[Please
feel free to copy, paste and adjust this business case for your own
organisation's purposes]
MEMO
| FROM: |
Susanne Ryan, Human Resources
Manager |
| TO: |
Michael Logan, CEO |
| SUBJECT: |
Staff training on doing business in
Japan |
Possible partnership with
Japanese companies: some concerns
I feel that we need to prepare our staff well in advance for ongoing working
relations with the Japanese. Japan is the second largest economy in the world
after the USA and there are undeniable financial advantages to us opening up
business relations there. Yet it will be a challenge for many of our personnel.
They will have to interact confidently with new partners / colleagues and
overcome the cultural differences of operating in a foreign country. Unwritten
rules of conduct, etiquette and behaviour still apply very much in Japan.
Putting our staff into business situations in complete ignorance of such rules
and without any training could result in resentment and ultimately jeopardise
our organisation's goals there. Careful preparation for this new working
environment could mean the difference between returning home with nothing to
show for our efforts versus returning home with a deal on the table.
Drawing conclusions
We need to up-skill our staff, both front-line and back-office, to give
ourselves the highest probability of success. Conventional training (eg.
inviting consultants here to provide onsite training) would be quite expensive.
Fees for such training average
(in the USA) approx. $4,000 per day +
travel expenses
(in Ireland) approx. 2440 euros per day + travel expenses
(in the UK) approx. 1800 pounds sterling per day + travel expenses
A possible solution
I have done some research on the internet and come up with a more
cost-effective solution: an organisation named Cross Culture Training Ltd.
provides training for organisations which are already internationally active or
are making moves in this direction. They cater mostly to the UK, Irish and
American markets and offer a multimedia computer-based training tutorial to get
firms up to speed in advance of their trips to Japan. The training has great
advantages for us as it is a crash course which can be completed in
approximately 120 minutes, online or offline, without staff leaving their
desks.
Some concrete outcomes and
benefits of this e-based training
Our staff will...
- have a thorough grasp of basic facts
that the average Japanese business person would possess and would expect other
business people to know.
- feel prepared and more confident on location in Japan while going through the
formalities of meeting new contacts and / or customers and engaging in any
necessary business socialising.
- generally be more aware of cultural differences when interacting with our new
Asian business partners.
- know what to expect of their Japanese counterparts in the meeting and
negotiation stages and be able to apply their knowledge of these cultural
differences to our organisation's advantage.
- optimise their performance, reduce the risk of failure and increase the
chances of delivering the required results for our organisation.
Cost
The current prices for this training are:
|
Licence for 1 user
|
US$ 240 (+ sales
tax)
EUR 197 (+ VAT)
132 British pounds (+ VAT)
|
| |
|
|
Licence for 2 users
(10% saving)
|
US$ 216 (+ sales tax) per
person
EUR 177 (+ VAT) per person
118 British pounds (+ VAT) per person
|
| |
|
|
Licence for 3 – 5 users
(15% saving)
|
US$ 204 (+ sales tax) per
person
EUR 167 (+ VAT) per person
112 British pounds (+ VAT) per person
|
| |
|
|
Licence for 6 or more
users
(20% saving)
|
US$ 192 (+ sales tax) per
person
EUR 157 (+ VAT) per person
105 British pounds (+ VAT) per person
|
These prices certainly compare very
favourably to the alternative expense of having outside trainers or consultants
come to us.
When can staff do this training?
The multimedia tutorial can be accessed at any time.
We simply register our staff and they take the 120 minute tutorial at a time
convenient to them or to our organisation. It can be accessed in one or all of
the following ways:
1. online access via a website
2. downloaded to a computer / laptop and use offline
3. by CD Rom for use on computer / laptop
(Note: since it can be downloaded to a laptop, we could also have our staff
complete the training on their own time eg. from their home, while commuting to
/ from work, even during the actual flight to Japan)
Summary
Considering the volume of business we hope to achieve in Japan, I would judge
the asking price to be an acceptable investment in our project's future. I have
tested a sample demonstration of the tutorial myself and can confirm that it
would have a positive impact on our staff's performance abroad. It is easy to
use, educational and very effective, besides being quite interesting to work
through. The product is effectively a business tool which will provide our
staff with country-specific intelligence and allow them to deliver the results
we need.
I'd like your approval to purchase a multi-user licence and have the following
22 staff members take the 'Cross Culture Training Japan' tutorial as soon as
possible:
John Phealan, Angelika Meyer, Natalia Baez, Dawn Harrison, Nick Shapiro, Edward
Hale, Sean Taylor, Josh Denzer, Tommy Lightburn, Peter Clancy, Yomi Eng, Amy
McDonagh, Charlene Ball, Odile Alonge, Kera Hayden-Findlay, Wendy Hambrecht,
Jonathan Zuckermann, Christopher McAndrews, Sylee Buchmann, David Levy and, as
a perk for our two hard-working interns, Stefan Barbagallo and Marco
Lichterfeld.
Please let me know your thoughts on this.
|
