Increasing Japan's Appeal: Building on Experiences in Japan.

(From Journal of Japanese Trade & Industry (JJTI))

Byline: Kitashiro Kakutaro

IBM first ventured into Japan in 1937. Today, IBM Japan employs nearly 21,000 people, boasts domestic sales of \1.5 trillion, and is the second-largest IBM company next to IBM in the United States. The majority of our employees are Japanese, and Japanese presidents have led the company since shortly after World War II.

History suggests that the company's success in Japan has been largely due to our constant efforts to meet the needs of our Japanese customers and to fully embed ourselves within Japanese society. The scope of IBM Japan's business is limited to the domestic Japanese market. We help our Japanese customers to strengthen their competitiveness through the strategic use of information technology (IT), and our growth depends on the development of the Japanese market and economy. Fully taking advantage of our position as a global company, we adopt the best of the business models and practices implemented overseas and then introduce them to Japanese customers and communities. Conversely, we are also involved in many efforts to get ideas that originated with IBM Japan out to the global IBM community. Let me tell you about several of these bi-directional efforts.

The Japanese have some of the highest product and service quality expectations in the world. Much of the information on customer needs, the expertise and the experience developed in this demanding market can be put to use elsewhere around the world. For example, in 1991 IBM Japan established the Customer Satisfaction Management Committee to improve its level of customer satisfaction. That committee has been meeting monthly every since. The president attends every meeting, and works together with the company's executives and employees to try to devise solutions to the business challenges from the customer's perspective. This structure, which originated in Japan, is being adopted by IBM companies worldwide.

The internationalization of Japan and the globalization of the world market have accelerated efforts by Japanese society and firms to adopt the best of overseas developments. Under such conditions, the management practices of IBM Japan, as a foreign company, can in many ways serve as a model for other companies. For example, IBM Japan established a department to manage its social contributions early on, and has recorded numerous accomplishments in such fields as education and ...