In all seriousness, when dealing with the Japanese I try to honor their culture to the best of my abilities without trying to "act Japanese." This is even more true when interacting with Japanese people in the U.S. as compared to being in Japan.
So, for example, I'm not likely to bow because I'm pretty sure I'd just mess it up; it's not quite as simple as it looks in the movies-there's more going on than what's generally visible to us Westerners. Generally speaking, Japanese are less direct-so communication can be a little tricky. When someone says, "That would be very difficult" what they may actually be saying is, "That would be impossible." But if this company's Japanese employees have been in the U.S. for an extended period, they've likely adapted to our culture. Your sister-in-law's mom should be able to give some insight there. From: Steven Calvanese [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 11:01 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Ot - Working with Japanese Company (was: OT - Reduction in hours, forced to use PTO) I have talked to someone who works in Japan. He says they are always talking to themselves about what they are doing as they are doing it. For example, when someone is walking down the hall they will say "very busy, so very busy". They also do not make eye contact and smiling to someone you don't know is rude. ________________________________ From: Andy Shook [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 10:55 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Ot - Working with Japanese Company (was: OT - Reduction in hours, forced to use PTO) Deck the Ralls with Roughs of Rolly Fa-Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra Or ROR Raff out Roud Shook From: Scott Williamson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 10:46 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Ot - Working with Japanese Company (was: OT - Reduction in hours, forced to use PTO) Since our hours are cut 20%, that could mean one thing.. company is a slow motion train wreck. Now that morale has hit rock bottom, people are talking about using the Fridays off to look for new jobs... whatever is out there. I have a led on a company that is Japanese based. They have a office here in Southern California and they are looking for an IT Director. I have been an IT manager for about 10 years and the description of the job is basically what I do now. My sister-in-law's mother also works for the company and she will personally hand the resume to the COO of the company. My question.. any tips and tricks working for a Japanese company? The culture? ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
