John Higgins - An American Goes Native în Japan

Facts

About the company:

- Weaver Pharmaceutical Company was an important concern in the drug field in US.

-Research was developed and the company gave product lines that were constantly improved, so that the company would have an important competitive advantage

-Operations in Japan were developed in the 1930s, but only on sales activities.

- The franchise distributor for Weaver's products was The Yamazaki Pharmaceutical House

- Weaver Company was able to capture a substantial share of the market because the products they imported were better than the ones of other pharmaceutical companies and also due to the recovery from the war

-In 1953 decided with the Yamazaki Pharmaceutical House to establish a jointly owned and operated manufacturing subsidiary

- At the beginning it manufactured only a limited line of products.

-Meanwhile, the company manufactured enough products in order to fill general demands of the market.

-Imports form US were limited to specialized products.

-The R$D group turned out a substantial number of products that were marketed in USA and other countries.

-Weaver company consider that investment in Japan was one of the most successful venture.

-The policy of the company was to keep American personnel in other countries for periods of 3 to 5 years, but due to the limited American workers in international fields, some were kept for periods of 10 years.

About Mr. Prescott

- Day-to-day operations were managed by Mr. Prescott as executive vice-president and general manager

-Mr. Prescott worked with the company for 25 years and had to travel in India, the Philippines and Mexico before coming in Japan.

-Mr. Prescott relies a lot on Mr. Higgins expertise and understanding of the Japanese management style

About Mr. Higgins

-Mr. Higgins and other Americans were designed to work in the Japanese ventures; their responsibilities were in the R&D field and management

- Higgins arrived in Japan as he had studied an intensive course of Japanese and he was assigned as an interpreter and translator to the Intelligence Detachment in Tokyo.

- He lived for a time in Japan and studied the culture and history of the country, but had to go back to US. He always wanted to return and live in Japan

- He married a Japanese woman and adopted the traditional Japanese values and way of life

-He is highly regarded in the Japanese society and he has integrated very well

- He has a very tight relationship with Japanese employees who seek his support and advice

- He has received numerous offers from other Japanese companies and is a highly appreciated specialist in his field of expertise

Opinions:

-Mr. Higgins believes that the Americans disregard local culture and are trying to impose their own set of values which they consider superior

-Mr. Prescott believes that Mr. Higgins “has gone native” and therefore his suggestions are no longer in the best interest of the company

-Mr. Prescott thinks that changes are needed in the Japanese society and that the Japanese are not so reluctant to change as one might think

-Mr. Prescott believes that it’s not in the best interest of the company to adopt a Japanese style management

-Mr. Prescott believes that Higgins’ attitude undermines its authority with the employees

Problem:

The problem of Weaver-Yamazaki Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. of Japan and implicitly of Mr. Leonard Prescott, vice-president and general manager of the company was that of the latter’s executive assistant Mr. John Higgins and his emotional attachment towards Japanese culture. In Mr. Prescott's view, the best interna¬tional executive is the one who retains a be¬lief in the fundamentals of the U.S. point of view while also understands foreign attitudes, while Higgins is very much implicated in Japanese beliefs that he forgot how the American system works.

Usually Americans have a tendency of imposing their value systems, ideals and thinking patterns upon the Japanese while Mr. Higgins was so keen into the Japanese culture that he objected every time his boss wanted to implement something culturally alien to the Japanese way in their company.

The middle management wanted to change the policy of promoting personnel based upon length of service and education (the most important in Japanese culture) to a policy of merit.

Negative effects:

-The Japanese personnel is very stressed because of the changes introduced

-There is a lot of static energy between the different levels of management

-Higgins is undermining Prescott’s authority

-The implementation of strategies is delayed

-There is a lot of mistrust between managers

-The company might lose its image of innovative, state of the art pharmaceuticals producer

Causes:

-Prescott does not understand Japanese language and culture

-Higgins believes that the Americans are deliberately ignoring the improvements that could be gained from a Japanese approach to business

-Cultural differences are seen as impediments instead of opportunities-

-The American management has an ethnocentric approach and is not willing to adapt to local customs

-Japanese have a long tradition of family-like companies that don’t allow firing employees or radical changes

-Japanese have a different promotion strategy than the Americans

Proposals:

Solution 1

Mr. Prescott could organize a private meeting with Mr. Higgins and make him realize that he is emotionally implicated into Japanese culture and that affects the efficiency of the company. Prescott could explain him that he would be far more effective if he takes a more emotionally de¬tached attitude toward the Japanese people and culture. Prescott could advise him to try to introduce a little from their American value systems and ideals upon the Japanese without affecting any relations with the Japanese employees.

Advantages:

-Higgins could accept the fact that he exaggerated regarding the Japanese values and culture. He could try to have a more detached attitude and to try to take actions from an American point of view therefore implementing some of their thinking patterns.

-As in Mr. Prescott’s view the company would be more effective

- A open talk has more chances of being taken into consideration and making an impact

Disadvantages:

-The fact that he is identifying so well in the Japanese culture could affect Higgins decisions in the sense that he would not accept Mr. Prescott’s advice and even resign from his actual job.

-In the case that Higgins accepts to change towards an American thinking, the company’s employees could be unsatisfied with the decisions taken and the business would not work efficiently.