From: harkcom@spinach.pa.yokogawa.co.jp (Alton Harkcom)
Subject: Japanese employees and consumers [long reply with tangents]
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 03:07:23 GMT
	<7438@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com> <1992Nov11.204756.5534@island.COM>
	<7444@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com>
Organization: Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

In article <7444@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com> blamb@hri.com (Bill Lambert) writes:

 =}I'm familiar with those things, Mike, but I'm glad that you pointed
 =}them out, as some things are the exceptions that prove the rule.

   Not quite.  What Mr. Fester posted was not exceptions to the rules,
but symptoms of problems with the system.  Employees in Japan are in
no way highly regarded as an asset to a company (except for the rare
company which is small enough to know what it's like not to have enough
applicants).  Large companies in particular are as bad as their US
counterparts in using their employees.  (I am an employee of a large
Japanese company and have a network of friends from various large
companies...)

   One of the reasons I joined my company is that the literature paints
it to be a company which cares for its employees (and to a certain extent
this is true).  However, even my company trails far behind many US
companies (IBM, Lotus, Honeywell, Johnson controls) in its treatment of
employees.

   And treatment of the customer is the same as in the US.  Big money
customers are given the VIP treatment while the average consumer is
trampled upon to a certain extent...

 =}I suppose your experiences are different than mine. On two occasions, I
 =}bought something that was tested by the shop and found to be defective
 =}*before* I left the premises, and immediately replaced.

   Most shops wrap things and you test them at home.  If you request
the product to be tested, some shops will do so but busy shops will
tell you to bring the product back if it's defective.  Replacements
are usually given just as in the US.

 =}I've also had
 =}home appliances installed when *I* wanted (which was off 9-5 hours).

   This is truly amazing.  Most delivery outfits run on very 'flexible'
schedules and don't even know when they will be in your area to
deliver.  At most companies they give you a date of delivery which you
can change to a later date.  On the day, you must be at home until they
deliver.  This can sometimes mean staying at home all until early
evening.  Some companies won't let you decide the date, and some won't
even give a definite date (they say it will be on a certain day or the
following day).  Some companies will let you specify afternoon or
evening for delivery as they run a morning route and an afternoon
route.  However these companies are usually more expensive (large
department stores and such)...  I have only dealt with one company
that would let me schedule a possible delivery for hours outside the
9-5 range.  They agreed to bring my delivery last as I lived near their
center.  It took about 20 minutes of begging over the telephone to
get them to do this...

 =}And in spite of lack of a consumer protection mechanism, isn't it
 =}amazing to have that level of quality.

   The domestic quality level is not as high as propaganda wishes us
to believe.  Japanese manufacturers often have recalls that are kept
hush-hush to avoid bad publicity.  (I have participated in a few that
never made it to the media).  And I have seen recent recalls of Japanese
autos for reasons of things like poorly designed transmissions which
suddenly pop into or out of gear, brakes which fail due to design
flaws...

 =}In Japan, if a company's
 =}product is not up to snuff, word gets out pretty quickly, and
 =}nobody will buy it,

   No, it just goes on sale :)

 =}hence you rarely will find the equivalent of
 =}an exploding Ford Pinto.

   Same for the US, you rarely find such things...  But when you find
them in the US the press has a hayday whereas in Japan you may not
even see it in the press...

In Summary:  Japanese companies seek the same thing (profits) as US
companies do.  They also use the same methods (trampling) to attain
it...  One can find exceptions in both countries, but these exceptions
don't a rule make :)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan