The Importance Of Business Meetings In Japan

Japan is the third largest economy in the world and is the fourth largest exporter and importer of goods and services. Japan has been ranked 27 in the ease of doing business index out of 189 countries. Japan hosts many of the globally recognized and provides a great business opportunity for other countries. It hosted 326 companies from the Forbes global 2000 companies even in 2006.

Business etiquette:

Japanese people give high importance to etiquettes during business affairs. Politeness, sensitivity and good manners are the pillars of Japanese business etiquette. The initial meetings with senior executives are the most formal and the relationship between the two parties strengthens with lower formality levels during the subsequent meetings.

Typically highest ranking person sits at head of the table and subordinates sits on both sides of the table. It is a norm to call 1-2 hours before a scheduled meeting to confirm availability. Prior update by at least an hour is expected for rescheduling the meeting. Structured agenda of the meeting along with timeline has to be laid out well before the meeting. Following are important not to do list, 1) You should not be the first or not only one sitting in meeting room 2) Not paying attention to the discussions and busy with phone or laptop 3) Being late to the

One should first bow and wait to see if the Japanese counterpart initiates a handshake. Patting on the back or shoulder is not acceptable in Japanese work culture. Japanese are comfortable with silence; hence they don’t appreciate over displays of emotions. It is considered good to ask question about one’s organization but intrusion into one’s private life is highly unacceptable. Following are important not to do list, 1) Blowing your nose in public place 2) Making derogatory remarks about anyone 3) Emptying your glass if you don’t want any more drinks.

Hofstede’s Dimensions - Japan v/s India (Fig 1 in Appendix)

Power distance (Japan 54: India 77): India has high power distance compared to Japan. The decision making involves employees from multiple hierarchies; hence some foreigners wrongly feel decision making is slow. Japanese society is driven by meritocracy while in India power is centralized. In Japan, everyone is considered to be born equal and each person can achieve whatever they desire, while in India, inequality is accepted & considered natural.

Individualism (Japan 46: India 48): Individualism score is medium for both India and Japan. Japanese put harmony of the group above the expression of individual opinions but at the same time in-groups are situational. Similarly in India there is a high preference for belonging to a larger social framework where individuals act in accordance to the greater good of