What effect will the Japanese earthquake have on my business in Japan?
If your company does business in Asia, you might be feeling the effects of the recent disaster in Sendai, Japan. If your company is in Japan, you'll no doubt have had to do some juggling depending on your location. Transportation shortages, power outages, the threat of possibly more? It's a lot to deal with. So here's some tips:
1) Give your staff in Japan the option to take some time off. While many business are still open. Quite a few have closed or partially closed for the week.
2) Offer relocation, if possible, to those who really would like it. Many companies in Tokyo, for example, have been relocating their staff to Osaka and other parts of Southern Japan. Some have even been going to Hong Kong and Korea.
3) Redistribute some of the work. The power of VOIP phones, the internet and the computer have made it possible to do work from anywhere. Give your Japanese office a break and hire some temporary help to cover the bases. No doubt there are Japanese speakers in your area. Try the local university. Obviously client meetings are not possible, but with the trains being a difficult matter this week I'm sure your clients will understand.
4) Wait and see and be optimistic. If you've been paying attention to the news, there's a lot of controversy and rumours going on that make getting the real news quite difficult. But regardless, today's troubles may not be there tomorrow. What takes some countries weeks to resolve may take Japan days. They've proved themselves to be incredibly efficient in resolving all sorts of issues. Making rash decisions about the future of your business in Japan at this point may be a bit premature. Japan is resilient, which is no doubt why you're doing business there.
1) Give your staff in Japan the option to take some time off. While many business are still open. Quite a few have closed or partially closed for the week.
2) Offer relocation, if possible, to those who really would like it. Many companies in Tokyo, for example, have been relocating their staff to Osaka and other parts of Southern Japan. Some have even been going to Hong Kong and Korea.
3) Redistribute some of the work. The power of VOIP phones, the internet and the computer have made it possible to do work from anywhere. Give your Japanese office a break and hire some temporary help to cover the bases. No doubt there are Japanese speakers in your area. Try the local university. Obviously client meetings are not possible, but with the trains being a difficult matter this week I'm sure your clients will understand.
4) Wait and see and be optimistic. If you've been paying attention to the news, there's a lot of controversy and rumours going on that make getting the real news quite difficult. But regardless, today's troubles may not be there tomorrow. What takes some countries weeks to resolve may take Japan days. They've proved themselves to be incredibly efficient in resolving all sorts of issues. Making rash decisions about the future of your business in Japan at this point may be a bit premature. Japan is resilient, which is no doubt why you're doing business there.
