October 24, 2007

Bangkok Post - Takeda-san is a Japanese friend of mine who spent a few years working in Thailand before returning home. On Sept 24 I wrote about leadership and management at Toyota Thailand (http://www.thaicoach.com/new/newwide.php?info). ...

The column prompted some interesting comments from Takeda, who wrote:

1. You mentioned that there was a lot of in-company and on-the-job (OTJ) training in Toyota. This is the same in most Japanese firms.

2. Are the Japanese very committed and well-disciplined? It used to be ''yes.'' Nowadays, I would have to say. ''It depends. You cannot take it for granted.'' It takes some motivating before they get down to business and start to focus.

On the other hand, I have met some good, serious-minded and hard-working Thai people in my experience. Once Thais were motivated, I was amazed at what they could do.

I strongly oppose what some Japanese have stereotyped as Thai people being just easy-going and sabai sabai.

In terms of the job level comparison, the Thai level is 70-80% of the Japanese, it's hard to generalise. But I used to tell my Thai subordinates that what they were accomplishing in Rayong was no less than what I had observed done in Japan, and that they should know that their level of job achievement was up to global standard.

In some cases, some people from the Thai parent company, who I know are the same age as myself, acted as if they were superior to me/us, maybe because they happened to hold higher positions in the joint-venture company.

But in my eyes, there were some questions about the level of job skills and the results they were showing.

If they showed respect for our knowledge and experience, they would get the same respect back. If they apparently thought we were beneath them and treated us as if we really were, that did not help in any way to make the company better.

3. Teamwork: You mention Japanese working together better as a team. It sounds like the situation of many years ago. Before industrialisation, what is very similar to the Thai concept of long kag existed in Japan, in farming villages.

Now that farming does not depend on manual labour so much, and the farming population is less than 4% _ it used to be about 60% back in 1950 _ with close to 80% of Japan's population in cities, things may be a lot different.

What comes to my mind is that many Japanese people think their goal in their career is to be employed by a reputable company and climb up the corporate ladder, or to be a government official and advance until retirement age arrives. Some people are beginning to become more independent, but entrepreneurship is less observed in Japan, as compared to the US, for example.

Many would feel insecure if they had to be separated from the group without an organisation to belong to, without a title (such as department manager) of a particular company; some would feel like a ''nobody.''

If you want to go up the corporate ladder you need to blend in with the team or group first.

There is a common saying in Japan; ''A nail that sticks out is destined to be hammered in'', meaning that if you act differently from others in the group and stand out, you will be pushed back (in some cases, punished). Sometimes, it's very difficult to think independently or express your own opinions.

You also mentioned how Toyota holds meetings with all the members of the group present. I did the same thing in Rayong. It's not because Japanese work better as a team. It had to do with communication and sharing information.

I observed that many people in the company did not share information. For example, let's say a decision was made at an executive meeting, which you were not allowed to attend, and that decision would affect the benefits of yourself and your subordinates.

Unfortunately, you had to find out about this decision much later from a chance conversation with someone else. You complain to the personnel department for not letting you know at a proper time. They would say that your boss was there in the meeting, so you should know. They need not tell you anything.

You find that your boss did not tell you anything about it, because he thinks it is okay because he knows about it. Anyway, nobody informs you.

If you get everyone together in a meeting and discuss things in the open, it could be a way to share information about what decision was made, how and why. You can turn the session into a learning experience at the same time.

I allowed people to express opinions and ask questions, trying to let them know they didn't have to be kreng jai.

I am sure some learned from the experience, while some just sat there and wondered what was going on.

Kriengsak Niratpattanasai provides executive coaching in leadership and diversity management under the brand TheCoach. He can be reached at coachkriengsak@yahoo.com. Copies of previous columns are available at www.thaicoach.com.

 

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