Compares Japanese customer service to British customer service, looking at historic roots, stakeholder versus shareholder orientation, monozukuri of customer service. Presented to Hosei University students and alumni, December 2009
Can Japanese customer service standards be exported?
1. The difference in customer service between Japan
and the UK and its roots in national corporate
cultures
Pernille Rudlin
Director, Rudlin Consulting
European Representative, Japan Intercultural
Consulting
2. British customer Japanese customer
service service
Resentment Pride in doing a good
job
Incompetence
Consistently competent
Often rough, crude (mostly)
Unwilling to accept Refined/gentle
responsibility or say Highly ritualised
sorry Collective responsibility
Lack of interest in Empathy with customer
customer Customer is “god”
Can be helpful, Unable to deal with
exceptions,
egalitarian, genuine? bureaucratic
3. Roots
1. Shareholder versus stakeholder
2. Egalitarianism versus Confucianism
3. Monozukuri and gembashugi of service
4. Compassion versus principle-based
5. Shareholder Stakeholder
Company should be Company should be
managed to maximise primarily managed for
returns to the benefit of
shareholders through stakeholders such as
dividends, capital gain employees,
etc customers, society
Assumed to be more Usually seen as more
short-term, profit long-term, growth
oriented oriented
7. Exceptions in the UK
Joseph Rowntree - confectioner
Cadbury – chocolate manufacturer
Joseph Fry – chocolate manufacturer
William Hesketh Lever’s Port Sunlight village
(Unilever)
Robert Owen – cotton mill owner
Provided pleasant houses, schools and a co-
operative shop.
Had a shorter day and good wages.
No child under ten was allowed to work in his mills.
Supported the 1819 Factory Act.
Set up the Grand National Consolidated Trades
Union (1834) for workers.
8. Matsushita’s Seven Principles
Contribution to
Society
Fairness and Honesty
Cooperation and
Team Spirit
Relentless Efforts for
Improvement
Courtesy and Humility
Adaptability
Gratitude
9. Japanese companies have roots in Meiji
Restoration or post war rebuilding of Japan
Has led to strong ethos of contribution to society
Pride in serving the customer
11. UK had lifetime
employment traditions,
but restructuring of
British industry in 1970s
and 1980s has caused
the British to lose faith
in their employers
Large proportion of
steel, coal mining,
heavy industry closed
down
Mass redundancies
Increase in service
sector jobs perceived as
insecure, badly paid,
demeaning
13. Egalitarianism Confucianism
“the doctrine of the “The superior man does
equality of mankind what is proper to the
station in which he is;
and the desirability of he does not desire to go
political and economic beyond this. In a
and social equality” position of wealth and
honour, he does what is
proper to a position of
wealth and honour. In a
poor and low position,
he does what is proper
to a poor and low
position.”
15. Japanese shacho Western CEOs
CEOs at Japan's top American CEOs
100 companies by earned $13.3 million
market capitalization and European chief
earned an average of executives earned
$6.6 million at
around $1.5 million companies with
Income mostly from revenues of higher
base salary than $10 billion
Take large pay cuts in Income mostly from
bad times stock options,
bonuses
Big bonuses even
18. Monozukuri
Requires educated customers, who can
appreciate well executed services
Japanese children (and adults) learn origami,
martial arts, shodo, dance, ikebana – kata,
process is all-important
Confucian emphasis on ritual and etiquette
Can get good service in the UK where knowledge
and enthusiasm is mutual between staff and
customers (for example, Majestic Wine retail
chain)
19. Gembashugi
There is a route from the most junior shopfloor
job to the top of the company
You have to have worked on the shopfloor in
order to become a senior executive
Senior management regularly go onto the
shopfloor
Rapidity in dealing with complaints, necessary
improvements
21. Compassion Principles
Buddhist emphasis on Christianity also
compassion for others teaches compassion,
but also “moral
Truth changes, so
autonomy”
don’t say truth if it will
Truth is absolute and
hurt others
unchanging
Follow the rules and
Integrity = stick to
processes without principles
much questioning of
Rules should be backed
principles
by principles, need to
Break rules if key know “why” in order to
relationships are at obey rules.
23. Can Japanese customer service be
exported to the UK?
1. Stakeholder mentality – Japanese multinationals
need to bring overseas staff into “seishain” group
Lifetime employment?
Use partnerships, profit sharing, trust structures?
Secondment to Japan
2. Egalitarianism and Confucianism – if there is
more of a stakeholder ethos, will not resent service
sector status so much
3. Monozukuri – need more respect for skills
education in UK schools. Training at work –
secondment to Japan?
4. Gembashugi – ties into lifetime employment,
seniority based promotion
5. Compassion – probably the most culturally “bound”
issue. Cannot teach compassion. Japanese
companies need to be more explicit, and explain,
principles behind expected behaviours
Notas do Editor
Impact on sense of collective responsibility
Need to explain what Monozukuri and gembashugi mean
So in UK, rules are backed by principles and therefore more important than customers’ needs. In Japan, customer needs are paramount. But, a lot of cover ups in Japan, and if break rules in Japanese subsidiaries in the UK, will lead to fraud or complete ignoring of all rules.
Skills education also meaning “the arts” as a skill - drama, music, art – discipline of process, not just “creativity”