{"id":3036,"date":"2011-03-18T15:25:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-18T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/2011\/03\/18\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/"},"modified":"2021-07-10T14:42:44","modified_gmt":"2021-07-10T18:42:44","slug":"japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan’s Supply Chain Recovery: Interpreting The Estimates"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

A headline in yesterday\u2019s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette read \u201cRadiation spread raises new concern: U.S. fearing nuclear reactor emergency is greater than what Japanese officials are portraying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Sandisk issued a statement saying that their \u201ccurrent assessment is that there has been minimal immediate impact on wafer output due to the earthquake. SanDisk continues to assess the situation for any potential future impact that may arise from issues related to Japanese infrastructure and the supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is the earthquake\/tsunami\/nuclear meltdown triple-whammy that happened in Japan an apocalyptic crisis? Or is it a slight interruption in business as usual? Who do you believe?<\/p>\n

Well, as a procurement guy schooled in understanding cultural differences between countries, I came to my own conclusions. But I wanted to tap my colleague, international procurement guru, and primary author of the online courses \u201cBasics of Smart International Procurement\u201d and \u201cExecuting A Global Sourcing Strategy,\u201d Dick Locke, for a response to a question I had.<\/p>\n

Dick was more than gracious in giving me a response that can help frame the Japan situation \u2013 and all of the seemingly conflicting accounts of the impact \u2013 in a way that can help procurement professionals understand and work through the risks that lie ahead. Here\u2019s Dick\u2019s response to my request\u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been watching and reading the various information coming out of Japan and trying to interpret it after filtering it through the cultural differences that can impede communication and sometimes action. I see one apparent difference and am concerned about another potential difference.<\/em>
\nOne consistent complaint is that the various spokespeople in Japan seem to be
\nunderstating the seriousness of the radiation hazards. It\u2019s very likely that this is due to a cultural difference that strongly affects communication. The difference goes by various names, and I call it a \u201cneed for harmony.\u201d It could also be called a \u201clow score on a frankness scale.\u201d A strong cultural need for harmony can make it difficult for people in that culture to deliver bad news directly. They will often resort to various expressions such as the Japanese \u201chonto ni muzukashii\u201d which literally means \u201ctruly difficult\u201d in English. <\/em>However, people in Japan will correctly take it to be a very frank statement that something will not happen.<\/em>
\nA classic example is in the Japanese Emperor\u2019s speech to the nation announcing the surrender at the end of World War II. It included \u201cthe war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan\u2019s advantage.\u201d This was after two nuclear bombs and a total collapse of manufacturing and logistics.<\/em>
\nWhile Japan is especially strong in this need for harmony, it\u2019s a fairly widespread characteristic among Asian and some Latin American cultures. Keep in mind that Japanese may be perceiving the messages differently than Westerners.<\/em>
\nThe second difference is just a concern at this point. There\u2019s a well known cultural difference called \u201cUncertainty Avoidance.\u201d It influences the willingness of people to make decisions without being sure of the outcome. It makes people much more comfortable with routine situations and incremental improvements than they are with dealing with the unexpected. While Japan is extremely high on the \u201cUncertainty Avoidance\u201d scale, I really haven\u2019t seen any indication of lack of creativity in solving the problems.<\/em>
\nLet me also add that while the radiation hazard is getting so much attention, both the earthquake and tsunami are terrible tragedies that shouldn\u2019t be overlooked.<\/em>
\nNow, to bring this around to Charles\u2019 question: \u201cWhat cultural considerations should supply chain leaders take into account when receiving Japanese suppliers\u2019 feedback on the expected impact of the natural disaster on future supply?\u201d Be sure to probe assurances of continuing supply more deeply than you would with people from a frank culture such as Germany or the US. It\u2019s best to ask open ended questions such as \u201chow are the roads to the airport\u201d or \u201chow are your suppliers in the affected area\u201d than questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no. You should also keep in mind that Japanese communicators are usually not being
\ndishonest when they seem overly reassuring. It\u2019s just that their culture makes
\nit difficult to say some things too directly.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019d like to thank Dick for sharing his insights. I highly recommend heeding his advice as the world works to recover from this terrible disaster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  A headline in yesterday\u2019s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette read \u201cRadiation spread […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-procurement"],"yoast_head":"\nJapan's Supply Chain Recovery: Interpreting The Estimates - Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan's Supply Chain Recovery: Interpreting The Estimates - Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  A headline in yesterday\u2019s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette read \u201cRadiation spread […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NextLevelPurchasing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-18T15:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-10T18:42:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/11\/nlpa-images-049.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1067\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Galo Matagay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nextlevelpurch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nextlevelpurch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Galo Matagay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Galo Matagay\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#\/schema\/person\/72d094fab77892483dfa6e061cb27eaa\"},\"headline\":\"Japan’s Supply Chain Recovery: Interpreting The Estimates\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-18T15:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-10T18:42:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/\"},\"wordCount\":736,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Procurement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/nlpa\/blog\/japans-supply-chain-recovery-interpreting-the-estimates\/\",\"name\":\"Japan's Supply Chain Recovery: Interpreting The Estimates - 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