To prep for trip, students teleconference
with professionals in Japan

Courtesy photo

Mazda’s Craig von Essen described office culture.

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What’s it like to work in a corporate office in Japan? To find out, 16 students in Ralph Winslow Visiting Professor Jim Bright’s J460 International Public Relations class teleconferenced with Mazda PR professionals in Hiroshima, Japan, last week.

Mazda corporate communications’ Craig von Essen, Mayumi Handa and Chris Keeffe talked about their experiences working for Mazda Motor Corporation, the fourth-largest company in Japan. The 40 employees of the Hiroshima-based Mazda Corporate Communications and Liaison Division are responsible for global communications, product launches and media relations.

J460 students are preparing for their own trip to Japan March 8-15 as part of their course work. Several asked the three professionals about how work in Japan differs from that in the United States.

Von Essen, formerly based in South Africa, noted the Japanese limits version of office space, where 40 people work in the same open office space, elbow-to-elbow in rows of facing desks, with little privacy. He said two to four employees often share one phone.

But the three also said this reflects Japanese culture, and isn’t a detriment as people are more attuned to what is going on and, therefore, can help one another.

The culture also imparts a formality between employees. Regardless of their personal relationship, people address each other by their last names and they bow to one another as a sign of respect. They offer deeper bows to senior people in the organization.

Courtesy photo

Mayumi Handa, Mazda communications assistant manager

Canadian Chris Keeffe said there’s no “chit-chat” in the office whatsoever. “You won’t see people gathered around the water cooler,” he said. “We take our jobs very seriously.”

Media relations also reflect the sense of formality in Japanese businesses. PR practitioners don’t develop close relationships with journalists as they often do in the U.S., they said.

Also, employees maintain a high degree of company loyalty, with a typical work day of 10-12 hours, usually starting at 9 a.m. with many employees staying at the office until 10 p.m. or later. Mazda sends workers home by 6 p.m. on Wednesdays.

The students will have some long days during their week in Japan, making the most of the opportunity to visit Japanese professionals. They will visit the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, Nissan’s corporate PR offices, Bloomberg’s Tokyo newsroom, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) and the U.S. Embassy.


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This entry was posted on Feb. 23, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. and is filed under News. You can trackback from your own site.