* * * * * * * * * T E R R I E 'S T A K E * * * * * * *<br>A weekly roundup of news & information from Terrie Lloyd.<br>(<a href="http://www.terrie.com">http://www.terrie.com</a>)<br><br>General Edition Sunday, August 01, 2010 Issue No. 576<br>
<br>+++ INDEX<br><br>- What's New<br>- News<br>- Candidate Roundup/Vacancies<br>- Upcoming Events<br>- Corrections/Feedback<br>- News Credits<br><br>SUBSCRIBE to, UNSUBSCRIBE from Terrie's Take at:<br><a href="http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie">http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie</a><br>
<br>BACK ISSUES<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take">http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take</a>, or,<br><a href="http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/">http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/</a><br>
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or call: 03-4550-2557.<br><br>------------- PBXL is Business Communications -------------<br><br><br>+++ WHAT'S NEW<br><br>According to the Nikkei this week, outsourcing giant Adecco<br>and NTT East are working on the development of a <br>
cloud-based call center application that allows housewives <br>and retired people to work from home as call center <br>operators. Adecco reckons that using this system they will <br>be able to sign up around 1,000 remote employees over the <br>
next 3 years. <br><br>The Nikkei says that Pasona is starting a similar service <br>in the next month or so, and plans to have about 200 <br>operators on their network in the first year. <br><br>This news is of course is just the latest installment of <br>
the ongoing saga by call centers in Japan to try and reduce<br>costs. Whoever gets it right stands to reap rich rewards, <br>because the call center business in Japan is significant. <br>According to JETRO, the Japanese call center and related <br>
business sectors were worth JPY312bn in 2004, and we think<br>they must surely be worth at least 50% more by now. <br><br>For example, Moshi Moshi Hotline (a publicly listed company<br>and so we have the numbers), recorded revenues of JPY55.8bn<br>
with 20,000 staff/operators. Other major players are <br>Bellsystems24, now in the hands of Bain Capital, with <br>around 30,000 operators; Transcosmos with 16,000 employees <br>and sales of JPY151bn; and Pasona with 5,000 employees <br>
and sales of JPY183bn.<br><br>[Continued below...]<br><br>---------- Denphone - Voice, Video and Networks ----------<br><br>Denphone provides a wide range of telephony, video<br>conferencing and IT infrastructure solutions.<br>
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Denphone 03-4550-1405 (Tokyo) or 06-4560-3200 (Osaka)<br>or check out our website: <a href="http://www.denphone.com">http://www.denphone.com</a>.<br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>[...Article continues]<br>
<br>Many companies have tried to find a way to make off-shore <br>Japanese language call centers work. After all, if you can <br>get telephone assistance in English for 30% of the cost by <br>moving to India or the Philippines, then there must be <br>
somewhere that you can do it for Japan as well, right? But <br>the problem is that Japanese customers want to hear someone<br>who sounds Japanese or they don't want to talk to them. <br>Unlike the cosmopolitan environments most other places in <br>
the world, foreign-sounding Japanese speakers are still <br>regarded with suspicion or impatience by the general public<br>when being cold-called over the phone. First of all Japan<br>is a face-to-face culture and phone solicitations are not<br>
well regarded, and so to have someone not Japanese to be <br>doing is just rubbing salt into the wound.<br><br>So if there is going to be off-shoring, it needs to be with<br>Japanese operators. The problem then is to convince <br>
suitable individuals to work in such remote locations and <br>of course to take the much lower salaries that call centers<br>abroad will pay. In the last ten years a number of foreign <br>and Japanese companies have tried to get Japanese call <br>
center personnel to move to Dalian, China, on the basis <br>that the city is already Japanese citizen friendly and that<br>Japanese-speaking Chinese employees are available to assist<br>the Japanese staff with preliminary phone calls or <br>
follow-up paperwork and reporting so that the Japanese <br>native speakers can be more efficient. <br><br>Recruiters approaching candidates for Dalian would <br>invariably focus on better working conditions and lower<br>costs of living. However, despite their best efforts, we <br>
don't know anyone running a proper off-shore call center <br>business out of Dalian that isn't somehow being propped up<br>with other work or with internal group business. Several <br>companies say they are, but they then have gone on to set <br>
up subsequent call centers back in Japan -- a clear <br>give away that things are not going as well as the PR <br>people say. Instead, most of the work in Dalian appears to <br>be more data entry and other non-spoken Business Process <br>
Outsourcing (BPO). In these areas it is a viable <br>destination.<br><br>So what's needed is a place off-shore where Japanese want <br>to live and will willingly work for lower salary. Most <br>likely they will already be in that location for reasons <br>
other than a job -- such as education, family commitments, <br>or even retirement. It was no doubt with this thought in <br>mind that IBM some years ago set up what seemed the ideal <br>off-shore location -- in Brisbane, Australia, putting <br>
young working holiday makers from Japan to work where they <br>might otherwise not have found anything. <br><br>Certainly there was no shortage of candidates, with over <br>10,000 Japanese a year going to Australia on Working <br>
Holiday visas at the time. However, what we heard is that <br>because most of the travelers were there for a good time, <br>IBM found it hard to find quality staff who would show up <br>on time and stay with the program. We don't know if that <br>
call center is still going now but it certainly didn't get any<br>bigger.<br><br>This is actually the same problem facing call centers in <br>Okinawa now. Although the work ethic is a bit better, the <br>population of young people on the island who want to work <br>
in call centers is limited and the many mainland kids down <br>there are there for the surfing and beach parties. Indeed, <br>they know that getting a job is difficult and therefore they can <br>draw unemployment benefits. Those companies trying to make <br>
their Okinawa call centers work are finding that they are <br>either having to transfer staff down from other parts of <br>the country, or are paying more than the going rate for<br>other jobs, so as to get people to stay.<br>
<br>One large call center company that has made a big <br>commitment to Okinawa is Transcosmos. The company has <br>decided that the best way to keep employees committed is <br>to give them technical training and other benefits that <br>
the young employees might otherwise have to go to Tokyo <br>for. For them at least this seems to be working and they <br>continue to grow apace, with about 3,000 employees in and<br>around Naha. <br><br>The going rate for call center operators (generally <br>
inbound, not the harder-to-do outbound) in Okinawa is <br>around JPY150K-JPY180K per person per month, about <br>JPY100K cheaper than paying for the same job up here in <br>Tokyo. With that kind of saving, not only Transcosmos but <br>
also other players are persisting with Okinawa.<br><br>So if employing young adults for call centers seems to be <br>a problem in most places, the answer is possibly with <br>using other age groups who may have a stronger sense of <br>
responsibility and who can communicate more appropriately. <br>This is where the cloud computing technology being <br>developed by Adecco and NTT East has promise. The two <br>companies are targeting housewives who, because of the <br>
ongoing tough domestic business environment are <br>underemployed, and who want to work and are willing to do <br>so from home while the kids are at school. No office means<br>big savings for the call center companies.<br>
<br>Providing the Adecco/NTT can create a system which can <br>seamlessly know operator's schedules and hunt available <br>operators quickly, then from a customer's point of view they <br>might have a similar experience to a professional facility <br>
taking the same call. However, if some of the home-based <br>operators have babies or dogs, then the customer experience<br>might be unpredictable. <br><br>Also, it is highly likely that because the housewives will <br>all want to work the same core hours, whereas most outbound<br>
calling to consumers happens after hours, then there will <br>still be a shortage of people wanting this kind of work at <br>the hours that they are needed.<br><br>The answer to "cloud-sourcing" after hours operators is to <br>
do it outside Japan, taking advantage of time and lifestyle <br>differences. For example, there are large communities of <br>underemployed Japanese housewives and retirees in places <br>like Singapore, Malaysia, London, and Los Angeles, who <br>
because of the lower costs or family commitments, may be <br>willing to act as call center operators from home. Indeed, <br>there are almost one million Japanese registered as living <br>abroad, which includes hundreds of thousands of retirees <br>
and housewives. All these locations have good network <br>infrastructure and could support a cloud-based approach to <br>IP calls and call redirection.<br><br>From this perspective, we don't see the conventional <br>destinations of India, China, and the Philippines as being <br>
suitable for call center off-shoring. Instead, it's going <br>to be places that Japanese have naturally aggregated for <br>personal reasons, and Adecco/NTT East's new system may be <br>just the ticket to bring those people back into the <br>
workforce.<br><br><br>...The information janitors/<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>--------- BIOS - Bilingual IT Systems and Support ---------<br><br>BiOS full-service IT solutions has a new service.<br>
<br>Working with our fully licenced temporary dispatch group,<br>we are now able to provide Japan in-country workers<br>for companies not yet registered in Japan.<br><br>This innovative service is available for companies needing<br>
to hire staff for Japanese customers, but who are unable<br>to commit to the expense and infrastructure of maintaining<br>an office in Japan. We take care of all aspects of the<br>employment, contracting, and dispatch -- including <br>
management of the employee.<br><br>For more information on this and other SI and IT services,<br>in English or Japanese:<br><br>Phone: 03-5773-3090, Email: <a href="mailto:solutions@biosjp.com">solutions@biosjp.com</a><br>
Web: <a href="http://www.biosjp.com">www.biosjp.com</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br>+++ NEWS<br><br>- More Chinese tourists arriving<br>- More Hondas built in USA than Japan<br>
- U.S. games company scores cool US$150M from Softbank<br>- Takeda profit slumps 43.1%<br>- Battery-powered bikes more popular<br><br><br><br>-> More Chinese tourists arriving<br><br>The recent easing of Chinese tourist visa requirements has <br>
had the desired effect and according to the Japan Tourism <br>Agency, visas issued in July to individuals coming to Japan<br>soared 560% over a year earlier. Final numbers are not yet <br>in, but it appears that around 7,500 people will travel to <br>
Japan. ***Ed: This is still well short of the overall <br>goals, amounting to just 100,000 extra tourists annually, <br>so we expect this number to jump at least another ten <br>times. The big question is whether this new wave of tourists <br>
spend at the same prolific rate as their wealthier <br>compatriots have been?** (Source: TT commentary from <br><a href="http://japantimes.co.jp">japantimes.co.jp</a>, Jul 30, 2010)<br><br><a href="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100730f2.html">http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20100730f2.html</a><br>
<br>-> More Hondas built in USA than Japan<br><br>In fiscal Q1 this year, Honda built 260 more vehicles in <br>the USA, or 236,819 cars in all, to possibly mark the first<br>time that the company has seen production in a foreign <br>
market surpass its Japanese one. Apparently if calendar Q1 <br>and Q2 production figures are combined, Japanese production<br>is still slightly ahead. Whatever the case, this is all <br>good news for Honda and they announced that first-quarter <br>
revenue jumped 18% to JPY2.361trn, with net profits of <br>JPY272.4bn, meaning that the company blew past analyst <br>expectations of a net profit of JPY150bn. (Source: TT <br>commentary from <a href="http://detnews.com">detnews.com</a>, Jul 31, 2010)<br>
<br><a href="http://tinyurl.com/237b3sk">http://tinyurl.com/237b3sk</a><br><br>-> U.S. games company scores cool US$150M from Softbank<br><br>Online games company Zynga, the owner of the hugely popular<br>Farmville Facebook game, has received an investment of <br>
US$150m from Softbank as part of an agreement to create a <br>j/v to service the Japanese market. It seems that Softbank <br>may be planning to match the game library from Zynga with <br>its Yahoo Japan franchise, which has about 24m registered, <br>
active users. ***Ed: No doubt a China play won't be far <br>behind.** (Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://businessweek.com">businessweek.com</a>, Jul<br>29, 2010)<br><br><a href="http://tinyurl.com/28c8qa8">http://tinyurl.com/28c8qa8</a><br>
<br>-> Takeda profit slumps 43.1%<br><br>If you are wondering why Japanese pharma companies are <br>paying such high prices abroad for foreign competitors, at <br>least part of the answer can be found in the major slump in<br>
Takeda Pharmaceutical's earnings this last quarter. The <br>company said that its net profit for fiscal Q1 is down a <br>massive 43% due partly to an expired US patent on a major <br>product, the ulcer drug Prevacid, and partly because of the<br>
strong yen. (Source: TT commentary from <a href="http://nikkei.com">nikkei.com</a>, Jul 30,<br>2010)<br><br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20100730D30JF284.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20100730D30JF284.htm</a><br>
<br>-> Battery-powered bikes more popular<br><br>While sales of regular pedal-powered bicycles in Japan <br>dropped yet again, to 9.67m units last year, <br>battery-powered bicycles are selling well to housewives and<br>
others, and enjoyed a 16% rise to 365,000 units in 2009. <br>This is significant because while the average pedal-only <br>model sells for just JPY10,800, while the battery-powered <br>units sell for an average JPY63,000. The Nikkei reckons <br>
that Japanese battery-powered bicycle makers will start to <br>focus on Europe as their next major market, and demand is <br>expected to reach 1m units a year. (Source: TT commentary <br>from <a href="http://nikkei.com">nikkei.com</a>, Jul 28, 2010)<br>
<br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/veritas/Nni20100728D28VS031.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/veritas/Nni20100728D28VS031.htm</a><br><br><br>NOTE: Broken links<br>Many online news sources remove their articles after just a<br>
few days of posting them, thus breaking our links -- we<br>apologize for the inconvenience.<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>---------- Microfinance in the South Pacific --------------<br>
<br>Help Combat Poverty in the Pacific through MicroDreams<br><br>The MicroDreams Foundation is a U.S. and N.Z. based <br>charitable organization that empowers the poorest of the <br>poor to grow micro-businesses and pursue their dreams.<br>
<br>MicroDreams partners with world class micro-enterprise<br>development organizations to provide poor families <br>especially in the opportunity-starved nations of the <br>Pacific with:<br><br>- Micro-enterprise development training and financing<br>
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-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>+++ CANDIDATE ROUND UP/VACANCIES<br><br>=> BiOS, a Division of the LINC Media group, is actively <br>
marketing the following positions for customers setting up <br>or expanding in Japan, as well as other employers of <br>bilinguals.<br><br>** HIGHLIGHTED POSITION(S)<br><br>BiOS is currently looking for an experienced and highly <br>
successful SMB Sales Manager to join our clients, <br>specializing in sales of Software As A Service. This person<br>will lead a sales department which is currently in the <br>process of shifting to a direct sales model for Japan, and <br>
as such the focus is on direct rather than channel or <br>partner sales. Supporting this, and also forming part of <br>your core duties you will manage lead generation to sales <br>closure for Small and Medium sized Business, take ownership <br>
and direct the metrics of lead generation and opportunity, <br>and lead accounts and take an active role in <br>troubleshooting any changes or issues.<br><br>The successful candidate in this role will have more than 6<br>
years experience in IT software sales, ideally with the <br>SaaS background forming part or all of this, and will also <br>have 2 years experience managing a sales team to successful<br>meet and beat targets on a regular basis. In addition to <br>
this, although not mandatory, the most desirable candidates<br>will have some form of telemarketing and/or telesales <br>experience, and will finally have experience managing <br>Japanese customers in direct sales.<br><br>
Remuneration is up to JPY20m depending on your experience <br>and level<br><br>** POSITIONS VACANT<br><br>- President of Ops, Plastics Manf, Ebina, JP12m – JPY18m<br>- eSourcing Account Manager, JPY4.5m – JPY5.5m<br>- Web Apps Support, LCD Manf JPY3.5m – JPY4m<br>
- Unix Engineer, iBank in Okinawa, JPY4m – JPY5m<br>- Fixed Income Developer, European iBank, JPY8m – JPY12m<br><br>Interested individuals may e-mail resumes to:<br><a href="mailto:stuart.gibson@biosjp.com">stuart.gibson@biosjp.com</a><br>
<br>** BiOS Job Mail<br><br>Every 2 weeks BiOS sends out a regular communication to its<br>job seeking candidates, called BiOS Job Mail. Every edition<br>carries a list of BiOS's current and most up-to-date<br>vacancies, with each entry featuring a short job<br>
description and a direct link to the main entry on the BiOS<br>home page. Regardless of whether you are unemployed and<br>searching, thinking about a career change, or just curious<br>to know if there is something out there that might suit you<br>
better, the BiOS Job Mail newsletter is an easy and<br>convenient way for you to stay informed. If you would like<br>to register for the BiOS Job Mail, or to find out more,<br>please email <a href="mailto:stuart.gibson@biosjp.com">stuart.gibson@biosjp.com</a>.<br>
<br>Interested individuals may e-mail resumes to:<br><a href="mailto:stuart.gibson@biosjp.com">stuart.gibson@biosjp.com</a><br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>----------- Making Web Sites More Affordable --------------<br>
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products.<br><br>Program includes:<br>- Japanese/English website development<br>- Configuration of core software (Wordpress or Drupal, etc.)<br>- Software development (PHP, mySQL, etc.)<br>- Daily changes to the site<br>- Hosting, security, and backup<br>
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<br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br><br>+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS<br><br>--------------- Entrepreneur Seminar is Back --------------<br><br>Start a Company in Japan<br><br>Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar 18th of September, 2010<br>
<br>If you have been considering setting up your own company,<br>find out what it takes to make it successful. Terrie <br>Lloyd, founder of over 13 start-up companies in Japan,<br>will be giving an English-language seminar and Q and A on<br>
starting up a company in Japan.<br><br>This is an ideal opportunity to find out what is involved,<br>and to ask specific questions that are not normally <br>answered in business books. All materials are in English <br>and are Japan-focused.<br>
<br>For more details:<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar">http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar</a><br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>
***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>+++ CORRECTIONS/FEEDBACK<br><br>In this section we run comments and corrections submitted<br>by readers. We encourage you to spot our mistakes and<br>amplify our points, by email, to <a href="mailto:editors@terrie.com">editors@terrie.com</a>.<br>
<br>*** In TT574 we wrote about Japanese companies taking on <br>Chinese interns so as to train them and eventually send<br>them back to China to represent the interests of the <br>companies. However, a reader points out that while some<br>
forward looking firms may be doing this, many mainstream<br>players are still not committed to the China market. <br><br>=> Reader comment: <br>One paragraph in your Take this week mentioned Japanese <br>companies hiring Chinese with the intention of sending them<br>
back to China. You may be interested to learn that in <br>(fashion) retail, except for Uniqlo, most Japanese <br>companies are doing poorly in China. One good example is <br>Isetan. My luxury brand clients all refused to open a store<br>
in a shopping mall where Isetan is the department store <br>operator. Also, although opportunities abound whenever I <br>contact Japanese companies like FrancFranc, Peach John, <br>etc., about China, they all shy away from the idea with a <br>
“thanks, but no thanks attitude”.<br> <br>This report sums up the issues nicely<br> <br><a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/retail/pdf/Winning_China.pdf">http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/retail/pdf/Winning_China.pdf</a><br>
<br><br>***********************************************************<br>END<br><br>SUBSCRIBERS: 8,972 members as of August 1st, 2010<br>(We purge our list regularly.)<br><br>+++ ABOUT US<br><br>STAFF<br>Written by: Terrie Lloyd (<a href="mailto:terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com">terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com</a>)<br>
<br>HELP: E-mail <a href="mailto:Terrie-request@mailman.japaninc.com">Terrie-request@mailman.japaninc.com</a><br>with the word 'help' in the subject or body (don't include<br>the quotes), and you will get back a message with<br>
instructions.<br><br>FEEDBACK<br>Send letters (Feedback, Inquiries & Information) to the<br>editor to <a href="mailto:terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com">terrie.lloyd@japaninc.com</a>.<br><br>ADVERTISING INFORMATION<br>For more information on advertising in this newsletter,<br>
Contact <a href="mailto:ads@japaninc.com">ads@japaninc.com</a>.<br><br>SUBSCRIBE<br>Get Terrie's Take by giving your name and email address at<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up">http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up</a>, or go<br>
straight to Mailman at:<br><a href="http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie">http://mailman.japaninc.com/mailman/listinfo/terrie</a><br><br>BACK ISSUES<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take">http://www.japaninc.com/terries_take</a><br>
or, <a href="http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/">http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/</a><br><br>Copyright 2010 Japan Inc. Communications Inc.<br><br>----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ----------------<br>
<br>J@pan Inc is Japan's only independently published English-<br>language business website. Authoritatively chronicling <br>online the business trends in Japan, each posting brings <br>you in-depth analysis of business, people and technology in<br>
the world's second largest economy. <br><br>Visit <a href="http://www.japaninc.com">www.japaninc.com</a> for the best business insight on<br>Japan available.<br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
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