The Rice-Paper Ceiling: Breaking Through Japanese Corporate Culture
-- Semiconductor International, 3/1/2001
Rochelle KoppStone Bridge Press, $19.95
www.stonebridge.com
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Written to provide non-Japanese job-seekers and executives alike an understanding of what it is really like to work within the Japanese corporate structure, it takes an unflinching look at the whys and hows of the "rice-paper ceiling," the invisible obstacle to advancement that non-Japanese face within Japanese corporations. The book details why so few of the 700,000 Americans currently employed by Japanese-owned firms hold top-level management positions, and why those who do complain about being left out of things, are frustrated with and by the decision-making process, and are unable to determine what is expected of them by their managers. It also presents a wealth of practical information on how to function within the Japanese corporate environment, which goes well beyond the standard essentials of how to receive a business card or how deep to bow.
Kopp provides a fascinating perspective not only on the corporate, but also the popular, culture of Japan. She explains how the majority of "Japanese management" (Nihon-teki keiei) theories are a reflection of popular national anthropological theories of "Japanese uniqueness" (Nihonjinron). Kopp mentions a poll taken of 1000 adult Japanese, who believed American business problems are a result of "too many minorities"(42%); a "lazy workforce" (35%); and "incompetent management" (11%).
Women and minorities, particularly, must prepare for a wholly different, sometimes appalling (by Western standards) corporate culture, in which it is not unusual for a manager to order a female employee with several graduate degrees to do his typing and errands. The open display, discussion and exchange of what here would be considered pornography is another workplace situation the non-Japanese female employee must often be willing to overlook.
In the case of minorities, Kopp writes about a manager who refused to shake the hand of a new African-American employee, and about a corporation that would not hire an African-American receptionist because "the receptionist is the face of the company."
As a counterpoint, the author also brings in the Japanese perspective, describing the problems of the Japanese executive expatriate who, when working at a subsidiary of his company in the United States, must be careful not to lose his "Japaneseness." It would not do for him to become Americanized and return to his company's headquarters in Japan accustomed to smiling too much, joking, speaking a little too loudly, and asking direct questions of - or challenging - management. On the positive side, Kopp sees some changes in these mores, which have been stimulated by recent economic problems in Japan and have shaken the traditional corporate structure. But these are exceptions and not the rule.
The Rice-Paper Ceiling: Breaking Through Japanese Corporate Culture offers a fascinating look at the corporate culture of a nation that persists in viewing askance the world beyond its borders.
-Alexander E. Braun
