The two nationalist leaders, Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe, eager to pull out their respective countries from prolonged periods of economic turmoil may actually have found the most suitable partner within each other. The collaboration between the two countries should move beyond Shinkansen (Japanese Bullet Train) in the direction of ‘high-speed growth’.
With a three-day visit that started on December 11, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation for a strong relationship between Bharat and Japan that would probably last for two decades. The friendship and camaraderie between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his counterpart in Bharat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, needs no mention. The two nationalist leaders, eager to pull out their respective countries from prolonged periods of economic turmoil may actually have found the most suitable partner within each other, specifically in the the fields of strategy, polity, economy and technology. With the bullet train set to descend on Bharateeya soils soon, it is definitely worthwhile to understand whether the two countries have robust enough work cultures and human resources to carry this relationship further and realise the dreams set forth by Abe-Modi duo.
First, we need to understand one of the major incentives that have led the relationship to flourish. Needless to say, the strategic and economic ambitions of China have motivated Japan to look around for a strong enough partner who can counter the threats in the South China Sea. Seeking cooperation from the United States, Australia and ASEAN, Bharat was of course the only partner Japan lacked to complete a strong strategic initiative that could control China. Japan and China will have a ministerial level dialogue on economic affairs after a gap of 5 years in 2016, which itself speaks volumes about the cracks that have developed in the economic relationship, especially since China’s offensive against Japanese businesses in 2012. There needs to be a much deeper incentive on the Japan side, for example, reaping the demographic dividend of Bharat jointly to support Japan’s aging society (Japan already has 26 per cent people over the age of 65 years).
Differences between the business cultures and their mitigation will play a major role in ensuring the success of the bilateral relationship. For example, Japanese managers focus a lot on processes whereas Bharateeyas are used to the “Chalta Hai – Jugaad Ho Jayega (It’s ok, we’ll work out some fix)” attitude. The Bullet Train cannot definitely do with this attitude and Bharateeyas involved in this project need to workwith the zeal of the Chandrayan Mission. The difference here will be Chandrayan did not carry any human beings and the future bullet train of Bharat plans to do exactly that. Japanese managers on the other hand need to become proficient not only at speaking English, but making strong arguments against the points raised by their Bharateeya teammates. With collaborations like Hero-Honda, Tata-Docomo crumbling under pressures of cross-cultural management issues, both parties need to raise the bar really high for upcoming projects.
Another major obstacle for Japanese businesses which is not discussed much in the open is the nightlife expected by Japanese managers when working overseas. Risking a backlash on this from Japanese side, I would dare to say that Japan has a unique style of enjoying nightlife in the male dominated society and Bharat will definitely be a tough place for the Japanese to work hard and play hard. On the other hand, complexities arising in Bharat due to staunch religious practices may be aspects where the Japanese will be at a loss to understand their Bharateeya counterparts.
Although the joint declaration for Vision 2025 sketching a special strategic and global partnership between the two countries touches points like cultural exchange, the statistics for people to people exchange still low with barely around 25,000 Bharateeyas living in Japan in 2014 December (compare this to the annual cap of H-1B Visas of 60,000 for Bharateeyas in the US). A lot more has to be done in the field of education, business and intercultural understanding in order to make this partnership a really robust one. The two countries have shown Shinkansen-like speed in creating the policies and gathering the funding for the initiatives, but they need to understand that developing the people to people ties will take a bit longer. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics can be one milestone where the two countries expand the initiatives further and the Bharat-Japan Business Leaders Forum definitely serves as the platform to resolve the issues mentioned above. As Prime Minister Modi has mentioned, this visit is definitely a turning point and it is now the responsibility of both the countries to prove him right.
Prasad Bakre
With a three-day visit that started on December 11, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation for a strong relationship between Bharat and Japan that would probably last for two decades. The friendship and camaraderie between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his counterpart in Bharat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, needs no mention. The two nationalist leaders, eager to pull out their respective countries from prolonged periods of economic turmoil may actually have found the most suitable partner within each other, specifically in the the fields of strategy, polity, economy and technology. With the bullet train set to descend on Bharateeya soils soon, it is definitely worthwhile to understand whether the two countries have robust enough work cultures and human resources to carry this relationship further and realise the dreams set forth by Abe-Modi duo.
First, we need to understand one of the major incentives that have led the relationship to flourish. Needless to say, the strategic and economic ambitions of China have motivated Japan to look around for a strong enough partner who can counter the threats in the South China Sea. Seeking cooperation from the United States, Australia and ASEAN, Bharat was of course the only partner Japan lacked to complete a strong strategic initiative that could control China. Japan and China will have a ministerial level dialogue on economic affairs after a gap of 5 years in 2016, which itself speaks volumes about the cracks that have developed in the economic relationship, especially since China’s offensive against Japanese businesses in 2012. There needs to be a much deeper incentive on the Japan side, for example, reaping the demographic dividend of Bharat jointly to support Japan’s aging society (Japan already has 26 per cent people over the age of 65 years).
Differences between the business cultures and their mitigation will play a major role in ensuring the success of the bilateral relationship. For example, Japanese managers focus a lot on processes whereas Bharateeyas are used to the “Chalta Hai – Jugaad Ho Jayega (It’s ok, we’ll work out some fix)” attitude. The Bullet Train cannot definitely do with this attitude and Bharateeyas involved in this project need to workwith the zeal of the Chandrayan Mission. The difference here will be Chandrayan did not carry any human beings and the future bullet train of Bharat plans to do exactly that. Japanese managers on the other hand need to become proficient not only at speaking English, but making strong arguments against the points raised by their Bharateeya teammates. With collaborations like Hero-Honda, Tata-Docomo crumbling under pressures of cross-cultural management issues, both parties need to raise the bar really high for upcoming projects.
Another major obstacle for Japanese businesses which is not discussed much in the open is the nightlife expected by Japanese managers when working overseas. Risking a backlash on this from Japanese side, I would dare to say that Japan has a unique style of enjoying nightlife in the male dominated society and Bharat will definitely be a tough place for the Japanese to work hard and play hard. On the other hand, complexities arising in Bharat due to staunch religious practices may be aspects where the Japanese will be at a loss to understand their Bharateeya counterparts.
| Agreements signed between Bharat and Japan Bharat and Japan on December 12, 2015 signed 16 agreements, on defence, security, railways, technology, infrastructure, education and economy including civil nuclear energy, after the delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
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Although the joint declaration for Vision 2025 sketching a special strategic and global partnership between the two countries touches points like cultural exchange, the statistics for people to people exchange still low with barely around 25,000 Bharateeyas living in Japan in 2014 December (compare this to the annual cap of H-1B Visas of 60,000 for Bharateeyas in the US). A lot more has to be done in the field of education, business and intercultural understanding in order to make this partnership a really robust one. The two countries have shown Shinkansen-like speed in creating the policies and gathering the funding for the initiatives, but they need to understand that developing the people to people ties will take a bit longer. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics can be one milestone where the two countries expand the initiatives further and the Bharat-Japan Business Leaders Forum definitely serves as the platform to resolve the issues mentioned above. As Prime Minister Modi has mentioned, this visit is definitely a turning point and it is now the responsibility of both the countries to prove him right.
Prasad Bakre (The writer is expert on Japanese and Asian Business issues)
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