You were born and have lived all your life in Soto, Japan. You taught high school English
Question:
You were born and have lived all your life in Soto, Japan. You taught high school English in and around Soto for more than twenty years. Two years ago you received a promotion and now work at the Board of Education as an advisor to all English teachers in the city. This was a career making promotion, one that most teachers will never experience and if everything goes well, you could end up as the principal of one of the high schools. About 8 years ago, the government started hiring English speaking foreigners to assist teachers in the schools and work as advisors at the Board of Education. The Soto Board of Education has had a foreigner working in it for the past 6 years. Since the foreign English assistants are hired on a one-year contract basis, renewable to a maximum of three, your office has already seen several of these people come and go.
The government agency responsible for hiring the English advisors does not require any knowledge of Japanese as a prerequisite. Since you are the only person in the office who speaks fluent English, you find that you spend a lot of your time as interpreter and writer for the foreign English advisors since they are not able to do many of the day-to-day tasks on their own. For example, you have to go and help these people open a bank account, show them how to use the automated teller machines, show them how to read a gas bill, etc., tasks which you don't believe should be necessary for you to do.
Most of these foreigners have been good workers, but the past six years have not been trouble free. The men in your office have worked hard for many long years to reach such high positions within the Board of Education, and many of them are insulted to be working at the same level with people who are so inexperienced and so much younger. You also know that despite the obvious age difference and lack of experience, these temporary foreign advisors earn almost as much as you each month. (Although they don't get the twice a year bonus.)
Another problem is that the foreign English advisors are not very committed workers. They are hired on a one-year contract basis, renewable only up to three years. Many of them regard their time in Japan as a stepping-stone to somewhere else and do not take their jobs seriously enough. Since they are in your office for such a short period of time, they don't really try to become part of the group. They do not work as long as the other Japanese workers in the office and it seems like they are always away on vacation. The foreign advisors' contract allows them up to four weeks of paid vacation on top of the Japanese national holidays and compared to Japanese employees who rarely make use of their paid leave, these foreigners use every available day. You know that if you took such long and frequent holidays, you would not be respected by the other members of your office and would never have made it to the position that you are in now. It makes you and some of the other Japanese employees upset to see that they get special treatment. You feel that if they are going to work in Japan for the Japanese government, they should at least behave and be treated like the Japanese.
You have a few problems with the current foreign advisor in your office. Kelly seems nice, but is not very hard working and has made no attempt to fit in to the Japanese way of doing things. You have never seen Kelly work after five o'clock, while everyone else in the office stays until at least 7:00 p.m., and Kelly has told you repeatedly that Canadians do not work on weekends. Kelly drinks coffee instead of Japanese tea during the breaks and often comes in late in the morning, constantly disrupting the morning meetings, which you find utterly disrespectful. When you've mentioned it, Kelly just smiles and says that it won't happen again. Kelly has also been away on several vacations in the short six months that she has been working for you. Some of the employees think Kelly is not dedicated to the job, while some of the office members are envious because they think Kelly must be making more money than they do since they could never afford to travel so much in such a short time. You have talked to Kelly about fitting into Japanese society and work culture, but felt like your advice was being ignored. Kelly seems more interested in doing things the Canadian way even though you have pointed out that some of these actions might be considered rude in Japan.
Last Monday Kelly phoned in sick just before the 8:30 morning meeting. You thanked Kelly for phoning and asked for a doctor's note when she got back to the office. Since Kelly has never missed a day of work so far, you believed the story, but you had heard that foreigners sometimes pretend to be sick on Monday in order to take long weekends, and so you asked for the doctor's note just to be sure. Two days later, Kelly returned to the office with a note from a doctor. You took the note over to the accountant so she could prepare the necessary documentation.
A few hours later, Kelly is at your desk looking upset. She says that there has been a mistake because the papers that she was given to sign were for paid leave, not for sick leave. Kelly starts getting angry, raises her voice and tells you that she has a contract and that you should honor it. You try to calm Kelly down, and explain that Japanese employees have similar contracts which outline sick leave and paid vacation. You tell Kelly that Japanese employees are not in the habit of using their vacation pay since they are so dedicated to their work. You also mention that typical Japanese employees use their vacation time when they are sick, and not their sick leave to show their dedication to their employers and also to show that they are not trying to take time off work at the company's expense. Since Kelly is working for a Japanese company, you feel that she should "Do as the Roman's do".
Kelly sits down and refuses to sign the papers. She comes back to your desk a few hours later and starts yelling and waving the contract at you saying that you must give her sick leave since it is written in the contract. You look at Kelly and think that this is typical North American behavior. When they don't get what they want they raise their voices and complain. You are also very insulted that Kelly has waved the contract in your face. In Japan, contracts are not as important as the relationships behind them, and Kelly is not making this relationship very easy. You think Kelly is being very impertinent and prefer to say nothing rather than lose your temper.
You are already under pressure from your superiors to "handle the foreigner" without making a scene and from your co-workers who think that she has more perks and is more favored than the rest of the office. You are also worried that if you do give in to the young foreigner, it will undermine your authority and will make you lose face in the office. Also, you are up for another promotion this spring, and you know that your superiors are watching how you handle the situation.
ROLE INFORMATION FOR KELLY
You have been working for the Soto Board of Education in Japan for the past six months. You are the only foreigner working in the office and were hired to assist with the English language program in the city's public schools.
You recently graduated with a degree in management from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Although not a prerequisite for this position, you have studied and speak some Japanese. You decided to spend some time in Japan in order improve your Japanese and to make yourself more marketable when you return to Canada to start your career. This is your first time in Japan and aside from the inevitable culture shock, you have had relatively no problem adjusting to your new surroundings. You attribute your ease of adjusting to the Japanese culture to the organization back in Canada, which hired you. They were very thorough in briefing you about life in Japan and provided you with what you considered to be excellent pre-departure training.
One aspect that you find hard to adjust to is the commitment, which the Japanese have for their work. The day begins at 8:30 a.m. and officially ends at 5:00 p.m., but no one ever leaves the office before 7 or 8:00 p.m. The Japanese employees also work on Saturdays, which you find absurd since it infringes on what you consider to be personal and family time and you know that their salaries do not reflect the extra time put in on the weekends. You have a standard North American contract that you were given before leaving Canada, which stipulates your hours, number of vacation days, how many days sick leave you're entitled to, etc. You work from Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 5:00 p.m., but stay later if you have legitimate work to do (which is practically never). No one has ever asked you to stay after 5 p.m. and you have never been requested to come in on the weekend. You know that you receive what could be considered preferential treatment but the conditions of your employment were carefully outlined in your contract, and the people in your office seem to be following them to the letter, which suits you fine. The only person in your office who speaks English is your supervisor, Mr. Higashi, and since your Japanese is not very good, you rely on him for all important office communications. Mr. Higashi is what you consider to be a traditional middle-aged Japanese man. He works late every night and often goes out with the other men in the office to discuss business at the local sake establishments. He seems to have very conservative values and frowns upon innovation or change. His wife stays home to run the household and raise their two children, and Mr. Higashi doesn't think that women should be in the work force after marriage.
Mr. Higashi is constantly bugging you to immerse yourself in Japanese culture and lifestyle. When you started practicing Kendo, a Japanese style of fencing, he was very pleased and you hoped he would drop the issue once and for all. You don't mind trying or adopting some of the Japanese ways, but you don't like feeling pressured to convert. After all, you have been hired only on a one-year contract basis, which is renewable to a maximum of three, so you know that you are not going to be staying in Japan forever. Last Monday you woke up with a severe fever and sore throat. You called in sick and were told by Mr. Higashi to rest until you were better, but to bring in a doctor's note when you came back to work. After hanging up the phone, you thought that it was a bit ridiculous to get out of bed and go see a doctor about a simple flu, but you went to the clinic and got a note for your office. Two days later you returned to the office and brought with you the note from the physician. Mr. Higashi seemed concerned about your health and asked if you were feeling any better. You handed him the note telling him it was from your doctor. He took it without so much as a thank you and threw it onto a pile of papers on his desk. Around mid-morning, the office accountant comes to your desk with forms for you to sign. In spite of your limited Japanese, you are able to understand that these forms had to do with your absence and that you are signing for two days of your paid vacation time. You assume that she has made a mistake and try to explain to her that you were not on vacation, but were sick and that your contract allows you to take sick leave. The accountant appears to not understand, and motions for you to sign the papers.
You go over to Mr. Higashi's desk and tell him about the misunderstanding. To your surprise he tells you that there is no misunderstanding and that this is standard procedure in Japan. He tells you that since you work for a Japanese company, you may as well start behaving like a Japanese employee. He tells you that Japanese employees normally do not take their allotted paid vacation time each year because of their dedication to their work. He also says that when Japanese employees are sick, it is not uncommon for them to deduct the time off from their paid vacation and not use their sick leave out of respect for their employers. Mr. Higashi says that this is what you should do. You are so dumbfounded that you go back to your desk without speaking. Back at your desk you cannot believe what just happened. You know that your contract allows more than twenty days of sick leave and this is the first time that you have been sick. Your contract says nothing about having to bring in a doctor's note, but you think that it should help to strengthen your case since it proves that you really were ill. You realize that your supervisor wants you to "blend in" to the Japanese way of doing things, but this is a fine time for him to start and besides, you have already planned a big vacation in the spring. If you lose two days now, you won't be able to go on your trip. The accountant has already come back twice to have you sign the paper and you have sent her away both times. You have approached your supervisor again on the subject and he is still adamant on the fact that this is the Japanese way of doing things and that it is time for you to "Do as the Romans do". You try to reason with him but he refuses to talk to you. There is no way that you are going to sign the paper for paid vacation. Your contract says that you are entitled to sick leave and you have a doctor's certificate to prove that you were. You know that you aren't being unreasonable, you just want what is rightfully yours. It is more than the spring vacation at stake, it is the principle of the matter.
1. What was the dispute about for Kelly?
2. What was the dispute about for Mr. Higashi?
3. In these types of conflicts is a compromise possible? Why or why not?
4. Give 3 ways this negotiation was similar and 3 ways it was different than others we have done? Was it easier or more challenging? Why?
5. What were the most important intangibles in the negotiation? Was saving face more important to Kelly or Mr. Higashi? Why?
6. What are 3 things you learned today about cross-cultural negotiation?