research@hec - Issue#2 - (Page V)

Being Successful as an Expat in Japan Little research on cross-cultural adjustment in Japan has been carried out since the 1990s, and one of Vesa Peltokorpi’s aims was to update information on this topic. He has focused on the working population (there are 2 million foreigners working and living in Japan, or 1.6% of the country’s population), and his studies take a close look at contextual and personality factors that determine how well expatriates adapt to life in Japan. The uniqueness of the language and culture makes it a particularly challenging destination for foreign assignments, and people’s adjustment difficulties may well translate as low business performance. Japan is the world’s second largest economy, and multinationals are increasingly eager to set up offices there, so it is worth figuring out how to stack the deck in their favor. A disquieting statistic from a 1969 study (Adams & Kobayashi) puts the expatriate failure rate for assignments in Japan at 80%. Professor Vesa Peltokorpi believes this figure has changed little in forty years, and in 2005 and 2006, he set out to uncover the reasons behind Westerners’ disappointing business performance. Peltokorpi’s research on cross-cultural adjustment in Japan thus offers precious insight that companies can use to boost their chances of success in this particularly challenging expatriate destination. Interview with Vesa Peltokorpi based on his articles “Cross-Cultural Adjustment of Expatriates in Japan” and “Organizational Expatriates and Self-Initiated Expatriates: Who Adjusts Better to Work and Life in Japan” (both forthcoming in International Journal of Human Resource Management). M A TOUGH DESTINATION It is hardly surprising to hear Peltokorpi explain that the racial and linguistic homogeneity of Japanese society means that Westerners stand out. However when he emphasizes that the country is also a collective society, “standing out” appears as more significant of an issue. For the Japanese, it is essential to belong to a group, and moreover, some groups are “in” and others are “out”. As for people in all countries, “the Japanese are also victims of their own cultural values,” Peltokorpi comments. “Their collectivist mindset makes it difficult for them to integrate foreigners, and in the hierarchical Japanese work environment, integration is even challenging for nationals.” When possible, one way for companies to deal with this issue is to pay attention to the nationality of those who supervise expatriate managers. “Managers are rarely told what to expect,” so a supervisor who reviews Japanese standards for work behavior can provide precious insight. For example, the Japanese generally communicate only with their direct hierarchal superiors and inferiors. An expatriate manager therefore mustn’t assume than his or her directives will flow easily throughout a department, nor that he or she will receive associated feedback from several levels below. Such difficulties are compounded by the lack of a common language. In 2004, Japan was ranked only 137th out of 147 nations in terms of results on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). In many subsidiaries, only top management speaks English well, so expatriates who do not speak Japanese therefore cannot directly communicate with many people. In addition, the Japanese refrain from voicing negative or controversial views, so information is not always communicated accurately. Peltokorpi sums the situation up by saying “an expatriate manager can end up being unaware of what is truly going on in his division or company!” That said, a little foreign language can go a long way. Peltokorpi writes, “realizing an expatriate is able to speak Japanese may reduce anxiety and categorization of the expatriate as an out-group member.” In other words, people appreciate a step in their direction, and language is therefore more than a CAREER Vesa Peltokorpi joined the HEC faculty in 2007 as an assistant professor of management and human resources. He earned his bachelors degree in the United States, his masters in Australia, and his PhD from the Swedish School of Business and Economics (Hanken) in Finland. Professor Peltokorpi lived and worked in Japan for eight years, and much of his research focuses on cross-cultural management. He has written numerous articles and book chapters, and he is the author of The Impact of Readily Detectable and Underlying Attributes on Social Integration in Cross-Cultural Settings: A Multi-Method Examination, (Yliopistopaino, 2003). His next papers will focus on the impact of expatriate personality on adjustment and antecedents of expatriate job satisfaction. April-May 2008 • research@hec V http://www.hec.edu/hec/eng/professeurs_recherche/p_liste/p_fiche.php?num=173

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of research@hec - Issue#2

Cover & Contents
Research Committee: Corporate Involvement in Research Projects
Measuring Market Risks in Banks, by Christophe Pérignon
Being Successful as an Expat in Japan, by Vesa Peltokorpi
Goodwill, Accounting, and Governance, by Hervé Stolowy

research@hec - Issue#2