Japanese Companies in the U.S.: Competing With Giants, Hiring & Job Descriptions

Hello, this is Suzuki from Eco Drive.

This time, we’ll delve deeper into “The Challenges Japanese Companies Face When Expanding to America.”

I particularly want to focus on how cultural differences between Japan and the US impact employment.

I’ll also discuss the challenges Japanese companies often face in securing talent and evaluation methods in America, along with potential solutions.

Previous article here!

Why Japanese Companies Struggle in the U.S.—and How to Fix It

4: Unable to Objectively Assess the Gap Between Giant Corporations and Themselves

The fourth reason is the inability to objectively assess the gap between giant corporations and themselves.

This is one of the failures I’ve personally experienced.

It’s extremely important to objectively examine the differences between competing giant corporations and your own company.

You need to carefully analyze why so many customers flock to those companies and what aspects appear attractive to Americans.

Specifically, you must consider where your company is losing and where it’s winning, how to compensate for the losing areas, and how to strengthen the winning areas.

It’s also crucial to clarify what your company has that competitors don’t, and what competitors have that your company lacks.

The mistake we made was turning a blind eye to giant corporations and instead focusing on smaller competitors that were easier for us to compete against.

However, with such a strategy, as new companies continuously emerge, costs spiral endlessly like an infinite loop.

Understanding Your Strengths and Weaknesses to Differentiate from Large Competitors

While dealing with smaller competitors is certainly important, it’s even more crucial to think objectively about how to tackle opponents much larger than ourselves and develop strategies accordingly.

To succeed in the American market, it’s essential to face reality and accurately grasp your company’s strengths and weaknesses.

Based on that analysis, it’s important to develop differentiation strategies against giant corporations.

By discovering your company’s uniqueness and maximizing it, you can find opportunities to win even when competing against major corporations.

5: Incorporating Motivation and Enthusiasm into Expectations

The fifth reason is “incorporating motivation and enthusiasm into expectations.”

This is something I often hear from Japanese companies, and I’ve actually experienced it myself.

In Japanese companies, we often hear complaints like “there are no motivated employees” or “there are no highly motivated staff members.”

In Japanese corporate culture, there tends to be a particular appreciation for motivated employees.

The “motivated employees” referred to here often means “people who do extra work.”

Conversely, this means that people who don’t do extra work remain at “average evaluation” levels.

My Time Working in Japan When Job Descriptions Weren’t Clearly Defined

I myself worked at a Japanese company for two years before coming to America in 2004.

Looking back on that experience, I think this tendency was indeed strong.

What was particularly striking was that my job responsibilities weren’t very clearly defined.

There was an atmosphere where working late, supporting various people, and finding work for yourself were valued.

While it might be difficult to make a simple comparison, I think these aspects differ greatly from American corporate culture.

I believe this difference in thinking about “motivation” and “enthusiasm” is one of the major factors causing Japanese companies to struggle in America.

America: Where Individual Roles and Responsibilities Are Clearly Defined

In American corporate culture, individual roles and responsibilities are often clearly defined.

And high performance is expected within that scope.

Rather than expecting “extra” work, the emphasis is on efficiently producing results within defined roles.

For Japanese companies to succeed in America, they need to understand these cultural differences and adopt evaluation systems and work methods adapted to the American work environment.

While motivation and enthusiasm are important, rather than assuming them or expecting them as unspoken understandings, it’s crucial to establish clear goal-setting and fair evaluation systems.

By recognizing and appropriately responding to these cultural differences, Japanese companies should be able to maintain sufficient competitiveness in the American market.

About Americans’ Attitude Toward Work

There’s an important point to understand when developing business in America.

That is Americans’ attitude toward work.

Americans basically execute what’s been decided in a straightforward manner.

And American companies consider that sufficient.

Unlike in Japan, they rarely demand extra work.

Rather, in America, people who properly do what’s been determined are highly valued in society.

Clarify Job Descriptions

For this reason, it’s extremely important to clarify job descriptions.

In America, it’s common to recruit by setting specific salaries for job descriptions.

However, surprisingly many Japanese companies can’t do this, and such companies end up struggling greatly with employment.

Without clear job descriptions, you fundamentally cannot properly evaluate employees.

Not being able to evaluate means employees aren’t being evaluated.

Employees who aren’t evaluated don’t find their work interesting, feel unrewarded despite their efforts, and end up leaving.

As a result, struggling companies often have low employee retention rates.

This creates a vicious cycle and becomes a major factor hindering company growth.

Securing Excellent Talent in America

If you’re aiming for success in America, understanding and appropriately responding to these cultural differences is essential.

Clarifying job descriptions and building a fair evaluation system based on them leads to securing and retaining excellent talent.

From this perspective, I believe it’s important to eliminate personal dependency as much as possible for employees other than leaders.

You should avoid situations where “only this person can do it” as much as possible, and design a business that can win through systems.

Preparing Job Descriptions That Allow for Steady Execution of Defined Tasks

Certainly, there are people in America who do extra work, but such talent is expensive and difficult to replace.

If that person quits, it could become a serious situation. Finding similar talent is truly difficult, and you ultimately end up with nothing.

Therefore, while people called leaders may need certain personal elements, I believe it’s important to eliminate personal dependency as much as possible and create job descriptions that allow for steady execution of defined tasks.

I hope this discussion serves as a reference for companies considering American expansion or leaders currently working hard in America.

While there are many challenges in developing business in America, by understanding these cultural differences and responding appropriately, the path to success should open up.