Everyone knows that technology is changing at lightning speeds and many people are confused with all of it. But fear not! We are not alone!
My trip to Japan showed me that they are worse off then we are. In the 1990s, American and European countries started investing in Information Technology infrastructure. The western countries saw the advantages that IT brought them. It made businesses incredibly efficient and fast. No longer did someone have to print out and distribute by hand any company-wide memos, a quick email takes care of the problem. IT saves time, man-hours, and physical supplies. So while the US and the Europeans were riding the wave of innovation, Japan did not.
To understand why this is so, you have to dive into Japanese culture. Japan is a deeply proud country. The Japanese take immense pride in their past and traditions. They are also incredibly loyal to whatever system/supplier/product they have. As such, they are immediately wary of anything that challenges the status quo. So when any new technology comes along the current generation of big-wigs generally refuse to switch over from their tried-and-true methods, even if the methods that they have in place are decades old and barely work to begin with. The majority of top executives in Japan’s companies still don’t respond to emails personally, instead using a secretary to relay the information to them either with a paper printout or by listening to the assistant read it to them and then dictating a response.
The Japanese do love paper too. I mean, LOVE paper. If given the option of taking care of stuff electronically or using paper, the vast majority will choose paper. Being that Japan is still a cash-driven society, one would think that ATMs would play a key role in their economy. But, most of the ATMs that I encountered in my neck of the woods were not really too convenient. The ATMs near me all shut down at a relatively early time, around 6PM during the week, and even earlier on the weekends. I heard somewhere that it’s so the bank employees can check the ATM records by hand.
Now not all Japanese companies are so far behind, most of the high-tech firms, Sony, Toshiba, etc. and most of the car companies invested in IT, but they are in the minority. Overall, the current generation of movers and shakers are too stubborn to admit that the old ways are not necessarily the right way of doing business. As a result, the Japanese economy is horribly stagnate, and not looking like its going to get much better soon either. Investors who are looking for a place to put their money are regularly choosing America, Europe, or even some other asian up-and-comers, like China or South Korea.
It was very strange to me to see the younger generation embrace the rapid changes in technology and yet read about the people in power refusing to adopt new methodologies. If you take a train anywhere in Japan, you are guaranteed to see young 20 and 30 somethings emailing away on their phones, playing handheld video games, or watching TV on their phones. At the same time, you are almost guaranteed to see a 40 or 50 something office worker sleeping right next to the younger person. It is my opinion that the old Japanese people really need to stop being so stubborn. It doesn’t mean that they have to sacrifice everything that makes them Japanese. But if they still want to be proud of their economy, major changes have to be made now, rather than wait for the younger generation to inherit an economy that is in shambles.
Jesse Krist 