WEST MEETS EAST: JAPANESE BUSINESS & PROTOCOL TRAINING

Doing business in Japan?

You’ll need to change more than just your watch!

Doing business internationally involves more than just contending with time zones – successful businesspeople understand that differences in culture impact directly on a company’s ability to conduct business across borders.  Business is not conducted in a vacuum – tensions, frictions and misunderstandings automatically arise when we instinctively interpret the words and actions of others based on our own “hardwired” cultural criteria.  Transcultural competence is no longer of peripheral importance in a global marketplace: it is an essential tool for businesspeople who recognize that cross-cultural awareness pays tangible dividends in terms of enhanced competitiveness, increased productivity, superior strategy and teamwork.

West Meets East is a training program provided by the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre to equip your organization with the knowledge, practical skills and strategies crucial to dealing with the Japanese.  West Meets East is designed specifically for Canadian businesspeople:

• Working with Japanese clients and colleagues
• Undertaking business trip to Japan
• Hosting Japanese visitors
• Undertaking long-term postings to Japan
• Negotiating with Japanese businesspeople

For Canadians who want to build successful and productive business relationships with the Japanese, West Meets East is instrumental in:

• Building and maintaining profitable business relationships
• Reducing friction, misunderstanding and conflict
• Cultivating fruitful personal connections
• Gaining insight into Japanese business strategies
• Facilitating clear communications
• Sensitizing staff to crucial culture cues
• Creating a professional presence in the Japanese market

The JCCC will tailor West Meets East to meet your company’s particular situation and needs. Programs are usual delivered in one- or two-day training sessions, coordinated to fit your schedule. Training can be delivered on-site at your premises or at the JCCC facility in mid-town Toronto. We will be happy to discuss our many training options with you.

Through workshop sessions, simulations and seminars, West Meet East first reveals the fundamental cultural concepts and values that drive Japanese business. The focus then shifts to concentrate on practical considerations:

Topics include:

• Otsukai: Tools for building and maintaining successful relationships
• Understanding and Incorporating Japanese Communication Strategies
• Tuning your Ear to Japanese English
• Interpreting Gestures and other Non-verbal Communication
• Silence: An essential part of your business vocabulary
• “Hai Anxiety”: Understanding the Japanese “yes” and “no”
• Working Effectively with your Interpreter

• Understanding the Japanese Organization
• The Bicultural Workplace: Overcoming obstacles to co-existence
• First Contact: Don’t make your first step a misstep
• Understanding the Japanese Decision-making Process
• Effective Meetings, Presentations and Negotiations
• Women in the Japanese Workplace: From “OL” to VP
• Sabisu: Satisfying your Japanese customer
• Conflict Avoidance and Resolution in a Cross-cultural Context

• Socializing and Entertaining: Personal bonds pay high dividends
• Dining with Japanese Clients: New rules, new tools, new tastes
• Kaiwa: Keys to successful conversation
• Gifts: Giving without giving offence

West Meets East employs a number of effective and proven training techniques: a preliminary needs analysis; a simple but powerful cross-cultural simulation; case studies examining friction points and corresponding coping strategies; and a cultural compass indicating the underlying coherence between Japanese values and business practice. The ultimate objective of West Meets East is to equip Canadian businesspeople with the essential tools they require to meet the challenge of the globalization. The equation is simple: cultural understanding = cooperation = success.

E-mail James Heron at jamesh@jccc.on.ca for more information.

The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre is a member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan.