Doing Business with the Japanese

A Guide to Successful Communication, Management, and Diplomacy

By Alan Goldman

Subjects: Business Communication
Series: SUNY series in Communication Studies
Paperback : 9780791419465, 368 pages, September 1994
Hardcover : 9780791419458, 368 pages, September 1994
Out of print (Hardcover)

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Table of contents

Menu of Fast Messages

Preface: Fast Messages, Slow Messages: Breaking through the Veil of U. S.-Japanese Misperceptions

Introduction: The Intercultural Challenge: U. S.-Japanese Communication

Part I: East Meets West

1. Culture Shock: East Meets West

2. Preparing U. S. Managers for Expatriate Assignments in Japan

3. The Central Role of Communication and Culture in U. S.-Japanese Management and Diplomacy

4. Setting Up the Channels for U. S.-Japanese Corporate Communication
Part II: When in Japan

5. Strategic Dimensions of Japanese Social Behavior and Everyday Life

6. Management in Japan

Part III: Intercultural Communication with Japanese

7. Talk and Conversations

8. Meishi

9. First Contacts

10. Nonverbal and Intuitive Communication in Japanese Business and Management

11. Cultural Abyss at the Negotiating Table: U. S. Expatriates Facing Japanese Associates

12. Verbal Communication with Japanese

13. Print Communication with Japanese

14. Corporate Persuasion: Communicating with Japanese Audiences

15. An Intercultural View of Eloquence: U. S. and Japanese Approaches to Public Speaking

PART IV: UNVEILING JAPANESE CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

16. Tatemae and Honne: Surface and True Communication

17. Japanese Ningensei

18. Japanese Public and Private Communication

19. The Omoiyari Culture: Japanese Empathy and Hospitality

20. Appropriate Rank and Order: Corporate and National Culture

21. The Listening Culture of Japan

22. Recognizing Cultural Entrapment: The Shock of Communicating and Receiving Compliments

23. Keiretsus and Zaibatsus: A Framework for Japanese Organizational Communication

Notes

Glossary

Index

Description

This book uniquely prepares westerners for professional contacts with Japanese associates, markets, and audiences. Through stimulating analyses of Japanese society, corporate culture, and communication protocol, the reader is provided with a rich and textured blueprint of Japanese business behavior. Western professionals, managers, and diplomats are walked through a broad array of strategic communication venues and contact situations with the Japanese. Whether you are engaged in business introductions and meetings, writing and delivering speeches, establishing joint ventures or diplomatic relations, negotiating contracts, faxing memos, planning sales and advertising campaigns, or creating brochures for a Japanese market, Goldman's revelations of the Japanese mind and expectations will be invaluable. This book uniquely prepares westerners for professional contacts with Japanese associates, markets, and audiences. Through stimulating analyses of Japanese society, corporate culture, and communication protocol, the reader is provided with a rich and textured blueprint of Japanese business behavior. Western professionals, managers, and diplomats are walked through a broad array of strategic communication venues and contact situations with the Japanese. Whether you are engaged in business introductions and meetings, writing and delivering speeches, establishing joint ventures or diplomatic relations, negotiating contracts, faxing memos, planning sales and advertising campaigns, or creating brochures for a Japanese market, Goldman's revelations of the Japanese mind and expectations will be invaluable.

Alan Goldman is President of Goldman and Associates Consulting Group, Scottsdale, Arizona, specializing in international consulting and training for Japanese, American, and British companies and professionals. He has done consulting and training work, while living in Tokyo, and has worked for Japanese corporations.

Reviews

"An excellent guide to Japanese social and business norms. The book provides an invaluable education in avoiding misunderstandings in business dealings, the office, and daily living. " — R. Barry Spaulding, Deputy Commisioner of the International Division of the New York State Department of Economic Development

"Although much has been written about doing business with Japan, Goldman's book is among the few that derives its insights from hard data and the author's consulting experience in Japan. What results is a refreshing book on Japan and Japanese business that is well-written, very informative, and accessible to literally anyone—business people, teachers, consultants, students, and government officials. It is a cross-over book that can be used easily and profitably in and out of the classroom. " — Dr. Robert Shuter, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication Studies, Marquette University