Shaping Employees: Experiencing Corporate Training in Japan

Author: Fan Zuo Shen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: I gradually discovered that business administration is actually more like the study of interpersonal relationships. Business operations are essentially the process of interpersonal interaction. When a company handles its relationships with employees and customers well, its business can grow bigger. The good reputation of Japanese companies in terms of business management is largely related to their emphasis on cultivating "personality elites" and establishing an environment of honest business practices. The employee training programs of Japanese companies, starting with cleaning and morning meetings, not only include numerous case studies but also involve learning tea ceremonies, volunteering, participating in 100-kilometer walks, meditation, self-reflection, and even scrubbing toilets with hands. Industry readers can find some resonance in the book, such as feeling a "heartbeat" when reading certain passages, gaining a "flash of insight" at another point, and discovering in several places that their inner self has unintentionally "transcended." However, what is more important is the "enlightenment" that follows these feelings, which is akin to the line, "After searching for him in a thousand places, I suddenly turned and saw him in the dimly lit corner."