Teaching notes
The Japanese affiliate (in Osaka) of Sonde, SA has a small number of French expatriates on the sales and design team – only 10. Of these, five change annually, meaning that each person is in Japan for two years. These expatriates arrive and leave with the Japanese fiscal year (April–March). They expect to take 3–4 weeks of vacation in August like most people in France, but they are limited to a few days during Obon, a three-day vacation the second week of August. As a result, several of them stay home “sick” for a week or more in August and/or September. At the end of two years, they generally stop working early in March, staying home for almost one month. They say they are sick, but they probably go bicycling in the countryside!
This intercultural simulation includes five roles. There are two French roles (the site CEO and a representative of the French workers) and three Japanese roles (human resources manager, the head of the sales and design team, and a low level supervisor). Each role includes requirements that the person should achieve during the conversation. Some of these goals are in direct conflict with the goals pursued by other roles. There will therefore ultimately be some dissatisfaction and some compromises. The overarching goal is to come to a general agreement that respects as many goals as possible and provides reasonable compensation or compromises to those parties whose goals cannot be met.
There is no requirement to hammer out a full agreement now. Japanese organizations generally require a document to be agreed upon by a large number of managers, any of whom can request changes, in a process that may take one or more months (or even years). A suitable outcome will be one in which all parties are reasonably satisfied and no party has completely collapsed.
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Meeting participants:
Your role: HRM Manager
You will have to carefully consider the issues and recommend some action to the CEO. If the CEO makes a decision that is not productive, you should counsel him about changing it. You are from Hong Kong and have been working in Japan for 10 years. You are very familiar with Japanese business standards.
GOALS: Try to find some answers to the problem, but do not promise any solutions yet. Keep the French workers and the supervisor happy. Do not make a clear final decision – that will be resolved formally after this discussion.
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Meeting participants:
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HRM Chief Manager
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Head of sales and design team
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French CEO of Japanese affiliate
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Japanese supervisor of the design team
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French worker (sales and design team member)
You are: French worker
You are expecting to work through August again, and you feel very upset. The Obon vacation is short and every place is overcrowded because almost everyone in Japan is off. How can you enjoy a vacation like that? You work hard, why can’t you get a week or two off for a proper family vacation? Why is there no respect for family and personal time?
GOALS: Get more vacation time! It would be nice to get some clear promise of action. And it would be nice to know the results you can expect. Action should come soon so that you can plan for family vacations.
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Meeting participants:
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HRM Chief Manager
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Head of sales and design team
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French CEO of Japanese affiliate
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Japanese supervisor of the design team
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French worker (sales and design team member)
Japanese Supervisor (kachou, 課長)
You are the direct boss of the French workers and some Japanese staff. The Japanese staff has begun to complain about this situation (the French calling in “sick”). You had to work extra hard in March last year because French staff were missing. You feel very worried because these are your direct employees complaining – they seem to be the source of the problem. You work extra hard to keep the French workers happy.
GOALS: Be sure that the French are working and are seen at their desks. You can accept a temporary solution before a formal decision and document is developed, circulated and agreed to (a 6–10 week process).
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Meeting participants:
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HRM Chief Manager
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Head of sales and design team
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French CEO of Japanese affiliate
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Japanese supervisor of the design team
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French worker (sales and design team member)
French CEO of the Japanese operation
You have to make some decisions or plan some action because there seems to be a lot of dissatisfaction from the French, and now even from the Japanese staff. Hopefully the HRM manager will be able to get an answer.
GOALS: End the complaints from all sides. This is a simple goal, you feel. After this, there are some serious strategic issues to be dealt with. You have some sympathy for the French because long summer vacations are normal in France. However, this operation is in Japan.
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Meeting participants:
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HRM Chief Manager
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Head of sales and design team
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French CEO of Japanese affiliate
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Japanese supervisor of the design team
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French worker (sales and design team member)
Head of the design/sales team
You are Singaporean, and your team includes the supervisor’s French staff and many other workers from Japan and other countries. You have to support not only the French workers, but also the Japanese workers. There must be some way to make everyone satisfied. You have adapted well to Japanese work life and have been in Japan 15 years.
GOALS: Find some possible ways to resolve the problems. Do not make a clear final decision – that will be resolved by a formal process based on the recommendations of this meeting and other mangers. It will be a 6–10 week process (or longer).
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