The Delphi Roar: July 21st, 2025
Dear Members and Advisers,
We had a great panel on Friday for the top international Chinese business school CEIBS, for which many thanks to Alex Espada of Forvia for making a splendid contribution - and disagreeing with all the panelist in such a way that nobody was allowed to get away with superficial ideas and thoughts, but all in a very friendly and humorous manner! It really helped the quality of the debate. He is featured in the first photo of the photo gallery below.
I am looking forward to the CEO-KnowHow event on July 29 with Delphite Ross Rowbury one of the most senior foreigners in Japan, with an unrivalled perspective on “gashikei” doing business in Japan.
July is normally a somewhat quiet time, but not this year: we hosted a very impressive UK delegation on July 10, and a top Chinese business school on July 17, as well as the regular monthly cocktails on June 22 - which was hosted by Rosie.
More importantly, I am following up more systematically with members to make sure that we stay aware of the issues facing them, and supporting them where we can.
I am also very happy to welcome Rounak Zoeb into the Delphi country manager community. He and Jeremy Sampson and Richard Johns comprise our trio of Australian members, but Rounak is our first to be an expert rock climber.
Rounak is part of a mini-tech boom in the Delphi Network, alongside Stanislav Belooussouv and Felix von Helden of UltraTendency. These gentlemen are part of an optimistic wave of foreign capital and foreign talent coming into Japan. I think it will be both fascinating and inspiring to accompany them on their journey to find growth and revenue in Japan.
Finally, I wanted to mention that Delphi will be on its summer break from July 31 - August 18, me with the family in Oxford and Wales. Rosie and I would like to wish all our members a glorious summer holiday where you don’t worry about “relaxing”, you try to cram in as many adventures with zero connection to your work in Japan as possible - this seems to me the essence of a holiday.
Seen in the Network
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Heard in the Network
““As a country manager, the most important segment to persuade are the middle managers. The problem is that information gets trapped, and that causes things to get toxic. You need a strong flow of information from HQ to the factory or shop, and all the way back again”
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“I have to take into account, and find compensating mechanisms, for the fact that my staff has no critical thinking training, and no sense of initiative. That’s the harsh truth. But it’s up to me find a solution. That’s why I get paid to be country manager. ”
“If I could get away with NOT hiring Japanese staff in Japan, I honestly would”
“I hired an expensive Japanese head of sales, and he made no sales. I hired an equally expensive project manager and he hid the difficulties we were having with a client. This year, I had to let them both go. I am now looking for a foreigner who speaks very good Japanese.”
“As Japan CEO, my most important finding is the importance of soft skills in creating the partnerships with clients etc, who are essential to success in Japan.”
“The challenge is that HQ likes metrics it can measure - like hard skills. So HQ is insufficiently open to soft skills, which are heard to measure, and thus more difficult to fulfill. This is a problem. My HQ needs to get better at appreciating and measuring soft skills
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“My rule of thumb as a country manager is - be friendly, but never make friends.”
“Be very close to all your suppliers! If anything goes wrong (eg 3/11) you don’t want them to forget you.”
“After almost a decade as country manager in Japan, I am quite relieved to be leaving for a more open and dynamic Western market. The most soul-destroying part of my job
was being told by my colleagues that whatever I suggested ‘could not be done’. What I did not like, was that by the end, I was getting as negative and passive as they are”
“We are trained in a linear way, and HQ wants linear growth. But business comes in waves, not lines. As CM, be ready for terrible troughs, when you will want to throw yourself on the tracks of the Yamanote Line, and euphoric highs. Obviously, you should resist both feelings!”
“I hired an expensive Japanese head of sales, and he made no sales. I hired an equally expensive project manager and he hid the difficulties we were having with a client. This year, I had to let them both go. I am now looking for a foreigner who speaks very good Japanese. I no longer trust myself to hire the right Japanese, if that even exists.”
“The Japanese are very smart in the way they “formalize” concepts which are very vague, ragged and casual in the West, like staying in touch with business acquaintances. One summer gift, or one lunch per year with a Japanese business connection will never be forgotten. The key is not to meet them frequently but to meet them regularly - even if it’s just once every couple of years.”
“We turned down a candidate because his CV was quite bad. Then, he got hired by someone else. His CV had suddenly massively improved because he had simply run it through ChatGPT.”
“A lot of country managers are damn good at their jobs - but while they make a great business case for their companies, they are terrible at making a good case for themselves, and they get punished for that in terms of the income they negotiate with their companies. Companies too often take advantage of very loyal, motivated employees.”
“As country manager, I believe KPIs and the P&L should be shared with the team as much as possible. Make them feel ownership for the company - which means sharing in the stress of losing deals, as well as in the upside of making more money. Make sure you pay them more money when the company does.”
“I have never come across so much reluctance to take on responsibility as in Japan. When I ask people to do something, they always say no, in case it goes wrong.”
“As country managers, I don’t punish mistakes, at least not the first time. What I do punish is people hiding mistakes.”
