BagOfCrisps 24 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 What's it like then? I've read books and stuff, but anyone care to give any insight? Cheers, and time to sleep! Link to post Share on other sites
oblivion 5 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 What's it like? An experience. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Usually pretty boring and annoying. Form over substance, airy-fairy slogans instead of policy, SOPs change every month. Primitive infrastructure. No privacy at your desk. Totally unrealistic appraisal systems. Discrimination. Timewasting. Expectation that overtime will be required for everything. Meetings without decisions. Invasive, fake whoopee social activities and non-consensual medical checks (just how dense are your bones BagOfCrisps?) Joy-rides overseas for the top brass, who were all promoted beyond the range of their limited competence years ago. --- Is that what it said in your books? Are you thinking of looking for work here? If you are, find a company like IBM that has international standards. I heard a story about a bloke who was on loan to Microsoft Japan from a US office. He wanted time off to be with his wife for childbirth. His J manager refused. So he contacted his US office and promptly got permission for a length of time off that would scandalize and boggle the mind of any right-thinking Japanese person. Link to post Share on other sites
badmigraine 0 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 You tell 'em Ocean...after almost 8 years at an old-line Japanese automaker, I had forgotten what a normal person did at work every day. It's amazing. Living here in Michigan, I see there are actually people who go to work and make decisions and get things done, then leave around 5:30 to go home for dinner and family. What selfish, arrogant bastards, eh? Inconceivable. PS - You forgot mandatory second-hand smoke inhalation and zero support from the much-vaunted "OL" gals who are so pitiably discriminated against. EXAMPLE: "Uh, this is the closing letter for the urgent $690 Million transaction. I'm running the closing in the next room and there are lawyers, investment bankers and govt. officials all waiting for me to get back in there right away... Sorry to bother you, but can you tell me how to send this out by Federal Express or something like that? It needs to be there in two days...I wrote the address/phone for you on a separate sheet..." "You have to do that yourself. What is 'Federal Express'?" "It's kokusai takkyubin..." "Takkyubin? You mean you don't know how to use takkyubin? [smirks like a spoiled brat] Well, call information and ask for the number for Kuroneko. They deliver you know..." [OL runs away to hide in bathroom, abandoning her urgent work of making name labels for old King Jim file folders] Now repeat this experience 50 times per year and you have just understood a tiny, tiny bit of what it is like to work in a J company. But to be fair, I used to hide in the bathroom too. At first I went in there to cry, but after a year or two it was just to sleep. I had this special way of wiping clean the floor, then curling around the bowl and using toilet paper rolls as pillows. Not a bad nap, actually. The snoring in the next stall usually drowned out any noises I might have made getting into position. Link to post Share on other sites
danz 0 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 I work for a US company in Japan...and despite it being a US company, the culture here is still what I imagine to be very Japanese... pointless meetings, overtime "expected", terrible utilization of space and resources (both physical and human), ...I could go on...the main difference is the atmosphere...I am an engineer...and it is not very exciting to be an engineer in japan... you hear lots about "the team" when you read about work in japan...but that is bogus...the only thing "the team" means is status quo...no real collaboration here, no "group" efforts, and no creativity...but that is just my humble opinion.. danz Link to post Share on other sites
danz 0 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 I shouldn't be posting this kind of stuff at work...should I...oops Link to post Share on other sites
badmigraine 0 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Don't sweat it, danz. How about a nap in the bathroom to cool down? Just tell them you were "in a meeting". Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 So rigourous is the managerial oversight at my old company, and so motivational the Management Philosophy, that it was reasonably common practice for people (including me) to run a private business from within the company. This is probably an aspect you won't find documented as part of the genius of Japanese management. But it does promote a certain amount of loyalty among the employees who make use of these opportunities. Link to post Share on other sites
sexy-northerner 0 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Is it really that bad???? Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 The OLs can be fall down on the ground and kiss their ankles gorgeous - especially the little harem with their special uniforms that the company president keeps upstairs. I used to work in the president's 'think tank' (actually, a septic tank) and whenever the youngest presidential minx would grace us with her presence (she had a gorgeously little turned up nose that was always stuck right up in the air) I was in a state of extreme distraction for hours after. I don't really know whether that was a compensation or a curse. Quite possibly the latter, as I certainly didn't get to rut with her on a big polished wooden table. Link to post Share on other sites
rajeem 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 I work at a Japanese company and have mostly good experiences. Here people work together well (even if they do not particularly like someone else personally), there are few arguments and things are fairly efficient - no less so than the company I worked for in the US before Japan. There are also no endless meaningless meetings here and no-one sleeping in the toilets! I find it quite refreshing after my experiences in the US to be honest. Link to post Share on other sites
OnTheTin 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 Where do you work rajeem? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 the smoking is being pushed out thats a good thing. Madogiwazoku have to go. My wife has one in her office and it just stresses her out. Her sales target is 3 times higher than his, but he makes 3 times the money she does. Link to post Share on other sites
T3 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 What does that mean Fattwins, madogi-what....?? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 Man that sits by the window. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 It means 'located by the window tribe'. It refers to the old farts who have been put out to pasture but oddly enough are still taking up space and receiving a salary. At my old company, we had to go through the painful ritual of insincere farewells to all these old buggers on their retirement, then to my amazement and horror, the very next day they'd be back at their desks on some 'employ the aged' government scheme. One of these geniuses was asking me to help him find something on the Net in English. When I found it, I asked if he wanted to bookmark it. "What's that?" he says. When I tell him, he says "Oh yes, I heard the Internet could do that." He was a real asset in the company's human resources. Link to post Share on other sites
mogski 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 You know I so want to add my 2c to this thread, but badmigs does a btter job at describing my current company (his ex). I will say though that if it is not at all absolutely incredibly necessary to work in a Jpanese company DON'T DO IT!!!! Well not one that's been around for over a 100 years anyway. Link to post Share on other sites
IIIII 2 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 OK... So why don't you LEAVE?? Link to post Share on other sites
Antonio 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 Don't laugh just yet. My GM in Sydney is still trying to figure out how to open attachments on emails. I'm not joking, the whole concept of a double click is all too much for him. That said the Japanese office here (Oz/British company) is pretty bad. Lots of old Trading House guys have been employed as GM's because they're the "right age" and stuff everyone else. Only last night i went out to a "second place" with a customer of mine in Ginza. We walked into one of those typically 80's bubble period hostess bars to find the only other person in the place was a GM from work drinking with the girls by himself at the company's expense. Gees, i've never laughed so hard in my life. He left rather sheepishly after another 10 minutes. Link to post Share on other sites
IIIII 2 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 I know what you're saying but come on... There are many jobs that don't need to up with everything computer. My brothers best friend is a lawyer in a top firm and he probably cant turn on a PC. The secretary does all the work, he gets on with his work. Link to post Share on other sites
Antonio 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 Your right in some respects but in my humble opinion your ability to grasp the basics of computing (i'm no genius - i mean the basics!) says a lot about your ability to grasp other new concepts that arise in your work environment. If you can't learn how to turn on a computer how are you going to learn and quickly adapt to other improvements in your work area. My experience is that these type of people don't. What is really frustrating though is when these types of people are Senior GM's and then consequently hold everyone else back from making improvements and implementing new ideas.......i'm off on a bit of a tangent and this is a bit of a hobby horse of mine so i'll shut up now. Link to post Share on other sites
IIIII 2 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 No problem. In the case of that guy I was talking about, he sees zero need to learn - and he feels it would not help his work, and so why should he? That would be a waste of his time. His (top notch) results in what he does for a living speak for themselves. Obviously different to many of the cases we're talking about with old farts here! Link to post Share on other sites
mogski 0 Posted April 23, 2003 Share Posted April 23, 2003 Quote: Originally posted by IIIII: OK... So why don't you LEAVE?? Offer me a high paying job and I will! Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 24, 2003 Share Posted April 24, 2003 IIIII, my friend runs a semiconductor design CAD company in England. They needed some help from lawyers. When they saw the primitive way the lawyers worked and how much they charged for their moronic work practices, they wrote some code and automated what the lawyers were doing. And saved themselves a shitload of time and money. And as communication is part of being a good lawyer, and computers are good for communication, I'll bet your acquaintance isn't the best lawyer he could be if he doesn't know how to use a computer. Ditto all those people at Japanese companies who don't. Link to post Share on other sites
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