Just last week, I had a chance to visit one small logistics company that I have been working with recently (we're recommending a customer to use them), called So-Fast (Ota-ku, Tokyo). The owner, Mr. Keiichi Ito, kindly offered to let me take a morning tour of their pick-and-pack operation - which I can tell you brought back a flood of memories for me of my own factory...

While I mainly focus on jobs for knowledge workers, there are nevertheless many other types of jobs available for foreigners in Japan. Today I'd like to focus on a low-end position and ways to segue this into something better over time. Thanks to the current economic boom, there are now more jobs than people...

If there is one piece of basic psychology I use just about every day in managing my business, it's the hierarchy of human needs developed by Abraham Maslow in the 1940's. Simply put, Maslow theorized that people have successive layers of needs, and that as each lower layer is satisfied, then...

Most of us have had the experience of having to go ask the boss for more money - be it for an unexpected addition to the family, a job promotion, or simply because you're getting great offers through a headhunter. However...

Next, let's look at what I call the "bonus items" of hiring a Japanese CEO. These are the assets or value brought to the table by virtue of the candidate's position within the Japanese business culture. As I have mentioned in previous articles, Japanese business reflects a village and tribe mentality, wrapped into an autocratic work structure, and thus...

CEOs are as varied as the companies that need them, and properly understanding what your needs are in order to pick someone with the right skill set is a good start to a long-term working relationship. This article attempts to help you understand that AFTER you have decided whether you need a saleswoman CEO or a statesman type, there are some constants that...

One of the problems with being thousands of miles away from your subsidiary, added to the problems of language and cultural differences, is that you can never be sure what is really going on in your Japan operation. I know of a number of instances where even large and famous companies have had fraud and cronyism problems at CEO level simply because the CEO couldn't be monitored...

Being a CEO in Japan is something special. Rather than just a sign of wanting to make more money, it denotes a sense of social responsibility (at least within the realm of the employees and customers) and a commitment to devote one's energies solely on the behalf of the company. With such a total mental and emotional commitment, it's no...

While the remuneration packages for Japanese or locally-hired foreign CEOs are all over the map, there are some basic components and market realities which need to be considered. Firstly, no matter what the mix, compensation for a CEO should always recognize the person's criticality to the business, and reward...

have written about CEOs quite a bit recently, because of their criticality to the success of the business. Today I want to target my comments at those people whose job it is to appoint or support the selection of a CEO or General Manager for Japan. I have dealt with many technology firms over the years, and have...