Bosses From Japan Learn New Ways : Management: Executives discover that what worked back home may not set well with workers in the U.S.

When Tachi Kiuchi arrived from Tokyo nearly five years ago to head Mitsubishi Electronics America in Cypress, he figured he could run the U.S. subsidiary pretty much the way he had other Mitsubishi operations in Japan.

He was wrong. In Japan, Kiuchi personally made most of the key decisions, and a cadre of loyal managers carried them out with seldom a complaint. But things didn’t work that way in the United States. For one thing, he discovered, American workers are very outspoken.

American workers “said what they think, even if it would hurt my management style,” said Kiuchi, chairman and chief executive of the consumer electronics company. “I had to throw out some customary Japanese management style to fit American needs.”

Like many Japanese executives, Kiuchi realized that it was necessary to adapt to the American way of doing business in order to smooth relations with American managers and employees. He said he has come to respect American managers for their honesty, friendliness and professionalism.

Those are some of the findings in a new survey of Japanese business executives working in the United States. The study, released this week by the Japan America Society of Southern California, shows that Japanese managers may not be as rigid in imposing Japanese-style business practices on U.S. workers as one might think. In fact, many of the Japanese executives, including Kiuchi, said they have learned valuable lessons from American workers and hope to carry them back to Japan.

Ninety-five percent of the Japanese executives surveyed said they have modified their management styles to fit their American employees. In addition, 64% of the executives said they “definitely” would or “might” make additional changes in management practices if given more autonomy from their parent companies in Japan.

Asked if they would bring employment or management practices learned in America back to Japan, 82% said they would, while 18% said they would not.

“Going into the survey, I thought Japanese executives were not responsive to ideas from American employees,” said Robert Novick, president of Impulse Research, a Los Angeles research firm that conducted the study for the Japan American Society. “But the survey showed that they actually wish to change how they behave as managers, but that management in Japan prohibits this.”

Dennis Laurie, who is writing a book on Japanese management practices, said that as the Japanese have expanded operations in the United States, they have become less likely to impose their management styles in the workplace. One reason: Japanese management styles have often resulted in friction between American workers and their Japanese employers.

“In the process of yielding to the American culture, (the Japanese) are letting go much of the great value of their management style, such as lifetime employment and intensive and constant training of employees on new technologies,” said Laurie, a research fellow at Claremont Colleges in Los Angeles County.

Muneo Adachi, president of Canon Information Systems Inc., a software developer in Costa Mesa, said he has learned that “individual lifestyle is very important to many American workers, so I have to give them this allowance. In Japan, workers are very company-oriented; they live and breathe for their companies.”

On American lifestyle, the survey also found Japanese executives adjust more quickly to the American way of living than has sometimes been presumed, said Steve Clemons, executive director of Japan America. Nearly half--47%--said their families have not experienced problems relating to American food, culture, education and lifestyle. One in four reported that their children have some difficulty adapting to American schools, and the same 25% complain that their spouses were unable to find jobs, mainly because of language problems.

Nearly eight in 10 of the business leaders said they’d like to extend their stay in the United States for “several more years.”

Since arriving in Orange County 18 months ago, Adachi said he has learned to relax and not take work quite as seriously. Though he still works long hours, he said he’s not as intense and is more accommodating to his American employees than he would be in Japan.

Adapting to America A national survey of Japanese business leaders in the United States found that most altered their management style after arriving in the United States.

Have you changed your management style since coming to the United States?

Yes, a great deal: 24%

Yes, changed somewhat: 70%

No change: 6%

How have you been treated by American business people?

With friendship: 88% With respect: 47%

With admiration: 13%

With suspicion: 12%

With distaste: 7%

With hostility: 4%

What is your attitude toward the United States as a result of living and working here?

Much more positive: 36%

Somewhat more positive: 40%

Neutral: 21% More negative: 3%

What Japanese business people like most about living and working in the United States:

Open space: 80% Climate: 73% Lifestyle: 70% People: 56% Entertainment: 26% Different from Japan: 23% Food: 12% Source: Japan America Society of Southern California; Impulse Research Corp. and Manning, Selvage & Lee.