The Hanko and the Ringi-sho: The Sword and Shield of the Japanese Business Person (Part 1)

We recently heard again from Mr. Shintaro Tominaga regarding an interesting concept in the Japanese workplace. This is the ringi-sho. We will quote Mr. Tominaga here:

" It is a document issued by a person who wants to receive approval from the upper management on a new business proposal. It goes from the lower level to the upper level of management. If there are X number of persons above the issuer of the Ringi-sho, all of that X number of persons read and study it, and then each one places his or her seal on it (the Japanese equivalent to a signature). After all seals are stamped on it, the issuer receives it back, and then he or she can start taking charge of its business.

" If such a business proposal is new to the issuer’s immediate boss and the other upper level personnel, no one will place a seal on it. What this means is that the issuer of a Ringi-sho issues it only when he or she knows that it will be approved by all concerned personnel within the company. Japanese business people seldom take
charge of a new project if the other upper level personnel do not support it."

It appears the the ringi-sho is really a formality...the last step of an arduous process to create something new, some sort of change, in the company. The is the "shield" of making changes within a Japanese business. Can you imagine an American company going through such a process to instill a new idea? Unless there was an undeniable passion about the idea, most American business people wouldn't waste their time. It is interesting to think that a ringi-sho is not typed up unless the issuer knows for sure that he will get every person's stamp. One can't help but wonder what happens when the boss changes his mind...

What this reminds us is that, in general, change is not considered a good thing, especially in Japanese companies with long histories and successful histories. Of course, Japanese companies are known for the newest and latest products...isn't this an embrace of change? I think these successful corporations are good at introducing new ideas to the consumers, but are not so good at making changes within the company. Could this be why Mitsubishi Motors made the bold move of hiring aforeignerr as it's CEO when profits dried up? (It's not such a new idea, though. Mitsubishi is the third of the top-five car manufacturers in Japan to do so.) Businesssavvyy CEOs with big ideas and who aren't afraid to stir the pot are a rarity in Japan, so looking for someone who can make some fast changes requires the Board of Directors to go overseas. The real question is, once success is found, and changes are made, how long the foreigner will hold his position. Early (and surely comfortable) retirement is not a long-shot bet.

Mr. Tominaga also tells us:

"Since Japanese work in groups, the business decision making process is rather slow. Unlike American business people who have been authorized to make business decisions within the capacity allowed by his upper level management, Japanese business people are not normally given authorization to make a decision alone."

This also shows the fundamental difference, boiled down to the bare bones, between Japanese and American culture. Japanese work for group harmony, and Americans for individual success. Both are noble andvaluablee goals, and aren't mutually exclusive, but certainly can create chaos when pushed against each other.

An example of this can be seen in the terrific American classic film, "12 Angry Men". This is the story of a jury of 12 men who have just begun deliberations on a murder case, where a boy seems to have murdered his father. Initially it seems like an open-and-shut case, and the initial vote of this jury leads to a vote of 11 guilty votes, and a single innocent vote by the character played to perfection by the late Henry Fonda. The rest of the movie is about, basically, the resolution of the American need to for "personal success" (in this case, success is having others vote with your opinion) and the Japanese need for "group harmony" (in this case, a unanimous vote...required to not be a hung jury). Certainly the filmmakers were not thinking about Japan and the US when the making the movie, but itinadvertentlyy shows the attempt at resolving these two conflicting goals. Watching the story play out, one can't wonder if the story was 12 Japanese men, and not American, if the goal of group harmony would have led to a unanimous vote on the first try. Of course, Americans can't help to cheer for the underdog played by Henry Fonda, and all would hope that we would fight with just as much passion for something webelievedd in. This doesn't mean that Japanese wouldn't see Henry Fonda as a hero-of-sorts in the movie...in fact maybe more so than Americans. It takes a lot more to go against the grain in Japan than it does here.


Next time we'll talk about the "sword" to go with the "shield"....the hanko.