japanese vs Indian
by sri kanth on Feb 25, 2007 02:28 PM Permalink
I request that at least now let us start introspecting. We have suffered enough with all these complacent approaches and by patting our own backs. Coming back to the importance of 'Time' and 'Civility' you will be able to know it best from a person who is shifting his kith or kin in an ambulance on our streets, a patient on an emergency waiting for the grand arrival of the doctor, a person with his house on fire waiting for the fire engine personnel etc etc....and even now we think twice to do anything about it. Imagine Country vying for 9% of GDP without the basic civility and standard. of life
RE:Japanese vs Indian
by Sameer Jolly on Feb 26, 2007 04:52 PM Permalink
the only main thing what writer wanted to say about japenese is that they are punctual and on the other hand we indians we are not!! and its true rather than accepting it...why giving thousands of reasons and excuses!! (political/population/corruption etc. etc.) believe it or not!!!
Apparently the computer giant decided to have some parts manufactured in Japan as a trial project. In the specifications, they set out that they will accept three defective parts per 10,000.
When the delivery came in there was an accompanying letter:
"We, Japanese people, had a hard time understanding North American business practices. But the three defective parts per 10,000 have been separately manufactured and have been included in the consignment. Hope this pleases you."
History and present has proved that Japan is developed today and has worlds second largest economy only because of hard work, punctuality, honesty and die for nature of japanese people. Also this is after bombed with 2 nuclear bombs and completely destroyed Tokyo during WWII. India and Japan were at same level after WWII (independence) but see where is Japan today and where are we..! As per my experience whatever Japanese do they do it with conviction and with deep knowledge of the same. Yes, in some areas they lack smartness as we can have other way of doing it (actually not proper) but they can be stucked and we can go away from that problem. I have example to share, I went to cycle shop to purchase bicycle. To fix the basket to cycle, cycle-man was not having proper length screw. He said to me, I have to purchase it and then fix it and then only I can deliver cycle to you..I told, just bend (stretch) the basket a little and then the same screw (short-one) will do.. After long time, he agreed and gave me cycle. I am happy as I got it immediately, dont have to wait for 1 or 2 days for delivery but he looked like frustrated. Moral..We can show this smartness after paying some value.. as the look of basket was not good and after some time due to tension, basket broke..If I could have waited for some time, then we both were happy today.. Think over it.. What is correct? He or Me? I am sure, if thought wisely everyone will agree that he was right because my solution was temporary while his was permanent.
An American car maker sent their first outsourced order for gear boxes to a Japanese co. - as it was the first order, it was restricted to 1000 pieces with the strict guidelines of adhering to their quality norms of less than 2% variation. The Masters of Just In Time that they are, the Japs delivered the shipment on the appointed day in 2 packages and a note: "Dear Sirs, We in Japan were unable to understand your quality requirement and had to separately manufacture 20 'defective' gear boxes which have been packed and shipped separately in the smaller consignment under a free of charge invoice. PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM - they were specially manufactured to meet your standards and will not be a part of our future bulk orders!" Moral of the story: JIT, KANBAN and Quality are indeed crucial but so is communication sometimes -:) Not to say the Japs are bad at that, just an observation...
RE:Sharing an old Joke
by Pushan Banerjee on Feb 22, 2007 12:11 PM Permalink
ha ha ha! Wat an idiot! JIT, Kanban.... Mate get to know about these concepts better first. Also, Indians are surely at the top of the food chain right when it comes to communication. Forget not understanding communication Indians don't communicate when mailed. Si..get your facts right and talk.
RE:RE:Sharing an old Joke
by samir s on Feb 22, 2007 02:57 PM Permalink
banerjee, kalra may have not been precise, but there was no reason for you to ridicule indians so fervently. Appreciate the good of others but, first feel proud of being an Indian. also, if u were to send mails in the tone and manner that u have posted ur reply, don't think anybody would want to reply to your communication - indian or japanese!!
RE:RE:RE:Sharing an old Joke
by Pushan Banerjee on Feb 23, 2007 10:31 AM Permalink
Hey Samir, My point about Indian not communicating properly has bee reiterated by a lot of people. BTW.. the post asks Mr. Kalra to get to know the concepts. And if stuff like this is demeaning then I think none of you know how to take criticism. Why is it that whenever anyone says something that can be improved, it is perceived by people like you that Indians are inferior.
RE:RE:Sharing an old Joke
by prabhu n on Feb 22, 2007 06:01 PM Permalink
is banerjee an IDIOT??? i had being readind this good article & everyone is sharing their good experience then inbetween i c this NASTY Mail from BANERJEE of EAST BENGAL or WEST don't know!!! it's rubbish on part of banerjee to condemn other he should go online & say sorry to Yogesh Kalra..
RE:RE:RE:Sharing an old Joke
by Pushan Banerjee on Feb 23, 2007 10:37 AM Permalink
Grow up dude! What are you?? 5 yrs old. Nasty mail. And about the god experience."BANERJEE of EAST BENGAL or WEST" is not discriminatory. You yourself are a racist and then you go on condemning my post. Look in the mirror. I think no apologies are in order to Mr. Kalra at all and I think that yo really really need to look a yourself. So sod off. And why is it that you are so concerned about an apology. Are you Yogesh Kalra??
RE:RE:RE:Sharing an old Joke
by amitdyuti sengupta on Feb 24, 2007 02:35 AM Permalink
wow did u say east n west bengal in ur "argument"? did i smell nasty racism? oh let me revisit ur statement...u called a person an idiot? listen up people prabhu is true to the meaning of his name!!! prabhu = god; lets call u THE PRABHU...common if u r such a large heart apologize in public to the "east n west bengal idiot"...can u ???
RE:RE:Sharing an old Joke
by PD on Feb 23, 2007 09:25 AM Permalink
i agree that indians are too poor in communication. Japanese are too good in this area. Only Banerjee dont use this type of language while writing in a forum.
RE:RE:RE:Sharing an old Joke
by Pushan Banerjee on Feb 23, 2007 10:38 AM Permalink
Idiot is language. Seriously, are all of you guys replying to my post cavemen. Go out and hear some of the language being used. Then come back. Please, stop being a kid.
One more thing abt Japanese. Do not call them with their first name in a Office. Like we use Mr, they use san to call our last name. Example. If your name Ajith Agarkar, then they will call you Agarkar-san. I work for a Japanese company and that's how I know this.
RE:quote from Suzuki President
by amitdyuti sengupta on Feb 24, 2007 02:41 AM Permalink
That was shamefull on Mr Suzukis part. Caution: Hope you are not misquoting him!!!
Let me mention one problem I have faced when dealing with Japanese. Some people may say that it is not a problem. But, any way, let me mention what I am talking about. If they are following some process or if they have the habit of seeing some process being followed by vendors, then they expect the same to be followed again. If you really have some better idea, then it is difficult (though not impossible) to convince them of the new idea.
I have worked with Japanese. One thing other than what is mentioned in this article is that when you are talking to Japanese, you should speak slow. Indians usually speak very fast. While talking to Japanese there must be clear time gap between two words.
RE:And speak slow
by amitdyuti sengupta on Feb 24, 2007 02:46 AM Permalink
low WPM is almost essential if you speak to any international or in many cases domestic people. Indians on average have (do not quote me) approx 120 wpm
