The Sun Also Rises Over Toledo : Practical tips for Americans working with or for Japanese companies in the U.S. - Softcover

Honda, Sadaharu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0966412109 ISBN 13: 9780966412109

Publisher: Honda Hershey Institute, 1998

Synopsis

The Sun also Rises over Toledo is a first guidebook featuring practical communication strategies, inspiring case studies, and facts gathered from years of research on Japanese companies in the U.S. The Sun also Rises over Toledo offers: * A practical guide to successfully working with Japanese companies in the U.S. * An explanation of the fundamental thought processes of Japanese management. * Help for American executives and managers trying to understand the ABCs of prevailing Japanese management philosophy & techniques. * An analysis of the American employees' lack of motivation. * Steps to take to develop strong and cooperative working relationships with between American and Japanese coworkers. This book can assist American executives and managers to overcome or avoid frustrations by providing invaluable insights into Japanese business practices and a thorough understanding of the Japanese company's work environment.

About this title

About the Author

Sada Honda is a principal of HHi(Honda Hershey Institute Inc.) in Pittsburgh, a consulting firm specializing in Japanese investments in the U.S., providing 1)Seminar training & workshops, 2)Management consulting, 3)Executive Search, 4)Labor relations, and 5)Short-term staffing.

Mr. Honda has first-hand knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of Japanese investments in the U.S. He came to the U.S. in 1965 as a student and worked for an American company for 15 years. After that, he started & developed a subsidiary of Maeda Corp. in 1984, and founded a marketing and management consulting company called IMS Inc., which he is currently operating.

Mr. Honda served as Executive Professor and advisor to professors at the MBA of Duquesne University. He gives lectures, speeches, and presentations on Japanese management marketing and other current topics.

Mr. Honda holds a MS in Engineering from the UCLA. He also holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He has ever published books entitled, "The Name of the Game in American Business", "Union Terminology", and so on.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Chapter 6: Communication/ura no ura wo toru. To investigate the truth of hearsay by checking the source's background. This is very similar to saigishin in Part 1 - Team and Group Approach. This Japanese management practice may appear surprising considering the influence on business ethics by the samurai and Confucius. In reality, there are so many underlying exchanges going on in business it becomes a world where you either eat your competitors alive or are eaten by them. Developing a strategy to deal with clients is fierce and full of tactics. Americans praise the Japanese talent for establishing a dense network of informal relationships with clients, but Japanese face clients who are evasive, make threats, and very hard bargains. Japanese salesmen and managers appease these clients and outrun their competitors by receiving information or intelligence from their network. When it comes to "hot" information, source reliability and validity of information will be checked repeatedly from different angles. A late night or early morning visit by salesmen to the home of the client or management, even calling on college alumni working at the client company, is commomplace. Management demands that information is double - and triple-checked for accuracy. This undercurrent of mistrust exists because Japanese often use vague but suggestive statements. The Japanese characteristics of tamamushi iro (deliberately ambiguous statements) and chorei bokai (changing a previous commitment) will force the recipient of information to check its validity and accuracy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Honda Hershey Institute
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0966412109
• ISBN 13: 9780966412109
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 268