Over the past few weeks, our managing director Olivier van Beneden had the opportunity to spend time in Japan and meet with HR and leadership teams at a range of Japanese headquarters.
Here is his report: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Japanese headquarters are actively evolving, but the transformation is complex<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One clear message from our discussions is that Japanese companies are not standing still.\u00a0They are clearly moving toward a more global model.\u00a0Many headquarters are actively trying to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. The real gap is execution, not awareness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another striking observation is that the challenge is not a lack of understanding. Most managers are already aware of cultural differences and global expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the difficulty lies in applying this knowledge in real situations. In other words, the gap we see today is less about \u201cknowing\u201d and more about \u201cdoing\u201d, and doing it „safely“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. The expatriation model is under increasing pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Across multiple companies, the traditional expatriation model is being questioned. We observed several common issues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A significant shift is taking place in how Japanese managers operate. Increasingly, managers based at headquarters are required to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. From one-off training to continuous development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, many organizations are rethinking their approach to learning and development. Traditional pre-departure training alone is often seen as insufficient:<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is growing interest in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n What we see today is that companies are at very different stages in this transformation. Some are still highly Japan-centric, while others operate in global or matrix structures. As a result, their needs differ significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our work with clients, this translates into a wide range of support measures and programmes, for example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Closing thought<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What these conversations made very clear is that Japanese organizations are entering a new phase in their global development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The questions are no longer: Why do we need to globalize?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But rather: How do we make it work in practice, at the different level: leaders, managers and individual contributors?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where the real challenge, and opportunity, lies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your organization faces similar challenges we would be happy to explain what support JCO can offer on a local, regional or global scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over the past few weeks, our managing director Olivier van Beneden had the opportunity to spend time in Japan and meet with HR and leadership teams at a range of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-unkategorisiert"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
However, in practice, the transformation remains challenging :<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, HR teams are often already aware of these needs and actively pushing for change, but they sometimes face difficulty convincing business leaders to move faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
This raises important questions for the future:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
4. A growing challenge: managing global teams from Japan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
This creates new challenges around:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Many managers are highly competent technically, but have had limited exposure to these global leadership requirements, leading to frustrations in subsidiaries abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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What this means in practice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
In other words, cross-cultural training is only one part of a broader effort to support global transformation at multiple levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n