Power Networking Our vast business network will shorten the time you and your company take to be successful in Japan, thus, reducing your overall cost of business development.
If you do not have established business connections in Japan it might be difficult to steer through and find the “right” partner that fits your company's culture and the overall opportunity overseas.
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Local Hiring in Japan Another option is to hire Japanese professionals in Japan. If your company is thinking of establishing a Japanese corporation, hiring sales and marketing professionals with business connections we can help evaluate possible employees overseas during your hiring process.
When your new employee needs to function immediately in both Japan and in the US, we have experience helping American companies' HR be successful in selecting the right person the first time. Often US corporation or organization hire an individual that may only do well in the US, but not in Japan. We believe that this is because most American HR departments could not understand Japanese competencies, so they make a mistake and hire someone that seems less foreign and has an American mind-set doing business. Just because someone speaks Japanese does not mean they understand how business is “done” in Japan.
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Investment It is not that easy or common for Japanese companies to make decisions to take a foreign investor, but nowadays it is happening especially between large corporations. So, if there comes a time, your company may offer an investment or loan to your potential partner in order to develop business connections and strategic power for negotiations. Although the opportunity itself should stand by its investment value, if the opportunity brings in business connections you do not have and you want to have, you should not ignore the strategic reason to move forward.
We still think that the investment opportunity itself should be assessed separately, however if your company can align its competency with the investee's competency and you can enjoy business connections and synergy it brings, you may be able to "kill many birds with one stone".
In order for the Japanese to take a foreign investor, you may need to receive guidance from a governmental agency or hopefully other large Japanese corporation that act as their affiliate.
Because Japanese normally fear uncertainties and therefore tend not to get engaged in unfamiliar ways, finding the right investment opportunity is one thing but executing it could be extremely challenging and complicated. To assess the strategic alignment and business connections, you may want to get the help from an experienced Japanese professional.
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Two Way Business Partner As is often found in the US, a barter arrangement or two way business development may be also a way to do business in Japan.
If there should be a product or service which your target or potential customer may use without impacting your business negatively, often proposing that your company will in return be a customer for your partner may be one way to start working toward development of a great relationship.
You might want to also try to find an opportunity in which the target or potential customer's technology can be a complement to your company's product or service and possibly create new and improved product or service. This way, you could sell your unfinished product, technology, or service in the new market and your partner brings in complementary technology, product or service, connections which help executing earlier than one might expect.
Managing this kind of complex and sensitive account relationship requires an experienced account manager, and we can help.
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Cross Cultural Communication Development of business connections in Japan requires heavy duty cross cultural communication skills and experiences. We have the skills and experiences.
Today, the US and Japan are culturally getting less distinct from one aother, however, there are still many things that are different, and especially in doing business, often it is difficult to communicate one aother because the way Japanese companies are managed is different from that in US.
It is likely to misunderstand one aother or misconstrue intentions. Sometimes those mistakes in the process can damage the business and the opportunity your company has been working on for months implodes.
Again, if you have an experienced account manager that understand from very subtle Japanese expressions and can translate them to American managers, you will hae much better control over the business you are working on in Japan.
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Understanding Organization Before developing business connections in Japan, you should study and understand your target or potential customer's organization.
This may be a common thing to do in the US, however as Japanese organizations are different from those in the US, and also each company may have its unique history, you will need to deeply understand not only the Japanese way of doing business but also such unique cultural background for each target or potential customer.
You will also have to know if the company has a strong top-down structure or strong collective decision making system by internal memo, or if the legal, accounting, credit and risk departments have more decision making power than production, operation, sales and marketing departments, and ultimately, you will need to learn who makes the actual decision throughout the organization.
Then, you will understand the political or academic clique or group of people in the organization that decision maker is in, and what their objectives are, who are their rivals or enemies in the organization or in the industry. Finally you will learn what they really want and you can easily establish superior relationship with the key people and find the common ground or point of compromise to execute a deal. This way, you should also be able to avoid getting entangled in corporate political conflicts. With such a relationship well established and supported by your understanding of the organization, you may be able to do cross development and or find synergy with your partners much faster and efficiently.
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EntertainmentThe strategic entertainment for target customer can be powerful tool to develop good business connections and relationship between Japanese and US companies. You will need help of an experienced account manager in Japan to define strategic entertainment to create a long term business relationship with your strategic partners and or clients.
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Proposal Interpacific Network Corporation will take a close look at each case and conduct a “quick” yet detailed research project to learn understand your company's possibilities in Japan.
In phase one of our engagement, we will discuss your company's products and services with potential business partners, industry experts and professionals; while assessing the feasibility. We will then submit our proposal for your review.
We will patiently discuss the best solution for your company that fits your priorities, overall strategy, needs, location and budget. To learn, please contact us at: info@interpacificnet.com.
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