What you can learn from Japanese management

More than suppliers, customers, and competitors. 

That’s what Peter Drucker wrote in his Harvard Business Review (HBR) article where he talked about how businessmen in the United States should see their Japanese counterparts.

“We should should also view them as teachers,” Drucker said.

In his article, Drucker highlighted many important lessons he learned from studying Japanese business leaders.

Here are two that stood out to us at GMI POST:

📌 Japanese business leaders have a different approach to problem-solving

According to Drucker, U.S. managers tend to focus on creating solutions when confronted with challenges. To the Japanese, however, Drucker said the first step in problem-solving is asking questions.

For example:
Why is there a problem?
How did this problem come about?
Is there really a problem? Or is this a new opportunity?

Drucker says U.S. business leaders should focus on the whole process of problem-solving, including asking and defining questions, and not on what they think the solutions should be.


📌 Japanese business leaders are lifelong learners

“Most U.S. business leaders position themselves as experts. On the other hand, most Japanese leaders I know position themselves as lifelong trainees,” said Drucker.

According to the HBR author, Japanese business leaders view learning as a skill that demands lifetime training. And if one does not keep training, one rapidly loses one’s skill to learn.

💥 The main message

As we continue to highlight U.S.-Japan success stories, we also encourage you to go beyond the headlines and try to integrate time-tested Japanese business principles that can enhance your organization’s culture and foster sustainable growth.

Here are the latest stories from GMI POST’s U.S.-Japan Weekly:

Mitsui's Quantum Leap to infuse $50 million in U.S. quantum computing company

🇺🇸 BROOMFIELD, CO — Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) recently invested $50 million in Colorado-based quantum computing company, Quantinuum, as part of the latter’s $300 million equity fundraising endeavor, led by JPMorgan Chase and Honeywell, Quantinuum’s majority shareholder.

READ MORE

Japanese bullet train project in Texas gets $500,000 in government support

🇺🇸 HOUSTON, TX — The vision of high-speed rail slicing through the heart of Texas, connecting Houston and Dallas in a swift 90-minute journey, gained fresh momentum early this year following the U.S. federal government’s decision to grant $500,000 to the proposed rail project, according to the national passenger rail company Amtrak.

READ MORE

Japan's leading chocolate maker reinvests in U.S. food-tech startup

🇺🇸 DAVIS, CA — Meiji Holdings Co. Ltd. (Meiji), the leading chocolate manufacturer in Japan, announced on February 9, 2024 that it had reinvested an undisclosed amount in the cell-cultured cocoa and coffee producer California Cultured Inc., which was founded in 2021.

READ MORE

MORE FROM GMI POST
Frisco, Texas named one of the ‘Hardest Working Cities’ in the U.S.

📌 The city of Frisco, Texas made it to CoworkingCafe’s Top 20 list of 'Hardest Working Cities' in the U.S. published last February 1, 2024.

📰 READ more about the city’s thriving workforce, expanding economic diversity and growth, and vibrant culture of unrivaled performance in GMI POST #TexasReport2023 published in The Japan Times.

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