{"id":290,"date":"2025-07-04T10:19:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T01:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/?p=290"},"modified":"2025-07-04T10:19:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T01:19:05","slug":"why-the-third-mystery-matters-a-working-hypothesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/?p=290","title":{"rendered":"Why the \u201cThird Mystery\u201d Matters \u2014 A Working Hypothesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the translation version of https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/?p=259<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In my previous post<\/a>, I suggested that many Japanese companies are focused more on solving immediate, localized operational issues than on pursuing long-term business growth through value creation. While that discussion falls under what I call the \u201cSecond Mystery<\/a>,\u201d this article explores why the \u201cThird Mystery<\/a>\u201d \u2014 how Japanese businesses engage with the global market \u2014 is so critical.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, I believe this third issue intersects deeply with both the First Mystery<\/strong><\/a> (the structural challenges of IT departments in Japan) and the Second<\/a>. What follows is a rough working hypothesis based on more than two decades of research, observation, and direct experience in the field:<\/p>\n

🧩<\/strong> Working Hypothesis<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Japanese companies tend to treat IT not as a strategic growth enabler but as a basic utility \u2014 like a calculator.<\/strong> (Closely tied to the First Mystery<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  2. As a result, their willingness to use IT for value creation is significantly lower than that of global counterparts.<\/strong> (Linked to the Second Mystery<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  3. This leads to a persistent disconnect between global vendors (particularly from the US and Europe), who see business potential in Japan, and the Japanese enterprises they hope to serve.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Cultural and organizational misalignment creates friction and wasted opportunity \u2014 for both sides.<\/p>\n

    The Outsider\u2019s View vs. the Insider\u2019s Blind Spot<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Of course, cultural and historical differences play a role in failed implementations. But like the Japanese proverb \u201cOkame Hachimoku\u201d<\/em> (The onlooker sees more than the players), external perspectives can offer valuable insight \u2014 especially for companies facing stagnation or transformation fatigue.<\/p>\n

    In recent years, we\u2019ve seen more Japanese companies hiring Western executives or MBA graduates to gain a global edge. However, many of these initiatives fail to deliver expected outcomes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Why?<\/p>\n

    From my experience, one major reason is that most corporate leaders, managers, and employees remain domestically focused<\/strong>, and since short-term performance doesn\u2019t immediately suffer, there\u2019s little incentive to change.<\/p>\n

    Real-World Gaps I\u2019ve Observed<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Over the years, I\u2019ve worked extensively with Western software vendors \u2014 especially those offering CRM and customer-centric solutions \u2014 and also with the Japanese companies evaluating their products. I\u2019ve observed several recurring patterns of misunderstanding:<\/p>\n

    🔹<\/strong> 1. Solving surface-level problems only<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Many Japanese companies try to deploy packaged software to address only the visible pain points<\/strong> (e.g., eliminating complex manual spreadsheet work), while ignoring upstream process inefficiencies<\/strong>. As a result, they often bypass the full potential of the system \u2014 and fall into the \u201ccustomization trap.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Example: A company focuses solely on replacing outdated manual workflows, without addressing the root causes in their upstream processes \u2014 even when the software offers capabilities to improve them.<\/p>\n

    🔹<\/strong> 2. Indecisiveness in leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Even after compelling presentations and proposals, decision-makers often delay or avoid giving a clear answer.<\/p>\n

    A Western vendor once asked me, \u201cDo you think this product will sell in Japan?\u201d<\/p>\n

    I genuinely believed it was a great solution, but said, \u201cIt\u2019s hard to say \u2014 success depends on who will take ownership of the necessary cross-functional change.\u201d<\/p>\n

    He laughed and replied in Japanese, \u201cSo\u2026 is the problem the oyaji<\/em>?\u201d (a slang term for traditional older male managers).<\/p>\n

    I couldn\u2019t help but smile \u2014 because he wasn\u2019t wrong.<\/p>\n

    🔹<\/strong> 3. Excessive obsession with \u201cquality\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

    While quality is of course important, Japanese companies sometimes reject solutions for minor usability issues<\/strong>, even when the overall end-to-end impact is negligible.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve even heard cases where companies reverted to old systems because performance appeared<\/em> worse \u2014 only to discover the bottleneck was actually in their legacy core systems, not the new software.<\/p>\n

    🔹<\/strong> 4. Overemphasis on cost reduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Global software is often more expensive than domestic alternatives. But that\u2019s partly because it includes functionality built for a global scope<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Japanese buyers tend to view the extra functions as \u201cunnecessary,\u201d but they could actually be valuable tools for learning global standards \u2014 or systematizing previously human dependent sales or marketing practices.<\/p>\n

    These long-term benefits are often overlooked due to a narrow focus on short-term IT cost ceilings.<\/p>\n

    Why This Matters<\/strong><\/p>\n

    These are just a few examples, but they point to a deeper issue: the way Japan evaluates, adopts, and integrates external solutions is misaligned with global practices.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    That doesn\u2019t mean global vendors are always right. But unless we acknowledge and address these gaps<\/strong>, Japanese businesses may continue to miss valuable growth opportunities.<\/p>\n

    What This Blog Will Explore<\/strong><\/p>\n

    In this category, I aim to explore the structural and cultural disconnects between how global companies view Japan \u2014 and how Japan views itself. My hope is that by shining a light on these \u201cthird mystery\u201d dynamics, we can foster more productive, mutually beneficial engagement between Japan and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

    If you\u2019re a global executive wondering, \u201cWhy is Japan so difficult to crack?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Or a Japanese professional asking, \u201cWhy don\u2019t global approaches work here?\u201d<\/p>\n

    This is the conversation I hope to build.<\/p>\n

    As always, your questions, thoughts, and feedback are welcome \u2014 feel free to leave a comment or reach out through the contact form.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is the translation version of https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/?p=259. In my previous post, I suggested that many Japanese comp […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=290"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299,"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions\/299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nazolab-japan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}