Crossing the China-Japan Divide

World Learning for Business trains in China

In their struggle to stay competitive in the global marketplace, Japanese companies are looking beyond their borders for skilled workers, principally in China.

From a US/Western perspective, it would seem that for a Chinese engineer to become an expatriate worker in Japan would not represent a significant challenge. After all, the Chinese and Japanese both share the same "Asian culture", right? Well, yes, up to a point but in fact the Chinese are in many respects as different from the Japanese as Americans are from the French.

For a select group of technical graduates -- recruited in China by Nippon Manufacturing Service (NMS), a Tokyo-based firm providing skilled technicians to Japanese manufacturing industries -- agreeing to live and work in Japan for an extended period took considerable courage, especially as many of them had never before ventured beyond China's borders.

NMS turned to World Learning for Business to assist in minimizing the trauma that may have affected the company's Chinese recruits, and to make easier their integration into the cultures of both the Japanese company and Japan itself. Using research provided by Karin Guan, an expert in China and the Chinese culture, intercultural training specialist Kinya Sakamoto, a graduate of World Learning's School for International Training and experienced corporate trainer, developed a customized four-day cultural orientation for the Chinese. He traveled to Beijing to facilitate the training. Feedback from the participants at the end of the course amounted to a collective sigh of relief for everyone. False notions held by the Chinese about Japanese culture were dispelled. They learned about the adaptations they would have to make to help them cope with differences in communication style, manners, employee-manager relationships and, of course, social norms in Japan.

One participant of the course said, "Very helpful! This makes the newcomers prepared for the culture differences and the training will help them integrate into the Japanese society smoothly and reduce their anxiety and fear." Another noted, "I have learned so much about etiquette, culture differences and many other things I have never heard of before. The training will help me greatly in my future life in Japan."

Through its partnership with NMS, World Learning for Business will continue to be engaged in supporting these Chinese technical recruits now that they have made the move to Japan and are gradually being deployed to client companies. Because of its conviction that training is far more effective if applied to the parties on both sides of any cross-cultural engagement, World Learning for Business is collaborating with NMS to provide intercultural sensitivity training to the Japanese employers as well, enabling them to create a successful working relationship with the new Chinese hires assigned to them.

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