1. Cross Cultural Management II
International business: The challenges of globalization
“Selling European high performance motorcycles in JAPAN”
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2. AGENDA
What was going wrong inside and outside of
Tommasi Motorcycles Japan?
How are these issues related or connected?
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3. AGENDA
What was going wrong inside and outside of
Tommasi Motorcycles Japan?
How are these issues related or connected?
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4. What was going wrong inside and outside of
Tommasi Motorcycles Japan?
Inside
Communication
Management
Operation
- Non Transparency
communication (did not
share all the details)
- There are huge gap
between JNO’s
expectation and dealers
need
- JNO doesn’t have a clear
understanding of the
Japan market.
- Maintenance and parts
availability issues were
common.
- The application and the
support IT system doesn’t
match
- Lack of safety matters
- Katoh’s management style
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5. What was going wrong inside and outside of
Tommasi Motorcycles Japan?
Outside 1.
Tommasi Japan vs Tommasi HQ
Communication
Management
Operation
- Exists language barrier
- There exists a big
communication gap as
transparent reporting process
was not seen in the hierarchy
- JNO being local in Japan
failed in reporting the HQ
about needs and problems of
Japan Motorcycle Market
- HQ Allocated Mr.Bonardi on
temporary basis to be
President of JNO, who does
not speak Japanese
- No concerns from EU side
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6. What was going wrong inside and outside of
Tommasi Motorcycles Japan?
Outside 1.
Hofstede Comparison Italy & Japan
Huge Gap
here!
PDI: power distance
IDV: Individualism
MAS: Masculinity
UAI: Uncertainty avoidance
LTO: Long term orientation
Source: http://geert-hofstede.com/italy.html
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7. What was going wrong inside and outside of
Tommasi Motorcycles Japan?
Outside 2.
Tommasi Japan vs Dealers in Japan
Communication
Management
- No information sharing
- Not enough research on
Japans’ market
- Lack of trust relationship
with its dealers
- Lack of face to face
communication.
- Market miss-direction
Operation
- HQ never asked the JNO
to report on Delaers
opinion or feedback about
the market
- Mismatch of selling model
for the larger models
- Did not care special
condition of Japanese
dealer network
- Did not build Relationshipbased business in Japanese
dealers
- Dealers are pressured by
JNO to sell more of the
larger models.
- Had some accessories
inventory which they cannot
sell
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8. AGENDA
What was going wrong inside and outside of
Tommasi Motorcycles Japan?
How are these issues related or connected?
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9. How are these issues related or connected?
Cultural differences
Communication gaps
Strategy thinking
Management thinking
etc...
Communication issues
Management
issues
Operation
issues
All these issues are connected cultural differences!
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10. Thank you!
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11. APPENDIX
Mr. Katoh
- Fluent English
- Good understanding of European culture
- Has MBA from London business school
Why he was not included in the dealer interview process?
May be the differences of Task oriented or Relationship oriented?
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