Highlights: September 2004 Issue
Successfully Introducing Western Management Practices: The Ocular Sciences Japan Story
Even before the late July announcement of its acquisition by Cooper Companies, Ocular Sciences had slowly but surely been introducing Western management practices to its Japan operation, the result of which is a Japan business that is six times the size of Cooper Vision Japan. Ocular Sciences Japan is a case study in how to build a marketing operation by introducing performance-based compensation, a modern sales support infrastructure, strong sales training and a team approach. Any company that wishes to make the leap from working with distributors to captaining its own ship in Japan will be interested in this profile.A Specialist Offers Advice: "The Top Ten Expectations of Japanese Customers"
Foreign firms face many challenges in meeting with Japanese customer service expectations. Customer service is highly-developed in Japan, and is based on different concepts of the buyer-seller relationship. In our specialist feature this month, our contributor, a leading consultant and published author helping Japanese and non-Japanese work optimally together, discusses some of the major expectations of Japanese customers and some of the best ways to acknowledge and handle them, both in the short-term and with preservation of the buyer-seller relationship in mind.
Special Report: Japan's Technology Licensing Organizations
Much has been written about how the emergence of TLOs in Japan heralds a new age in the nation's ability to commercialize government- and university-sponsored technology research as well as protect its intellectual property. In this Special Report, we review the progress of Japan's TLOs on the variety of quantitative measures they report, such as patent applications filed, licensing contracts signed, royalty income earned and technical inquiries answered, and discuss what this indicates about the role of TLOs and their ability to be a growth enabler for Japan's economy.
DeRegulation of Food Ingredients is a Boon to Danisco Japan
Copenhagen-based Danisco is one of the world's largest producers of food ingredients, and Japan is world's second-largest food ingredient market. So it makes sense that Danisco Japan is finding lots of opportunity to market its specialty sweeteners, emulsifiers, hydrocolloids and other stabilizers as it seeks to become a 'one-stop supplier' to Japanese food companies. Danisco's Japan story is interesting for what it reveals about the vast opportunities available in a changing Japanese food market.
From the Editors
Defense spending in Japan
Plus much more...
Click here to subscribe, or order this back issue after December 1, 2004
[Main] [Newsletter Home] [Current Issue] [Back Issues] [How to Subscribe] [Subscribers] [Contributors] [Our People] [Free E-Mail Update] [Contact Us]