People are critical in the implementation of corporate strategy. Indeed, while a sound strategy is important, the firm needs to specify the organizational capabilities needed to support the business, evaluate internal gaps if any, and then design and deploy HR practices that enable differentiating capabilities. For Japanese companies which internationalize, one of the main decisions is whether to push for consistency or differentiation in their human resource (HR) policies between their home office and their country subsidiaries. While management practices – including HR – may have been a source of competitive advantage at home, they may not translate into the desired organizational capabilities in different cultural and administrative contexts. By definition, corporate culture deals with internal integration and external adaptation. Japanese corporate culture is relatively stronger than in firms from other countries. That is to say that the firm’s values, norms, beliefs, practices, and expectations are widely shared and aligned. One reason can be found in the recruitment and socialization processes of Japanese companies which mostly hire fresh university graduates based on fit with the firm’s culture, and then extensively train them over several months. This emphasis on selection and internal labor markets coupled with unquestioned loyalty also has a downside for internationalization since it is not always compatible with localization, preferring Japanese “company men” and centralization. This leads to social capital with strong internal bonding but little bridging ability with outside firms or the competitive environment. Some Japanese firms have recently resorted to hiring outside CEOs, non-Japanese or from other industries (Takeda, Suntory, Shiseido) to help them gain the international experience they need and break away from their corporate insularity.
Teaming up with the College and University Educators' English for Specific Purposes group was a great collaboration with a professionally organized group. This was a great conference with Sue Starfield the editor of the ESP Handbook talking about ethnographic methods, Bertha Du-Babcock demonstrating Business English needs in Asia and the middle east, and how materials can be adapted. Masako Terui also talked about English for Business Purpose needs within Japan, explaining and extensive study of Japanese business needs.
Chris Bates, Tim Craig & Kumiko Murata brought together the worlds of business, culture and linguistics, to 114 members of the audience from undergraduate students to experienced level practitioners. The student poster displays demonstrated business and marketing reflection and transferability. Presentations varied from negotiating how to build a tower, or what the rules are in a card game, to Business English as a lingua franca research. The intercultural Contrast Cultural Method role plays were a dynamic representation of people negotiating meaning across an intercultural gap. Originally the conference was aimed at a higher level Business Communication trainer with presentations about ANA internships and student tours to IKEA. However, it also developed into a more integrated collaborative process, with presentations about diversity and harassment awareness, teachers helping teachers, and the undergraduate students taking a leading role in the panel discussion sharing their study abroad perspectives of what is important in language learning: gaining experience to build adaptability.
Simon Humphries explained how all students in the Faculty of Foreign Language Studies at Kansai University are required to study abroad for approximately 10 months during their second year, but one daunting aspect of this experience is how to deal with financial problems. After returning from their study abroad, 18 students responded to an online anonymous questionnaire that asked them to describe their: (a) financial disagreement; (b) attempts to negotiate; (c) level of satisfaction from the outcome; and (d) advice to future students. Based on their responses, the presenter will suggest intercultural negotiation strategies.