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It traditionally isn't. Japanese middle management practices would often make office space look good. Especially in software, the culture is quite antiquated, b

by cdavid 6y ago

It traditionally isn't. Japanese middle management practices would often make office space look good. Especially in software, the culture is quite antiquated, because software is traditionally seen as a cost center, and most companies externalize all their IT. If I had to describe most offices in Japan, it would be an unglamorous version of Mad Men. The culture of the customer is always right also implies making contortions to please them, including many on site meetings where you have to be there just as a sign of respect. It is interesting the first time you do it, but gets boring fast. I believe Japan has so much untapped potential, the generalization of WFH may be the catalyst for Japanese management practices to catch up the last 60 years.

derefr 6y ago
> The culture of the customer is always right also implies making contortions to please them, including many on site meetings where you have to be there just as a sign of respect. I've always wondered if there could be something like a badge you could put on your business, to signal that you're participating in a separate sub-economy where the customer isn't always right. There must be modern companies where both sides of the giving-face transaction are just going through the motions with neither side actually thinking that that's the way things should be. Can't both sides in a long-standing relationship just get together to agree to change the deal? Or, if they can't do it on their own, can't a third party help them? Maybe there could be a Japanese charter-city with the goal of being a "mock Silicon Valley", i.e. where every business there knows that every other business else there is going to present itself with the attitude of a real SV startup where you "fire your bad customers" and so forth. So, when dealing with a company from there, everyone else would know that you don't have to give them any face, just like you don't need to give real Americans any face.
- laurieg 6y ago
  Perhaps one of the biggest barriers to fast moving SV style startups would be how difficult firing is in Japan. You need around 18 months to fire an ineffective employee. (And in contested cases I've heard of an employee who stayed on payroll for 4 years while the firing was finalised). It's one reason why people often face being harassed to the point of resignation rather than formally fired.
  - cdavid 6y ago
    Indeed. It is particularly depressing to handle as a manager, because unless you have top notch HR, your only recourse to deal with somebody who does not perform is passive agressiveness, or at best plain ignorance. Imagine the effect on the morale for other people.
    - derefr 6y ago
      IIRC a few of the Japanese megacorps are known to just move underperformers to a do-nothing role where they at least can't cause harm. They hope they'll get tired of doing nothing and quit; but even if they don't, the company just moves on—treating their future salary as a write-off expense, and hiring someone else to fulfill their original role as if they had already left.
  - JonathanKurumi 6y ago
    This actually isn’t a requirement unless you’re in the national pension system. When you’re below a certain number of employees you don’t have to join the national pension and many of those worker protections also don’t apply to you.

by cdavid 6y ago

derefr 6y ago

> The culture of the customer is always right also implies making contortions to please them, including many on site meetings where you have to be there just as a sign of respect. I've always wondered if there could be something like a badge you could put on your business, to signal that you're participating in a separate sub-economy where the customer isn't always right. There must be modern companies where both sides of the giving-face transaction are just going through the motions with neither side actually thinking that that's the way things should be. Can't both sides in a long-standing relationship just get together to agree to change the deal? Or, if they can't do it on their own, can't a third party help them? Maybe there could be a Japanese charter-city with the goal of being a "mock Silicon Valley", i.e. where every business there knows that every other business else there is going to present itself with the attitude of a real SV startup where you "fire your bad customers" and so forth. So, when dealing with a company from there, everyone else would know that you don't have to give them any face, just like you don't need to give real Americans any face.

laurieg 6y ago
Perhaps one of the biggest barriers to fast moving SV style startups would be how difficult firing is in Japan. You need around 18 months to fire an ineffective employee. (And in contested cases I've heard of an employee who stayed on payroll for 4 years while the firing was finalised). It's one reason why people often face being harassed to the point of resignation rather than formally fired.
- cdavid 6y ago
  Indeed. It is particularly depressing to handle as a manager, because unless you have top notch HR, your only recourse to deal with somebody who does not perform is passive agressiveness, or at best plain ignorance. Imagine the effect on the morale for other people.
  - derefr 6y ago
    IIRC a few of the Japanese megacorps are known to just move underperformers to a do-nothing role where they at least can't cause harm. They hope they'll get tired of doing nothing and quit; but even if they don't, the company just moves on—treating their future salary as a write-off expense, and hiring someone else to fulfill their original role as if they had already left.
- JonathanKurumi 6y ago
  This actually isn’t a requirement unless you’re in the national pension system. When you’re below a certain number of employees you don’t have to join the national pension and many of those worker protections also don’t apply to you.