Quote from asiaprop:
you gotta be kidding me. Seriously, I claim you know really nothing about Japan at all. The service industy in Japan is possibly the most efficient in the world, I also pointed that out in an earlier post and explained why. You need to differentiate between the private sector and government entities. I dont have comments to spare about politics but the private service sector is so extremely efficient that American businesses do not even enter this market (for most part), knowing they have zero chance in competing even in industries that are completely unregulated. There are some execeptions and even those show the competitiveness and efficiency of the Japanese service sector: McDonals is hugely successful in Japan but McDonals is used here in Japan for a completely different purpose than anyplace else and American management understood to keep their hands off any managerial decisions within the Japanese unit. It is completely independently managed and as far as I heard management here in Japan has complete discretion over their decisions. Another example is 7-11 convenience stores. They were run so successfully here in Japan that the Japanese part in the end bought out the American unit. There are countless examples but believe me dealing with anything that is related to service in Japan is an absolute blessing. Contrary to that tell me how you feel when you pick up a phone in Germany or the U.S. to complain about some problems in your utility bill or you want to change a service plan or cancel something. Or maybe you can comment on the attitude of the clerk when you enter a fast food joint or restaurant in your country. Or what about when you enter department stores, do you get attacked by 3-4 sales people who try to push you to make a purchase decisision asap. Sound familiar? Or what about train stations and other public commutes, have you seen anything handled as efficiently as in Japan? Or what about mail, can you send a freshly caught salmon across the country and it gets delivered on the same day packed in ice, handled with the utmost care without shelling out a fortune (by the way all standard domestic mail gets delivered on the next business day, no matter how remote the region)? But maybe you can share some of your examples where the Japanese service sector is inefficient. I agree wholehardedly when you claim the individual worker may be inefficient (the ones who are not client facing) but that I all mentioned in an earlier post. I would love to hear from people who really do have Japan experience, maybe some disagree, I am totally open to differing opinions. By the way, I think the financial service sector in Japan is increadibly inefficient, ranging from simple ATM transactions to e-banking and financial advice and product diversity, so yes not all is rosy in the land of the rising sun ;-)
