1: Yasuaki Mori Ex-CEO Of Infinion Technologies Japan

Yasuaki Mori Ex-CEO Of Infineon Technologies Japan: EPISODE #1
Japan's Top Business Interviews


Yasuaki Mori is a European, Asia and North American technology
growth executive in the disruptive mobility, automotive, IIoT and
cyber security markets.


 He has grown businesses from $200 to $700M and scaled
organization from 100 to 200+ people, developed go-to market
strategies and rebuilt, converted, strengthened organizations in
sales, marketing, channel, system/application engineering,
product quality, HR, finance. marcom, logistics and government
affairs.


He is a multi-lingual & multi-cultural executive (French,
Japanese, English) with professional networks in Europe, US and
Asia.


Summary Points


 Joint venture sales are tough because both parties are
in the same market with a focus on synergies but occasionally you
end up in a competitive situation. When the joint venture parties
are from different cultures, e.g. Japanese and German, you need
trust and understanding, however both are exercised differently
in the different countries. For example, in Japan, harmony is
exercised through Honne (real truth) and Tatemae (façade), but in
Germany it is exercised by people giving their true opinion, so
it can be tough for employees and clients to deal with.

We used to have meetings where only the leadership spoke.
After the earthquake and tsunami in Northern Japan several years
ago, we held daily meetings in order to keep operations moving,
and as things calmed down, we cut the meetings down to once a
week and then once a month. However, when we tried to cut the
meetings out altogether, the employees asked for it to be kept on
as a standard part of our procedures. It become a town hall
meeting where people, not just the leadership contributed.

Unofficial communication in Japan is superb and it would be
good to be able to tap into that to make it more corporate and
help shake off the communication silos.

Middle management is what tends to the blockage point, not
because they wanted to block things, but because we as senior
management were not paying enough attention to what feedback they
were giving about our discussions about strategy
etc.  What a strategy means for senior management has a
totally different meaning for the lower ranks and middle
management needs to be engaged and coached on how to spread the
message.

Push out as much information as possible unless it is
strictly confidential, since unless you tell people what and why
things are happening in understandable terms, it is never
effective.

Japanese employees traditionally ask their bosses for
instructions, but I think its better to know what your value is
in the company, and where you are adding value to the whole chain
of the company, then you should know what you need to do – then
you don`t need to ask your boss about what you should do. And by
adding value to yourself, you are making yourself more valuable
to the external market.

Japan still works from a top-down method whereas foreign
companies work in a matrix.

Executives are expensive with limited time frames like 3-4
years, and because they have to get used to Japan at the
beginning and settle their families, and then towards the end of
their term, they need to look for a job back home, they are
really only effective for 1-2 years so that is one of the
problems you face by sending a novice to Japan.

A good element of Japan is limited corporate greed in
comparison to other countries.  Honesty is a key
strength in Japan that is a good foundation to help build a
business on. Although I`m not sure how it equates to taking more
risk for innovation. 

Big data and good data analytics can relieve many efficiency
and quality problems but there is limited understanding in
traditional management style Japanese companies of how to use AI
because it is not just about technology, its about organizational
change. Japan is very weak in terms of making deliberate
organizational change to suit the technology.  There is
a reluctance to go digital because the Gemba (factory floor) is
so strong, but people are getting older and there are fewer and
fewer workers so digitization needs to happen. But this needs
fast decisions and these are not a strength of traditional
corporate Japanese cultures.



Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are
inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring
them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their
people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me
at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com


If you enjoy these articles, then head over to
www.enjapan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our whitepapers,
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About The Author


Dr. Greg Story


Your Corporate Coaching And Training Guy


President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan


Author of “Japan Sales Mastery”, the Amazon #1 Bestseller on
selling in Japan and the first book on the subject in the last
thirty years.   He is also the author of the new
book “Japan Business Mastery” aimed at business people who are
new to Japan and want to know more about how things work here.


In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the
academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation,
international diplomacy, retail banking and people development.
Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have
a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year plus
veteran of Japan.


A committed lifelong learner, he publishes articles in the
American, British and European Chamber journals, and daily
releases his videos and podcasts.  


For podcasts and videos: 


Mondays THE Cutting Edge Japan Business
Show podcast &


THE Cutting Edge Japan Business Show video


Tuesday THE Leadership Japan Series


Wednesday THE Sales Japan series


Thursday THE Presentations Japan
Series"  


Friday THE Japan Business Mastery Show
&


THE Japan Business Mastery Show video.  


Saturday Japan’s Top Business Interviews
Show podcast and Japan’s Top Business Interviews Show video


He is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business
people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr.
Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.


Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate
and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen &
sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and
strategies to business.


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