Succeeding in a Japanese Company: 5. Understanding and Influencing Decision Makers
A one hour conversation between Rochelle Kopp and Bryan Jacop on understanding and influencing decision makers in a Japanese company (audio file)
Rochelle gained firsthand experience of Japanese corporate culture when she lived in Japan and worked at the Tokyo headquarters of a major Japanese financial institution. Since that time, as a consultant Rochelle has worked closely with numerous Japanese companies of various sizes and in a wide variety of industries, including many of Japan's most prominent firms. She brings these first-hand insights into her seminars and consulting on Japanese business culture, helping participants develop improved relationships and avoid cultural misunderstandings.
Rochelle is the author of The Rice-Paper Ceiling: Breaking Through Japanese Corporate Culture and over twenty books in Japanese. She writes for various Japanese and American publications, including regular columns for the Asahi Shimbun.
During Bryan and Rochelle's call you will discover...
- The key cultural factor that explains the way that Japanese companies make decisions
- What is it in Japanese culture that makes Japanese so uncomfortable with risk
- What the decision-making process looks like in a Japanese firm
- What some of the challenges are that can come up when a Japanese organization is going about its normal decision-making process, but non-Japanese are involved in it
- What some of the strategies are that non-Japanese can use to influence the decision-making in a Japanese organization
Your Instructor
With more than 25 years of international experience, Bryan has helped companies like CyberAgent America, Turtle Beach, and KLab balance their international expansion goals. Working with companies based in Japan, the U.S., and Western Europe, he balances the goals and missions of a company’s home office with the local markets’ concerns. Clients consistently report how valuable they find Bryan’s insights and expertise in understanding cultural differences, business practices, communication nuances, and relationship-building techniques.
Bryan, who is fluent in Japanese, is often sought out for his candor and direct approach to solving problems. He understands how to get to the heart of an issue and works with all stakeholders to develop an actionable plan with clear milestones and objectives. His main areas of focus are management and leadership styles, sales and marketing, and business operations. He often partners with international companies looking to enter the new markets. He helps companies create and preserve company culture, and adapt to the local work and business environment.
Bryan is also a certified coach helping individuals and companies get to the next stage. He works with clients to analyze challenges and helping them get to the answers while suggesting outside-the-box solutions they may not have considered. He sets accountability benchmarks and milestones clients will work towards so they achieve week-over-week improvement. Clients come away feeling like they are the architect of the solutions they are implementing, so it’s easier for them to demonstrate long-term commitment.
In addition to his work with Japan Intercultural Consulting, Bryan works extensively with small and medium-sized companies in Tokyo, helping them solve sales and marketing challenges and exploring ways to generate new revenue. In San Francisco, he has a proven track record of getting startups from launch to above $5 million in annual recurring revenue. Bryan also excels at helping clients reduce churn and improve customer retention in B2B and B2C environments. By sitting with clients and learning about their issues, he builds consensus across teams with different goals and in different geographies to push for meaningful improvements to products and services.
Bryan has a dual B.A. in International Relations and Japanese Language and Culture from the University of the Pacific and attended Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo, Japan, for a Japanese language immersion program.