forcing the companies to go back to the traditional Japanese ways of managing a company. Some of them failed entirely and disappeared.
Many Japanese companies then attempted to follow in Matsushita’s footsteps, but what they were doing, regardless of how it was labeled, was following the traditional Japanese way of organizing and treating people and getting an awful lot out of them in the process.
In any event, when the foreigner in Japan runs up against something he thinks doesn’t make logical sense, he has probably had an encounter with kongen. If he is inspired to go out and buy himself a cushion to meditate on, he may learn something.
PASS THE ZEN, PLEASE
I DO NOT advocate that foreigners wanting to do business with the Japanese immediately run to a temple and sign up for a course in Zen Buddhism. But I do suggest that familiarity with the concept and precepts of Zen would be of significant value in dealing with the intangible, esoteric, and philosophical facets of the Japanese business system as well as its facade.
In Japan there is almost always a tatemae (tahtay-my), or facade, and a honne (hone-nay)—the reality behind the facade. The universal facade that covers Japan like a blanket is its etiquette system. Other facades include such diverse things as hostess bars in Japan’s famous mizu shobai: the colorful kimono, which women wear as a “face” to present to the public, is a wonderful facade. Looking at many aspects of Japan, one sees a surface that may hide any number of realities.
The same is true in business. What you see, and what the inexperienced foreigner is apt to take at face value, is often far from the truth. The surface harmony that prevails in most Japanese companies, for example, generally masks a morass of underlying friction and discontent, as wa suffers more and more from the strains of changing lifestyles.
Japanese society in general has traditionally been based on presenting a carefully fashioned image to the public and outside world, taking great pains to camouflage reality behind manners, screens, language, and other opaque barriers. The challenge for the outsider is to discern what is real and what is facade, to see beyond the tatemae to the honne, and one of the skills that has traditionally helped the Japanese see beyond their own illusions is the art of Zen.
The first stage of Zen, for all of its own tatemae, is nothing more than being able to distinguish between what appears to be real (or what we would like to be real) and reality itself. The second stage of Zen requires that one develop the ability to eliminate his own self from the duality of what he is and thinks he is to what exists outside of him and, if he wants to go all the way, merge his being into the one reality.
In the Japanese historical context, Zen was traditionally the vehicle by which people gained extraordinary skill in arts, crafts, and other pursuits. By physical discipline and meditation they first got their own selves under control. Then they learned how to discern the essence of what they saw before them, whether it was a rock, tree, sword, or human being. Then by becoming one with the thing before them, they could use its essence in a natural way.
Probably the most illustrious use of Zen was in the training of swordsmen. After years of rigorous physical and mental training, the greatest swordsmen came close to becoming a part of their swords. Straining the analogy, their swords would therefore strike, perfectly, whatever blow they thought of because they and the sword were the same. The greatest of Japan’s sword masters were virtually unbeatable during their peak years. This, of course, represents the Japanese ideal in all things, including business.
The lesson you can take from this facet of the Japanese way is to do your best to separate your emotions and preconceived ideas from any meeting or relationship with a Japanese businessman and attempt to discern the reality behind the visible scenario. This is, of course, just another way of saying determine the facts, the cold, hard facts, before you commit yourself. The idea of taking a Zen-like approach could make it easier, especially with practice.
PUTTING YOUR BEST FACE FORWARD
IN THE JAPANESE context there is no neat separation between business and personal life. The larger the company, the more apt it is to play a vital role in all the key areas of the lives of its employees—from housing and education to recreation.
Until the late 1990s larger Japanese companies did not hire to fill specific slots; they hired “recruits” (like military draftees) who received general orientation and then were assigned to departments where they received on-the-job training. Those hired as white-collar workers, particularly managerial candidates, were regularly rotated among departments to give them a broad perspective of the company and its operation. Regular employment for men was presumed to be for life.
Domestic and international competition has dramatically changed the way larger companies hire, train, and use their employees. Lifetime employment is no longer guaranteed. People who have worked in other companies and gained valuable skills are now sought after by virtually every major company in Japan—something that was unthinkable until the 1990s. Prior to this, only neophytes right out of high school or university were hired.
Japanese employers traditionally expected total loyalty, total conformity to company policy and culture, and a dedication to work and the welfare of the company that transcended personal concerns.
Given this paternalistic approach to personnel management, Japanese companies gave a high priority to character and personality in their hiring practices. They also gave substantial credence to the ranking of the schools potential employees attended and to their family backgrounds. With some specific exceptions in technical areas, any previous work experience, special knowledge, or aggressive ambition an applicant may have had was generally considered a negative instead of a plus (because these might hinder his being molded into a company man).
The traditional mind-set and practices among older, larger firms have not disappeared from the Japanese scene. But there are cracks in their monolithic policies and practices, as they are being forced to keep up with the times.
Not surprisingly, however, when these Japanese companies are approached by representatives of foreign companies, they tend to use the traditional yardsticks that continue to survive in their own firms to evaluate foreign managers and employees. The evaluation begins with the perceived image of the foreign company—whatever it is—and then jumps immediately to the representatives of that firm—their age, their title, how long they have been with the company, their educational background, any previous relationship with Japan, any personal Japanese contacts they may have, what they know about Japan, what their attitude is toward Japan, how they rank in their own company, why the foreign company chose to approach them (of all the other companies in Japan), who introduced them, and so on … all personal factors that they want to know before entering into serious discussions with anyone about anything.
The foreigner wanting to do business with the Japanese should anticipate this kind and degree of interest on the personal level and should do everything possible to present the most acceptable image. This means the foreign front man should be selected on the basis of criteria known to be acceptable—and generally speaking, the more impressive the better.
Here is a list of qualifications that are ideal for the foreigner who is going to be assigned to Japan (and are equally applicable to the foreigner visiting Japan in search of a Japanese partner or connection):
1. Since the man (or woman) will have to deal with Japanese managers who are in their late 40s and 50s, or older, he or she should be at least in his or her 30s or 40s.
2. The individual should have a calm, patient personality, be able to think logically and rationally and express himself clearly. If the individual has highly honed intuitive powers, so much
