A growing dilemma facing international managers is known as "glocalization". As markets globalize, the need for standardization in organization design, systems and procedures increases. Yet, they are under pressure to adapt their organization to local characteristics of the market, the legislation, fiscal regime, socio-political system and cultural system. This balance between consistency/standardization and adaptation/appreciation is essential for corporation success.
Have you ever wondered why a Coca-Cola is packaged in the same red can and tastes the same weather it is bottled in Ohio or Osaka? Or why a McDonald's Big Mac Value Meal is the same regardless where you stand on the globe? It is always on a sesame seed bun, two patties with cheese separated by a thin slice of bread and topped off with shredded lettuce and thousand island dressing and two pickle slices and will never have a tomato, mayo, ketchup and mustard.
What is important to consider is not what the products/services and where they are found physically but what they mean to the people in each culture.
What does an executive recruiter in Tokyo mean to the Japanese culture? It will most likely mean that a foreigner, not Japanese will be successful in this role since the recruiter's relationship to the executive will be a junior in terms of age and on the hierarchy scale. Why? Is it because several corporations in Tokyo are from western countries operating in Tokyo or because it is near impossible for a Japanese person around the age of 30 to gain the trust of a senior Japanese executive to entice them to leave their current position for a more lucrative one. Bear in mind that until the early 1990s (Japan's Bubble Burst Economy) nearly all Japanese salary men had lifelong employment with a single employer. Universally, the same position in the US will require the same tactics of selling the executive to their client's company by any means necessary while at the same time selling their client on the executive. By the time the executive and client meet they spend the first five minutes trying to figure out why they are across the table from one another. In my own experiences, a recruiter and a used car salesman are alike in many ways. Either hot and heavy and borderline liar or won't touch you with a ten foot pole.
In this day and age, it is impossible to find a true non-Japanese company operating in Japan. Since these companies have to be operated by local staff comprised of salary men and office ladies (a very politically incorrect statement that is the norm in Japan) late hours, overtime (sometimes paid) is the status quo as if it were a traditionally Japanese minded company.
Maybe you're thinking, since you're not Japanese that you do can come into work at nine, leave at five, not attend meetings that do not pertain to you and still remain in good standing with your Japanese colleagues? Not in Japan.
On the other hand, you can reside in the US without a passport and visit Japan. Take my experiences with a Japanese multi-corporation in California. In the US, the month of January is a month of recovery in various areas, in particular, finances and festivities. The last week of the year has Christmas followed by New Years a week later. So, when my employer hosted a holiday party in late January, I was a bit puzzled. On Christmas Day, the office was closed only because nobody else would have been open. On Christmas Eve, it was a regular work day, just slow to non-existent. The last three days in December, the office was close followed the first three days of January. While business was usual around this Japanese minded company, the company behaved as if it were in Japan but actually 17 time zones away. I later learned that this company's Eastern US main branch is in constant turnover while the branch in California has low turnover due to many of the employees in California are sponsored by the company and are first generation Japanese expatriates. With the average age of this office in the mid to late 40s (maybe even higher) how long can this corporation go on in the US and remain competitive?
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