As you know, I'm spending two weeks in Asia for my annual trip here with our Boston College graduate students. This year's itinerary is bringing us to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. More information is here and then on an additional web site. Below is a sample entry to an email update / blog that I send around to my family and friends.  

a) We seem to have a great bunch of students this year. They're polite, inquisitive and willing to "go with the flow." Let's hope this sentiment, and their positive attitudes, continue over the next 9 days. :-)

b) Visits: Our visits today were really oustanding. Both were repeat visits but with significant, positive changes. The morning was spent with one of the global accounting firms, and with their senior partner in transaction services. He has 3 teenagers and will be returning home to San Fran in the next 3 weeks, after a successful 5-year stint in Shanghai. While he doesn't speak Chinese, his knowledge of the local landscape, frank overview of the what's happening with the economy and sense of humor were all great.

The afternoon was spent with at a furniture manufacturing factory strategically located in a free trade zone. They've invested significant resources just from last year trying to retool their recycling, "green" manufacturing and cost containment. They've even received new certifications. We had a detailed briefing, followed by Q&A, a plant tour and then more chances for questions by the students.

c) Economy: Every economy goes through its own respective cycles, and unfortunately China's is no exception. The wheels on the proverbial bus were, indeed, spinning round-and-round, and at quite a healthy pace, while the export market was alive and well. But, now that the US and Europe aren't spending as much as in prior years, mainland China's minimum wage is on-the-rise, and the government's attempts to increase domestic consumption are fair-to-midland at best, the local environment here is dramatically different. Everything is now being questioned,  
whether it be personnel, costs or even policies, and the jury is still out regarding how things will play out. I will mention that the Chinese (language) media's account of what's occurring is actually closer to the truth than the coverage in the West.

Prior to entering a new foreign commercial market, a company needs to conduct an extensive amount of due diligence—all of which needs to be completed before even selling one widget or piece of software to any customers in that country. In addition to actually visiting the intended country and meeting with a slew of people, the company needs to develop an understanding of the marketplace and market size. Finally, the firm needs to do a post-trip assessment and determine whether or not they should enter the market and if this is the right time.

Once a firm determines which country it is interested in further exploring, it needs to collect some basic data. A firm will need to understand a myriad of facts, including market size and potential, key competitors and their revenue and end-user purchasing habits. When I did business development for a healthcare IT firm, the firm’s management had expressed strong interest in entering the Indian healthcare market. The first step I did was look at the number of hospitals in India, where they were concentrated, what their buying points were and what kinds of competitive firms had already established a foothold in the Indian healthcare market. Lastly, as the firm will need to actually visit the intended country, they need to set up meetings with some key industry experts, potential clients and potential partners or distributors.

The next phase involves the actual visit. A firm will need to go to the intended country and meet with potential customers, industry experts, potential partners or distributors, lawyers and regulatory experts. By doing so, the firm will be able to better understand the current market state, industry trends and issues, regulatory and legal concerns that the firm needs to be cognizant of and, ultimately, gauge market demand and interest in their product. At the healthcare IT firm, I met with several well-respected doctors and healthcare industry experts, pitched the product to a couple of hospitals and even talked to someone who understood the regulatory framework. By doing so, I realized that at the current time, a lot of hospitals did not have the adequate technological infrastructure in place that was needed to allow our system to work.

The final phase involves the post-trip assessment and next steps. After the firm has an understanding of market demand, it can then decide what the next steps should be. Should the firm enter the new market? If so, how? Should it work with channel partners? If so, which ones? If now is not the right time to enter, then when should it? At the healthcare IT firm, I determined that it was too early to enter the Indian healthcare market, we should reassess in 12 months and, if we chose to enter the market, we should only work with distributors that had already sold products to the top-tier Indian hospitals that were planning on upgrading their technological infrastructure in the near future.

This due diligence is not only important and necessary, but it can help prevent costly market entry mistakes that many companies often make.

We live in a three phone call world. What do I mean? It takes that many calls just to get any single item done. For example, I’m in the last stages of planning our international trip and asked one of our travel providers to send the routine departure documents we need “no signature required.”  I’ve learned over the years that since we live in a safe neighborhood, it’s a lots faster, and easier, to receive the documents in this manner, and at our home address.  “No problem” this person said, “we do it like this every year, anyway.” Two days later, and just to be on the safe side, I reminded the person again to check off the ‘no signature required’ box. Then, I sent an email, too, with the same message.

The documents did arrive as promised, but came in three different deliveries, as the various parties involved waited until the very last minute to complete their respective responsibilities. Sure enough, there was a door tag left for one of the packages—it required a signature and no one had been home. We live right around the corner from the courier’s sorting center, and I’ve been down this road before. So after calling their national office, they transferred the call locally. But, this time they were closed. Fortunately, I reached a sympathetic person when I explained our departure was imminent, and involved multiple people. Even though the Needham facility had closed 20 minutes prior, they were willing to let me stop by. “Come around the back and bring your ID,” I was told. Following instructions, I drove over, parked in the back and entered through an open door. It took a few minutes to find someone. Without even offering a ‘good evening,’ the first person I ran into quipped: “No one is allowed in here, and we’re closed.” Suffice it to say, three different people and three different conversations later, I had my package and was back home 15 minutes later.

If I told this story to a senior executive, he/she probably would have recommended I had delegated this aspect of the trip’s planning. However, with so many moving parts, and 20+ people to be responsible for, it’s just not my style to do things in this manner. Also, while I understand the concept of delegation, I think that concept is often fraught with danger. No one seems to care about the minute details, as the project isn’t likely their ‘baby’ to begin with. Let’s assume I had enlisted an assistant to help me. Only the best-of-the-best would have likely asked to be transferred locally, when they were told the Needham facility had already been closed for 20 minutes. Late on a Friday night, many would have not bothered calling at all, leaving the task until Monday, and figuring that they still had ‘time.’ Unfortunately, life often follows one of two adages: ‘If you want something done, do it yourself’ or ‘If you want something done, give it to a busy person.’

More to come from Asia in the days that follow, now that our departure documents are in hand. By the way, you can read each update “no signature required” from your email.

1)    Volatility is now the rule, and no longer the exception. Just look at the VIX and Sharpe Ratio as measurement tools. My college investment textbooks indicated that, ever since the Great Depression, the average annual return netted out to 10%.  Even within the framework of the “traditional” eight-year boom-to-bust economic cycles, appreciation over time was generally expected.  How I wish we were back in the ’80s!  None of the experts at yesterday’s conference (annually organized by the firm which provides pension advisory services to the non-profit where I'm a Trustee) could either explain why certain events, and not others, had impacted the market so suddenly over the past six months or predict what’s going to happen next. Every day seems to be a new “risk on, risk off” adventure of best guesses. The only expectation, at least for the moment, is volatility. Their slides, submitted two weeks prior, were already out-of-date due to the market corrections in the past ten days. I do believe the broader US economic situation is gradually, and steadily, improving, but that we still have a long way to go.

2)    One generation can indirectly affect a country’s economic culture: The keynote address at this same conference was entitled “Living in a Growth Markets World” and analyzed the relevance of GDP change across several emerging markets. I gleaned that the productivity of a country in the present day, or lack thereof, can dramatically propel or constrain a nation’s growth trajectory. Whether in Europe, Asia or even our hometown of Needham, I’m reminded that each generation, for better or for worse, has the power to indirectly affect a nation’s economic culture.  Two Japanese friends have come through Boston in the past few weeks, both lamenting that the Japan we collectively experienced when I lived there, is now a relic of its former self. The concepts of “honorable overtime,” (i.e., not actually charging the company in the interests of taking-one-for-the-team), using post-work drinks as a conduit for more direct communication, and cradle-to-grave employment when the firm almost assumes the role of one’s parent in protecting and guiding the worker, are as foreign to the younger generation as the investment returns printed in my college textbooks are to Wall Street's realities.  Regrettably, such changing beliefs are not endemic to the Land of the Rising Sun.

"Cultural DNA" really does differ from country to country. Even over the long term, the attitudes and outlook of a people won't be significantly be changed or altered. The oft spoken, and pat, answer to this is to embrace cultural differences to increase the chances for business success. I disagree. It’s not natural, or intuitive, to embrace something foreign--or to compliment conduct that you might even consider offensive (i.e., disrespecting contractual terms, spitting in public). My tack is rather to accept that differences exist and then bob and weave around the ones that I view as minefields. (i.e., selective disclosure of proprietary information if general concerns exist over I.P. rights).

It's like what my parents taught me about marriage: if you marry someone in the hopes of changing her, you’re consigning yourself--and her--to misery. So it is too with cross-cultural friendships and business relationships. Friends can appreciate and value each other. But they don't change for the other party. Two people who are raised half a world away, schooled in, say, Cartesian and Confucianism, and accustomed to dissimilar foods and spices will never—borrowing a statistics phrase— revert to the same mean, not even over a period of years.

Still, I believe that most people, regardless of nationality, are aiming to do the right thing and appreciate it if you try to do the same; in my experience, good intent is a universal concept. I’m not blind, nor naïve, to the fact that different people's definition of “right” might still be world’s apart--and the subject of much disagreement and debate. But I do believe strongly in the universality of trust and friendship. (i.e., relationships solidly continuing even when a business deal collapses). I have had countless people around our dinner table for home-cooked meals, to play with our kids and to enjoy coffee, tea or a post-meal glass of port. The native languages are often different, and my guests’ affinity for my wife’s terrific cooking may not be as strong as my own. But the smiles, appreciativeness and respect are a constant.

Re-reading “Mirror on Japan” reminded me of one of the most significant gaps between Japanese and American societies: horizontal Japanese society and vertical American society. This is a concept that I share with my students when I teach a global culture course at Michigan State University or with Japanese students who are interested in American culture. I would like to elaborate because this cultural difference can come as a shock when someone is not aware of why such a gap exists, especially when Japan and the U.S. seem to share a lot in technology, popular culture, etc.

Many scholars in sociology, anthropology, and other disciplines have stated that Japan is a collective society and horizontal. This is to say that what your neighbor, coworkers, friends, and peers think about you is very important. This is why “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” in Japan. Such a nail disrupts harmony. If you excel at something, you should use your skills so that people around you can excel at it together and make progress. If someone has a lot of work and has to stay at work until 8pm, especially if (s)he is your boss, you should stay there until 8pm, even if you don’t have much to do. If your boss says, “let’s go out for a drink” after work, you will not say no, even if you have children waiting for you at home. Things have changed, but in many ways, these cultural assumptions hold true to this date.

On the other hand, American culture tends to be more individualistic and vertical. Although “individualistic” can often mislead some to think it is equivalent of being “selfish,” the reality is different. So parents try to nurture their childrens’ individuality. “Leave me alone,” and “I don’t care” exist as a part of common lexicon among 5-year old American children. If you think something is right, you do it, even if your neighbor thinks you are strange.

Of course, there are exceptions. Both societies are constantly changing. Despite the name, “vertical,” I am not claiming that a form of divine being exists in every American’s consciousness. But American cultural tradition and public culture have a tendency to be more vertical than Japanese counterparts that tend to be horizontal. When you look at these two cultures from this perspective, sometimes misunderstandings disappear and it helps better cultural understandings. 

Yuya Kiuchi

"Mirror on Japan"を再読したのは、日米間にある文化的差異を考えるきっかけになりました。日本は横社会であり、アメリカは立て社会であるということです。グローバリゼーションの授業で学生に話すことであり、日本人の学生でアメリカ社会に興味のある人には、やはりお話をすることです。アメリカと日本はテクノロジーや大衆文化の点で様々な共通点を持っていますが、だからこそ文化の違いが思わぬ驚きとなりえます。そこで今日は、この点についてお話をしたいと思います。

社会学や人類学、その他の研究者が日本は横型の集団社会であると特徴付けました。つまり、近所に住む人々、同僚、友達の目を気にすると言うこと。だからこそ、出る杭は打たれます。調和を乱してはならないのです。何かに長けるひとは、その能力を共有し、皆で前進することが求められます。職場で夜8時まで仕事に追われる同僚がいたら、一緒に遅くまで残業します。それが上司なら当たり前です。もしくは飲みに誘われたら、家で子供が待っていても、「結構です」とは言えません。少しずつ変わってはいますが、今でも基本は一緒です。

逆にアメリカはより個人的で縦型です。「個人主義」は「自己中心的」と誤解されがちですが、実際には違います。だからこそ、親は子供の自己を育成します。「邪魔しないで」「どうでもいい」と5歳の子供は言います。もしも正しいと思えば、近所の人がどう思おうと、関係ないのです。

もちろん、例外はあります。社会は変化しています。縦型社会だからと言って、アメリカ人の誰もが神的な存在を信じているわけではありません。しかしアメリカの文化的伝統は、横型の日本より、縦志向の傾向があります。2つの文化をこの立場から考えてみると、誤解が解け、よりよい文化的理解が可能になるでしょう。

木内裕也

 

One of my more memorable consulting engagements has been working with a Boston-based sports organization to help design and implement business strategies related to expanding their business development efforts in Asia.  To better assist them in finding clients, I've written a new case study on Cross Border Sponsorship, as defined as companies who use "foreign" athletes to help pitch their products (i.e., a mainland Chinese company using a non-Chinese athlete as a spokesperson).  An expanded version of this case will be used in my summer Global Management class, in an effort to keep the classroom content as new as possible.  The first few paragraphs of the case are below, followed by the Chinese version, and many thanks to Nancy Tow for her translation work.



Cross Border Sponsorship: The Newest Trend in Athlete Endorsements Outside of the United States

Sports sponsorship gained prominence in the 1970's in the United States (US).  According to Benoît Séguin, at the University of Ottawa, Canada, as television and radio licenses increased in the 1970's, "competition between advertisers to attract consumers’ attention was fierce."  As originally coined by Tony Meenaghan in the International Journal of Advertising in 1991, sponsorship is defined as "an investment in cash or kind, in an activity, person or event (sponsoree, or athlete being sponsored), in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that activity, person or event by the investor (sponsor)."  What originally began as a means to attract advertisers, according to IEG, across the four major U.S. pro sports leagues and their teams, is now over $2.28 bn. (Exhibit 1).  The trend of sponsorship has not only expanded outside of US markets, but now is regularly involving cross-border sponsorship, where a country uses a spokesperson who's not one of their citizens.  For example, Turkish Airlines recently used basketball star Kobe Bryant to endorse its expanded seating capacity and good food.

As Mr. Zhao began reviewing his marketing plan for the 2nd half of 2012, he wondered to what extent his company should continue the trend of other Chinese, and Asian, firms in using non-Chinese athletes to pitch their products.

Sponsorship Overview

With the growth of sponsorships over the last few decades, some argue that sponsorships should now be considered part of promotional mix, along with publicity, public relations, sales promotions, personal selling, and advertising.  When the number of television and radio networks began to grow in the 1970’s, some began to question the continued effectiveness of traditional advertising routes.  As a result, sponsorships emerged and began to grow during this time period as they were considered effective at a lower cost.  Additionally, sponsorships were considered different from traditional advertising as audiences with an “association” element thought of their perception separately. 


跨境赞助:美国以外的运动员代言的最新趋势

体育赞助在美国七十年代有显著的进展。据Benoît Séguin(伯努·瓦塞甘)在加 拿大渥太华大学报道“七十年代随着电视和电台执照的增加,为了吸引消费者的 注意,广告商的竞争变得异常激烈。”在1991年, Tony Meenaghan在国际广告杂 志上将“赞助”定义为“投资者(赞助商)以现金或实物投资在活动、人或事件 中(受赞助者或受赞助运动员),进而获得商业效益。”根据IEG的资讯,最初这 只是作为一种用来吸引广告商的手段,而现在横跨美国四大职业体育联赛和他 们的团队的运动赞助费用已超过22.8亿美元(图表1)。赞助的趋势,不仅扩大 到美国市场以外,而且现在经常涉及跨境的赞助,常常一个国家使用的代言 人,并不是本国的公民。例如,土耳其航空公司最近聘请了篮球明星科比·布莱 恩特来赞助其航班扩大的座位和良好的食品。
当赵总开始审议2012年下半年的营销计划时,他想知道他的公司应继续到什么 程度, 像其他中亚企业使用非中国籍的运动员来推销自己的产品的趋势。

赞助概述

随着赞助行业在过去几十年的增长,有些人认为,赞助,现在应该是促销组合 的一部分,包括在宣传,公共关系,促销,人员推销和广告之中。当电视和广 播电视网开始在七十年代增长,一些人开始质疑传统的广告路线是否继续有 效。因此,赞助行业在这期间形成,并因它被认为是有效和低成本的扩长。此 外,赞助因为观众对其有“联系”的因素观念而被认为于传统的广告有所不同。企业和组织开始设定客观的赞助经营目标来保证投资回报率(ROI)。三个 类型的赞助目标被确定。首先是广义企业目标。二是营销目标,包括品牌推 广和促销。最后是媒体目标,包括影响到的目标市场范围,和取得成本效 益。总体而言,有些人认为,企业利用赞助来增加额外销售,提高盈利的目 标,而另一些人认为,企业试图利用赞助来实现多个目标。

This is a preface I wrote for the Special Magazine for CCAFM, our international consulting partner, in advance of the January / 2012 trip.  A (Chinese) press release on our visit with them, including pictures, can be found here.

International Consulting: The magic of numbers

I am honored, for the second year in a row, to have been asked to write the Preface for this special CCAFM magazine edition.  While a full year has of course passed since our last Beijing sojourn in 2011, the late nights we spent preparing the slide decks in CCAFM’s offices, the smell of the flowers on the presentation podium, and the look of satisfaction on the clients’ faces after the three Q&A sessions, all seem like they occurred just last week.  What, frankly speaking, was formerly regarded, a few years prior, as an adjunct-like academic program both in the hallways of your Yuetan North Street offices, as well as within the classrooms of Fulton Hall, now has happily become an essential part of everyone’s daily work regimen.  It is truly the essence, and spirit, of a successful partnership.  

Despite being in different time zones, observing diverse cultural rituals and regularly conversing in dissimilar languages, we probably still spend as much time communicating with each other, as we do interacting daily with our respective co-workers in Beijing and Chestnut Hill on other work matters.  What’s more, it’s oddly comforting that each day is “book-ended” by our joint consulting work.  I look forward every morning to receiving your update emails, as I’m sure you do, albeit 12 hours separated, and geographically half a world away.  Just as I’m about to go to bed, you seemingly pick up where we left off a few hours prior, and vice-versa.

But beyond harnessing the power of technology to communicate, we’ve invested considerable time and energy traversing these disparate time zones to regularly meet one another in person.  While in our Needham, Massachusetts home in November 2011, Daisy (Jing Jie) Fang remarked how unique it was that all of us had met in person three different times in the same calendar year.  While we joke after all of these years that we’ve now become “old friends,” the underlying truth is that such a long-term partnership has enabled us to express our opinions honestly, openly and without risk of losing face or causing offense. The piece de resistance of our joint work to date, borrowing a phrase from our French counterparts in Europe, was my being asked by CCAFM’s President, Dr. Fu, to join the company’s Advisory Board this past summer as its first ever non-Chinese executive.  

But the objective of this column is not to opine on the merits of our partnership, as much as to focus on the results we’ve obtained for your numerous clients.  I use the term “numerous” because of how important numbers are to Mainland China.  Beijing is perfectly symmetrical on a North-South axis with the Imperial Palace in the middle.  The city has been expanded in a thoughtful fashion via a series of ring roads concentrically emanating from this historic nucleus.  “Chengyu,” a traditional Chinese idiomatic form, usually employs four characters to write key expressions.  8 is considered the luckiest of all numbers in China, due to the fact its pronunciation of “ba” is close to the world for wealth (“fa”).  In this same vein, I believe the past 365 calendar days can also best be summarized by the alliteration of the simple numerical pattern 2, 4, 6, 8.

2: In mid-February, it was announced that China had become the world’s 2nd largest economy.

4: This was the first year CCAFM and BC managed four projects at the same time.  Coincidentally, four of us met for dinner in Shanghai in May 2011 and then four CCAFM executives traveled to Boston in November.

6: At the end of October, the worldwide population surpassed 6 billion people for the first time in its history, now measuring just over 7 billion.

8: This is the 8th consecutive year CCAFM and BC have been working together.

The four projects this year also have a consistent numerical theme running through them.  As you’ll continue to read below, one word per paragraph has been selectively underlined, in order to emphasize this fact.  Project A, on Management Systems and Risk Management, focuses on the three key areas of management: system configuration, construction and implementation.  Projects B and C, by definition are all about “the numbers,” discussing the merits of ABC (Activity Based Costing) and EVA (Economic Value Added), respectively.  Finally, a related aspect of project D has been the long-term financial return from investing in new renewable energy solutions.

Equally satisfying this year, I have had multiple opportunities to observe our students completing their best work.  When we first began our partnership in 2003, we tackled 2 projects as a de facto test case.  Then, from 2004 – 2010, three projects per year were regularly supported.  In 2011, we’re still continuing to innovate and to experiment, now balancing the demands from four concurrent research studies.  This year, in particular, I was truly honored that more than ¾’s of the class opted to begin its research over the summer, despite so many of our 23 members being spread out in different corners of the US and even around the globe.  Despite their remote locations, they rallied to produce four strong Summer Reports in mid-August, well thought out Interim Reports in October, and strong end-of-semester “final” reports, the latter of which was sent over for discussion and translation in mid-December, and which formed the core of this week’s presentations.

By the nature of having four teams, the students have had to be that much more independent regarding each project’s content.  More so than in any other year, the students in 2011 had to frequently, and unilaterally, schedule CCAFM - BC conference calls, SMS text sessions and comprehensive emails to compare detailed notes with their colleagues in Beijing.  Much time has been spent composing these emails, poring over their replies and then charting next steps.

As proud as I am of my students, I’ve also been extremely impressed with the candor through which CCAFM has responded to our project queries on numerous occasions over the past few months.   Several years ago, even possibly the most outlandish research conclusions from a project were still met with polite, clipped responses from the CCAFM consultants.  Hen bu cuo (“not bad”) was the common refrain, more intended to keep face, than to engage in a thoughtful review of the content.  But, 2011 has been measurably different.  One CCAFM review email from mid-October perhaps summarized this sentiment best: “I love ICP and I am willing to spend time to improve the research with BC side all these years.  But this time, I don’t know what to do!  There is so little useful information in this Interim Report…”

This forthright feedback continued to manifest itself during our in-person project review on the evening of Halloween 2011, in Fulton Hall’s classroom 310.  Although the session began with a plea from CCAFM to “slow down during your presentations, as the speed makes us nervous,” it quickly expanded into an extremely beneficial joint session for all.  Several students later commented that this class is “like no other, and is just so incredibly cool.  ICP is truly an opportunity to apply what we’re learning in school to real situations on both sides of the world.”

But, alas, the hours of preparation, the many emails sent and received, and the copious speaker’s notes written for each slide, all have to be neatly summarized, packaged, and then presented in a thoughtful manner to the senior executives at CCAFM, and more importantly to the firm’s many clients.  Even though the nature of this program only enables the students to work locally for a single week, the research of the four projects is an ongoing, iterative progression.  My father always used to tell me that “any company standing still, is essentially moving backwards,” as successfully running, or consulting to, a business, is a dynamic process.  In short, we’ve made progress but there’s still much work remaining to be completed.

In expressing my heartfelt sentiments for what now seems to be the hundredth time in our 8-year partnership, I’m again extremely appreciative for the multi-faceted development opportunities you’ve provided our students, and, of course, to me, with this year’s projects.  They have again lived up to your predictions of being in depth, challenging and rife with educational opportunities, as well as focusing on real world applications.  Thank you again for your trust, and support.

But its very nature, any international consulting engagement, if completed correctly, will be replete with a plentiful range of emotions, both positive and negative.  ‘Magical,’ ‘analytical’ and ‘thought provoking’ describe some of the more upbeat feelings, with ‘frustrating,’ ‘time intensive’ and ‘elusive’ balancing out one’s thoughts on the other side.  But, a common thread throughout is dedication.  This is perhaps the best word I can choose to summarize the spirit of the past six months of work.

In conclusion, thank you, once again, for another fine year of cooperation and successful results during the Year of the Rabbit, in 2011.  As always, we look forward to continuing to deepen our friendship in the years to come.  By the numbers, I’m sure we will have a multitude of opportunities to do so.

This is an essay written for the Cornell Hotel School Alumni Magazine in support of Japan, shortly after the earthquake.  The Japanese text follows here (and thanks to Yuya Kiuchi for the translation).


日本の姿：忍耐について


グレッグ・ストーラー　1991年卒

私はMBA（経営学修士）プログラムの授業をボストン・カレッジで数多く教えてきた。それを通して学生と一緒にアジアを訪問し、現地企業でコンサルタントを行ったり、アジアの様々な国にある企業を見学した。数年に1度は学生達と日本を訪れており、最近では2009年に日本の地を踏んだ。今年も日本に戻ることを楽しみにしていたが、3月11日に起きた地震、津波、そして原発問題といった想像を絶する状況を踏まえ、東京以外の都市を訪問先として選ばざるをえなかった。 

日本と私の関係は20年に渡る。今回の災害は仕事だけではなく、個人的にも大きな影響力を持つ。友達のみならず、日本のホテル関係者、コーネル大学関係者、そして日本を通して知り合った人々のことを思わずにはいられない。日本の文化とその勤勉さを知る者として、日本が将来的に復興すると信じている。しかし今は何より、日本の人々が健康で、無事に、安全な日々を過ごしていることを希望するのみだ。

日本に恋をしたのは、コーネル大学の1年次に遡る。外国語履修要件を満たす為に父が日本語を薦めたのだ。日本が経済のスーパーパワーとなることを見込み、ある程度日本語の知識を持つことで数年後に控えた就職が容易になると考えた。18歳当時の私は熟考することもなく、「日本語でもまあいいか」という程度に考えた。

何気なく始めた日本語は、すぐにある意味で人生の難題として私の前に現れた。文法は英語と全く逆さま。漢字を暗記する時間など、どこにも無かった。1年目は何とか終えたが、2年次の前期終了時にはこれまでになくひどい成績しか残せなかった。壁に貼られた漢字を見つめながら、ここは潔く諦めるしかないとすら考えた。

ホテル経営学を学んでいた大学の友愛クラブの友人から、SHA (School of Hotel Administration) の授業を履修して、他の学術分野に目を向けてみることを進められた。これが役に立った。SHAの授業は実に興味深く、当時の世界経済の影響もあって、多くの財政学の授業は日本に頻繁に言及した。その頃には、日本語の文法も少しずつ理解できるようになった。2年次末には「B-」を何とか貰うことができ、喜んだものだ。

SHAの卒業要件を満たすためには、ホスピタリティーの分野で十分な経験を積むことが必要だった。夏休みには実家に戻り、ボストン・マリオットのレストランでマネージャーとして働く機会を得た。ある日、自宅の部屋を掃除していると、日本語の本が本棚から落ちて、私の頭に当たった。その衝撃と言うわけではないだろうが（！）、ある考えが思い浮かんだ。その夏を利用して、日本語の読み書きを学ぶことにしたのだ。

翌年、SHAのWilliam Kaven教授から日本海側にある温泉旅館でインターンとして働いてみて、日本の文化を体験するのはどうかと話を頂いた。ホテル百万石と呼ばれるこの旅館において、日々の業務が非常に日本的であることが私の目を引いた。「働く為に生きる」という日本の文化において、休暇滞在は24時間にも満たない。同じ部に属する45人から50人や、より小さな科に属する従業員が団体客としてホテルに到着するのは午後の早い時間だ。その日の夕方は思い思いに食べ放題や飲み放題を堪能し、翌朝ホテルを出発する。東京や京都、もしくはその他の都市に戻ると、場合によってはそのまま職場に向うのだ！

私の仕事は単純で明確だった。それは「言われたことをしろ！」というもの。具体的にはパーティー会場の設営と片付け、グラスを洗うこと、ナイフやフォークの整頓だ。

日本人マネージャーの立場に立ってみると、これこそ新入社員、特に夏限りの下っ端インターンに与える一番の仕事だった。その目的は、実際に何か複雑な業務をするというより、個人の性格や考えを知り、仲間との雰囲気やマネージメントチームを知ることにあった。

日本には「出る杭は打たれる」という諺がある。これは創造性を否定するのではなく、個人より集団の重要性を強調する意味で使われる。アメリカ人であることに誇りを持ち、日本にいるときでも自分らしさを強調し、新しい視点を話し合いに提供できる機会を私は心から楽しんでいる。しかし、それは文化的に適切な方法で行われなければならない。

日本人は集団で仕事をすることの力を理解している。だからこそ、現在の状況から日本が復興できることを信じているのだ。この集団的責任という考えが、震災の影響を受けた地域で略奪行為が発生していないことの説明でもある。日本以外の社会では、残念ながらその様な状況が起こることは驚くべきことではない。しかし日本において、他人の上にのし上がって自らの幸せを追求することは考えられない。

1991年12月にコーネル大学を卒業し、東京にある帝国ホテルで、アメリカ人として初めてフルタイムのスタッフ（正社員）として雇用された。このホテルには100年以上の歴史があり、日本的サービスの典型とみなされていた。夏の間に強固な人間関係を日本で構築し、かつては理解し切れなかった文化を真の意味で理解し始めたことで、新しい日本の組織に加わる過程が容易になった。

私達はまず、オリンピックの開催された長野県市近くにある上高地帝国ホテルに異動となった。そこでこの小さなホテルで「業務を行え」というのだ。しかし「業務を行う」ということが何を意味しているのかを理解することすら難しかった。

1990年代初め、日本企業は毎年100人以上の新入社員を雇用していた。その多くは高卒の社員だった（日本の高等学校はアメリカの4年制大学のシステムと類似しており、高卒の資格はアメリカより重要視されている）。私は23名いた大卒グループに属していた。その為、私達は将来的に経営の上層部に出世すると見込まれていたのだ。

日本語も上達していたので、その理解にはそれほど困らなかった。それより文化的な違いが、日本人従業員の中にも存在していることに気づき始めた。昇進できるか、どうすれば昇進が可能か、もしくは昇進までどれくらい掛かるかなどは関心外だった。私の昇進は、除雪、トイレ掃除、1人で夜中のベルマン業務をすることから始まった。しかし、日本人従業員を含め、皆同じ土俵に立っていることを感謝した。

夏が終わると、東京のホテルに戻ることとなった。そこで私は「昇進」され、ホテルで1番のレストランで　(Les Saisons) 働くことになった。しかし食材を移動するのが仕事で、お客様と話すことは許されなかった。それだけではなかった。磨いたグラスは24のグラスが収納できる棚にしまうことになっていたのだが、私がそれらのグラスを磨き終わると、レストラン内の装飾を照らす為に使われる強力な照明を使って、私の上司がグラスの点検をするのだ。もしも1つでも染みが残っていれば、24のグラス全てを磨きなおさなければならなかった。

毎夜、上司のために食事を作り、その片づけをし、ホテルの地下には寝床の準備すらしなければならなかった。私達は1週間のうち2晩をカプセルベッドで過ごした。それは6フィートの長さで、性別で分けられた円筒型の寝床が縦に3段、横に24列並んでいるのだ。翌日の起床後、お客様のために食事の準備が待っていた。6名からなるチームがグループを構成していた。24時間のシフトが終わると、チームとして飲みに行くことになっていた。例えそれが朝の11時であってもだ。これが日本流だ。

トレーニングの18ヶ月目になると、やっと私が満足できる昇進の機会に恵まれた。市場開発部で外国人初の（ 販売企画部で）マネージャーになったのだ。どうすればより多くの外国人のお客様を引き寄せることができ、どうすれば宴会場の利用を増やせるか考えることが職務だった。

トレーニングの最終日を迎えた。私を下っ端としてあしらったマネージャーやスタッフすら、私の成功を祝って深々とお辞儀をして下さった。数ヶ月前にはお客様と話をすることすら許されていなかったレストランにおいて、私がお客様のために必要と考えたあらゆるものが、すぐにどこからともなく現れた。ついにホテルの一部になりきれたと実感した。

1990年代中盤、ボストンに戻ることになると、日本株式会社と呼ばれた日本経済は急速に勢いを失っていた。中国とインドがその力の急速に伸ばし、かつて見本とされた日本の経済政策はデフレ、不良債権、経済停滞を引き起こしていた。少なくともそう考えられていた。

マクロ経済の観点から考えると、これらの統計は現実的なもので、無視するわけにはいかなかった。しかし家庭貯蓄率は他の経済先進国と比較して依然として高く、国民1人あたりのGDPは世界トップ30だった。日本の友人達は悶々とした心を抱えながら、控えめに人生を楽しんでいた。しかし本当に不幸を感じている人は誰もいなかった。

ここ数年、私は日本を訪れる機会に恵まれている。ボストン・カレッジのMBAコースに属する学生を連れて数年に一度日本に戻ると、長期間の定点観測をして写真を撮っているような錯覚を起こす。違いは本棚からアルバムを取り出すのではなく、実際に街中を歩き、人々と話をし、心の中で前回の日本訪問との違いを比較できることだ。

帝国ホテルで働いている頃、毎晩タクシーが文字通り波のように最終電車を乗り過ごしたサラリーマンを飲み込んでいた。30分の乗車で200ドルを支払うことは当たり前だった。ここ10年でレイオフやリストラが起こり、この様な深夜タクシーの需要は低下した。2009年に日本を訪れたとき、タクシーの波は見られなかった。

約5年前、MBAの学生と東京から2時間離れた所にある工場を訪問していた時の事だ。その時初めて、高速道路のガードレールに錆ができているのを見た。かつて、企業から送られてきた日本人の学生がMBAプログラムには当たり前のようにいた。しかし今では中国、インド、その他のアジア諸国からの学生にとって代わられている。そして2011年初め、日本は世界第2の経済大国としての地位を中国に譲り渡した。円高も急速に進んでいる。

3月11日に日本を襲った地震と津波は、悲劇ということばではその様子を表し切れない。その極限の影響下で日の出る国は経済的、環境的危機を迎えている。その影響は世界規模だ。

原発問題がすぐに収束し、避難所で過ごす人々が自宅に戻り、あるいはよりまともな生活を送れることを願ってやまない。何ヶ月にわたり、これらの人々のためを考え、何をすべきか思考し、時間を過ごすことが何より求められる。

しかしいつかは復興を考えなければならない。日本は復興できるだろうか？　日本はどう立ち直るのか？　1990年代の失われた10年がここでもその残影をちらつかせるのだろうか？　しかも今回は、インフラに関わる、より深刻な問題を提起するだろう。言い換えれば、「かつての」日本は戻ってくるのだろうか？

日本の復興の道が長く、困難に満ちたものであることは言うまでもない。しかし多くの友人、他のビジネスオーナー、経済学者、学者などと違って、私は日本の強さを信じている。日本への想いに惑わされること無く、MBAの学生がビジネスプランを考えるときのように客観的に日本の姿を考えても、再び日本の経済が勃興することに疑いの余地は無い。

「協力すればより多くを達成できる」という考えは日本の心に深く根ざしている。人々の健康状態さえ回復すれば、誰もが手を取り、企業は協力体制を確立し、震災の影響を受けたビジネス、地域、経済の復興に1歩1歩取り掛かる様子が目に見える。

日本の抱えた傷を癒すのに時間が掛かるのは理解している。しかし20年前に購入した日本製品は、未だに問題なく使うことができる。そんな製品を生み出す文化の力を無視することはできない。私の子供たちの誕生日を覚えていてくれて、たまにメールをくれたりするのは、グラスの染み1つすら許さなかったボスや同僚達だ。経済学者がどう分析をしようと、忠誠、質、忍耐、勤勉には、何かを可能にする力がある。

頑張りましょう！

グレッグ･ストーラーはSHAを1991年に卒業し、ハーバード大学ビジネススクールのMBAプログラムを卒業した。ボストンに本拠地を持つ不動産会社のオーナーであり、ボストン・カレッジの経営学講師を務める。成功の基礎はコーネル大学で得たサポートと教育にあると考えている。

Since this is my first entry, I would like to write about languages in business from an interpreter’s perspective. I have worked as an interpreter for Japanese and English for numerous companies, and in various industries. From M&A negotiations, to intellectual property violation cases, and to quarterly board of director meetings, I have been very fortunate to witness, and participate in, many different kinds of businesses. What I would like to share with you today is one of many thoughts on the value of languages I have had as an interpreter.

This is about sincerity. For formal and official discussions, it pays to have a professional interpreter. But before a meeting begins or during a break, successful business people are those who can establish a good personal rapport, and try to communicate with others, even in an unfamiliar foreign language. For example, one of the Japanese executives I often work for completely relies on me during a business meeting. But once a break starts, he tries his best to talk with the other executives in English. It is broken English with a heavy Japanese accent. But, his sincerity is clear. Everyone can see he genuinely wants to talk and discuss. He wants to know how you are doing. He wants to know how your last vacation trip went. I have seen a strong sense of trust build from these attempts and interactions.

You don’t need to be able to speak a foreign language fluently. When someone tries to speak to you in your language, it means a lot to you. If someone asks me to interpret during a break, of course I am available. But when possible, I encourage them to use me as a dictionary so they can remember words and expressions and to communicate in a foreign language. Breaks are not language school classes. You can make mistakes.

-- Yuya Kiuchi  

第1回目の投稿ですから、ビジネスと言語というテーマに沿って通訳者の立場から書きたいと思います。これまで様々な業種の企業で、日英通訳者として仕事をしてきました。吸収合併の交渉から、知財権訴訟や取締役会まで、色々なビジネスを経験することができました。今日ここで書きたいのは、そのような通訳者としての経験を元に思うことです。

誠実さについてです。公式の話し合いを行う場合、プロの通訳者を使うことが薦められます。しかし会議前や休憩時間中には、慣れない外国語であっても自分でコミュニケーションと取ろうとする人が、ビジネスにおいてよい結果を残しているようです。例えば、私がよくお仕事をする日本人の取締役員がいます。会議中は私の通訳に頼りますが、休憩時間が始まると自ら英語で他の役員と話をします。間違えがあり、日本語の訛りがある英語ですが、彼の「話したい」という誠実さは伝わります。相手の様子を気にし、休暇はどうだったかとたずねたりするのです。その結果、強い信頼関係が生まれるのを私は目にしました。

外国語を流暢に話す必要はありません。外国語で話す努力は、相手にその気持ちが伝わるものです。休憩時間に通訳が必要であれば、もちろん対応します。しかし状況が許すなら、知らない単語や表現を私がサポートするのみで、自分で話してみることを進めます。休憩時間は外国語の授業ではないのですから。間違えをしていいのです。

-- 木内裕也