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1st QUARTER 2014
deep understanding of how business relation-
ships are formed. Trust is essential between
the top chiefs and the executives, and those
relationships play a big part in how the
company is run, said roundtable participants.
Additionally, the strong focus on long-term
growth, innovation, planning, and quality ex-
ecution in companies headquartered in Japan
are often hallmarks of their success.
The importance of trust and the value of
relationships in the Japanese business culture
are essential qualities, and as a result, laying
off employees, when finances necessitate
such a move, can be difficult. While execu-
tives back at headquarters understand the
ultimate objective is to reduce costs and
make a profit, it can be challenging to get
their buy-in on reducing head count.
One participant added that companies in
Japan have a long-term view of business and
most often like to protect their people. The
participant compared the employee culture
overseas to employee protections associated
with unionized companies stateside.
Contributing to the discussion were Craig
Bleifer, vice president, general counsel, and
secretary of Daiichi Sankyo; Albert Caamic,
CFO and treasurer of Mitsui Foods; Phil
Charatz, president of Fuji Electric Corpo-
ration of America; and David Mudrick,
president and CEO of Topcon America
Corporation. In a conversation moderated by
Andrew Zezas, CEO of Real Estate Strate-
gies Corporation, publisher of
CFO Studio
magazine, and one of the founders of the
Japan U.S. Executives Networking Group,
the executives discussed a range of personal
experiences they have encountered working
day-to-day with Japanese business cultures,
corporate policies, and procedures. They
described how they have adapted their own
management styles to fit within the strong
and successful cultural norms of companies
headquartered in Japan.
A unique challenge of being a U.S. subsid-
iary of a company headquartered in Japan is
learning how to successfully run the business
with frequent rotation of top executives. Ac-
cording to a few of the JUENG participants,
in Japan, it is common for a manager to step
into a new position every three to five years.
It becomes the job of an American member
of the top management team to educate the
new arrivals rotating into the management
positions. Lack of consistent knowledge
transfer can be a problem, while a fresh ap-
proach can be invigorating.
“At many companies headquartered in
Japan, senior managers and executives may
rotate jobs among widely varying functions
as part of their standard business practice,”
said Bleifer. “This stems from a strongly held
belief in the value that good managers may
bring to a variety of subjects and a dedication
to a well-rounded development of employ-
ees. [The personnel changes] can be confus-
ing and even frustrating for employees in a
U.S. subsidiary to have to deal with new peo-
ple every few years, or even every year. My
suggestion is to make sure you understand
when changes will be occurring, since they
are usually on a set schedule. The frequent
rotation of managers underscores the need
to build a strong network of relationships
with key people in a company headquartered
in Japan, not just in specific departments or
functions. Those personal relationships will
transfer to other functions in the company
as those people move around inside the
company, ultimately broadening your own
network and creating opportunities for you
and the U.S. subsidiary to collaborate and
coordinate even further.”
As intended, the group shared insights and
creative ideas for resolving business issues
and creating a better understanding of how to
work within two very different, but comple-
mentary, cultures.
The Japan U.S. Executives Networking
Group brings together C-suite executives
from NJ-, NY-, CT-, and PA-based U.S.
subsidiaries of companies headquartered
in Japan for the purpose of sharing insights,
experiences, challenges, creativity, and solu-
tions. The organization meets quarterly at
various locations in New Jersey. To request
an invitation for the next meeting, visit
or call Lorenz Capalad
at 732.868.0000 x118.
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