* * * * * * * * * 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, September 23, 2012, Issue No. 679<br>
<br>+++ INDEX<br><br>- What's New -- Interesting New Outsourcing Trends<br>- News -- 90% of disabled feel discriminated against<br>- Upcoming Events -- Entrepreneur seminar<br>- Corrections/Feedback<br>- Travel Picks -- Cape Kamui, Hokkaido and Fuji in Nagoya<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><br><br>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-PBXL Managed Cisco Services-=-=-=-=-=-=--=<br><br>After delivering the first hosted Cisco PBX offering in <br>
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PBXL Managed Cisco Voice--because PBXL is Business <br>Communications<br>-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br><br>+++ WHAT'S NEW<br><br>Some interesting things going on in the world of <br>outsourcing recently. What with the persistently high yen, <br>
the government increasingly pressuring employers to choose <br>between full-time workers or nothing, and the overall <br>increase of employee social welfare compulsory <br>contributions -- changes in this sector shouldn't be <br>
surprising.<br><br>First up, the expansion of Japanese companies producing <br>garments in Myanmar. In 2010 Japan became the largest <br>destination for that country's apparel exports, accounting <br>for about half the output of its 250 or so factories. The <br>
Nikkei covered the experience of casual clothing <br>retailer Honey's, which in April this year inaugurated its <br>first self-owned apparel factory outside Japan. The new <br>Honey's plant is located in Mingalardon Garden City in <br>
Yangon, employs 600 people, and turns out trousers that <br>sell in Japan for just JPY1,400 each. <br><br>What's notable about Honey's is that the company is a <br>dyed-in-the-wool user of outsourcing suppliers, <br>
producing 30m pieces of clothing (90% of its total output) <br>annually with this model. However, after one of its prime <br>suppliers in China went belly up due to rising wages, the <br>company embarked on a China-Plus-One strategy that would <br>
revolve around setting up its own factories elsewhere. <br>Thanks to good timing and a zero import tariff incentive <br>program for Myanmar, they settled on Yangon for their new <br>off-shore production center.<br><br>Whatever you may think of first-world companies exporting <br>
jobs to low-cost locations, the profit motive for Honey's <br>is very compelling. The Nikkei said that the average <br>salary for machinists in Myanmar is just US$95 a month. <br>This is an amazing 80% cheaper than machinists in China and<br>
also cheaper than producing in Bangladesh -- the other <br>major destination for many apparel makers wanting out of <br>China. Uniqlo produces in Bangladesh. With costs like this,<br>it's not hard to see a huge trade boom happening between <br>
Myanmar and Japan over the next 3 years. Also, with 62m <br>citizens, Myanmar is likely to become a major export <br>market for Japanese goods in the mid-term as well -- sort<br>of like what has been happening in Vietnam...<br>
<br>[Continued below...]<br><br><br>---------------- Bilingual Web Marketing ----------------<br><br>Did you know that the publisher of the English-language<br>ACCJ Journal, Japan Inc. Communications, also has a <br>bilingual marketing team focusing on Japanese consumers?<br>
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more details. <br><br><a href="mailto:sales@japaninc.com">sales@japaninc.com</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br>[...Article continues]<br><br>Next up is the August 26th acquisition by Fujifilm of the <br>
direct mail Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operations <br>of Salmat in Australia. Fujifilm paid AUD375m for Salmat <br>Document Management Solutions Pty. Limited (SDMS) and its <br>various related entities, which apparently were earning <br>
around AUD49.5m in EBITA -- not a bad deal for Fujifilm. <br>Now, you might wonder what an imaging and pharma <br>conglomerate wants with an Australian BPO firm? <br><br>According to the press release put out by Fujifilm, and <br>
getting past the "synergies" part, Fujifilm really wanted <br>SDMS' customer base and know how in profitably monetizing <br>offshore BPO services. SDMS will help Fujifilm expand its <br>BPO business in China and elsewhere in Asia, piggybacking <br>
on SDMS' existing clients, data systems, service offerings,<br>and outsourcing centers. It looks like Fujifilm sees BPO as<br>the logical next step in evolving from a struggling printer<br>business (we covered this downtrend in TT676 <br>
<a href="http://bit.ly/QMXwyL">http://bit.ly/QMXwyL</a>, where we discussed potential threats <br>in the printer business to Seiko Epson). <br><br>Given that Fujifilm is not the only Japanese conglomerate <br>building a BPO business in China for processing office work<br>
in Japan, their acquisition marks an acceleration of the <br>trend. It may also be a sign of how Japanese worker <br>demographics will change over the next 5-10 years. Our take<br>is that it's not just manufacturing jobs that will <br>
disappear -- back office positions will probably evaporate <br>as well.<br><br>In the next news item last week, IT behemoth (US$54bn in <br>sales) Fujitsu announced that it is launching a global IT <br>outsourcing service for Japanese firms expanding abroad. <br>
The new service is dubbed Workplace-LCM and is an <br>end-to-end cloud-to-work desk support service for users no <br>matter where they are. With its 170,000 employees in over <br>100 countries, Fujitsu's claim that it will tie all parts <br>
of their client's organization into a single service <br>delivery platform is no small thing, and could remove some <br>of the hesitancy that some Japanese firms are having about <br>expanding abroad. At very least it will allow clients to <br>
avoid having to bulk up on foreign and bilingual IT staff.<br><br>The devil is in the details of course, and there is no <br>indication of what the service will sell for, but it will<br>probably be competitively priced, if only because they <br>
will have competition from Indian firms. We do wonder where<br>Fujitsu will get its own bilingual staff from, given the <br>ongoing shortage of bilingual IT people in Japan. However <br>we can guess that they will leverage existing resources by <br>
using a pyramid-style service offering -- comprising of a <br>few front-end Japanese-speaking service desk personnel who<br>flow out work requests and system specifications in the <br>various local languages. Fujitsu's revenue target for its <br>
Workplace-LCM service is a cool JPY100bn.<br><br>It goes without saying that a major reason for companies <br>like Fujifilm and Fujitsu expanding abroad is because their<br>home market is shrinking -- partly due to intense <br>
competition, but mostly due to the fact that companies are <br>pulling back in terms of manpower. You don't see it in the <br>unemployment statistics, but then, given how people are <br>taken off the job seeker rolls after just 6 months or are <br>
settling for temporary jobs, the unemployed and <br>underemployed are nonetheless increasing. As of 2011 the <br>number of people in the overall workforce fell by 4m people<br>-- and this is not just due to the baby boomers starting <br>
to retire. Further, of the 49m employees in Japan, only 32m<br>were regular staff and 17m were irregular (read, <br>underemployed, willingly part-time, short-term contracted, <br>or outsourced).<br><br>So that brings us to the last outsourcing news item for <br>
this Take, which comes from the outsourcing sector itself. <br>The world's largest outsourcing firm, and one of the top 5 <br>players in Japan, Adecco, announced this last week that its<br>Japan revenues dropped 10% year-on-year, to EUR379m. <br>
Although Adecco Japan managed an EBITA increase of 8% to <br>EUR23m, put into context, the 10% sales fall came only <br>after including the new VSN business revenues, which <br>Adecco acquired in Q1 this year for EUR90m. Given that <br>
Adecco is one of the world's most accomplished outsourcing <br>firms, this result is not a particularly good sign.<br><br>*****************<br><br>Finally, a last call for next weekend's Entrepreneur <br>Handbook Seminar, our quarterly workshop on how to start, <br>
run, and sell a company as a non-Japanese in Japan. See the<br>listing below in Events, or go direct to <br><a href="http://bit.ly/OjWZIr">http://bit.ly/OjWZIr</a> for details.<br><br><br><br>...The information janitors/<br>
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<br>+++ NEWS<br><br>- Speech training device gets Ig Nobel award<br>- Japan-related publishing suspended in China<br>- 90% of disabled feel discriminated against<br>- Anti-Japan protests come with high cost<br><br><br><br>
=> Speech training device gets Ig Nobel award<br><br>Whether or not the Ig Nobel awards are worth making, some <br>of the inventions they recognize are nonetheless a lot of <br>fun to read about. Apparently two Japanese researchers <br>
from the Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and <br>Technology (AIST) were recognized this year for a side <br>effect of an invention they created to help public speakers<br>enunciate and time their presentations properly. The <br>
SpeechJammer comes with a 100ms reverb function that causes<br>people to become distracted as they listen to themselves <br>and thus they stop talking. A very handy device to have <br>when you're visiting a mother-in-law! ***Ed: Actually, we <br>
notice this effect all the time when having someone do <br>simultaneous interpretation and if the interpreter's booth <br>is not properly sound insulated.** (Source: TT commentary <br>from <a href="http://japantimes.co.jp">japantimes.co.jp</a>, Sep 22, 2012)<br>
<br><a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120922a8.html">http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120922a8.html</a><br><br>=> Japan-related publishing suspended in China<br><br>Anti-Japanese feeling has been running deep in China, and <br>
is being extended across all areas of bilateral relations. <br>Publishing became the latest casualty this last week, when <br>Beijing city officials ordered publishing houses to suspend<br>the release of books about or related to Japan. The <br>
expectation is that the ban will spread beyond Beijing to <br>other locations. ***Ed: Actually, it already has spread. On<br>Friday our sister company Metropolis tried to post in <br>Chinese on a major blogging site an article about ancient <br>
fossils in Gifu, only to have the posting removed a mere 10<br>minutes later by the hosting firm itself. Not sure why <br>fossils are politically sensitive, but this little anecdote<br>goes to show how deep the censorship runs.** (Source: TT <br>
commentary from <a href="http://e.nikkei.com">e.nikkei.com</a>, Sep 21, 2012)<br><br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20120921D21JF768.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20120921D21JF768.htm</a><br><br>=> 90% of disabled feel discriminated against<br>
<br>The ugly side of Japan is its lack of empathy for the <br>disadvantaged in society, be they single moms, foreigners, <br>or in this case the disabled. A Cabinet Office survey of <br>3,000 disabled adults found that 89.2% of them felt <br>
discriminated against, an increase of 6.3% from a similar <br>survey conducted back in 2007. After seeing the results of<br>the survey, the government is apparently going to table a <br>bill to ban discrimination of the disabled as well as to <br>
increase the number of ramps, Braille signs, and other <br>forms of assistance. ***Ed: Now, if only they would view <br>foreigners as disabled, then we could ask them to ban <br>discrimination according to race as well.** (Source: TT <br>
commentary from <a href="http://e.nikkei.com">e.nikkei.com</a>, Sep 22, 2012)<br><br><a href="http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20120922D22JF939.htm">http://e.nikkei.com/e/ac/tnks/Nni20120922D22JF939.htm</a><br><br>=> Anti-Japan protests come with high cost<br>
<br>Japan's major auto makers Toyota, Nissan, and Honda <br>estimate that collectively they have lost about US$250m in <br>output due to the anti-Japanese protests in China. <br>However, while this number is a direct estimate, the makers<br>
are also highly concerned about potential lost sales due to<br>the fact that some owners of Japanese cars are scared to <br>drive their vehicles in public. Nissan has apparently <br>already resumed production in China, but Toyota and Honda <br>
have still suspended activity at their factories. When all <br>three halted production, their collective output fell from <br>14,000 cars a day to zero. ***Ed: Given that Nissan hopes <br>to sell 2.3m cars in China annually by 2015, this is a big <br>
problem for them if it gets worse.** (Source: TT commentary<br>from <a href="http://reuters.com">reuters.com</a>, Sep 20, 2012)<br><br><a href="http://reut.rs/QsA9wQ">http://reut.rs/QsA9wQ</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>
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<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<br><br>BiOS is urgently looking for a Data Center Engineer to join<br>our client, an international IT services provider in Tokyo. <br>The successful candidate will be responsible for providing <br>
24/7 data center support to a global investment bank, with <br>duties including break-fix of Sun and HP products, <br>installing servers and building/maintaining workstations, <br>managing inventory and databases after installation, and <br>
tape management. In addition, you would also be responsible<br>for escorting and monitoring onsite vendor activity, <br>creating reports, monitoring servers, storage, and <br>networks, and escalating problems.<br><br>Due to the technical nature and demanding work environment,<br>
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<br>** POSITIONS VACANT<br><br>- Sw Asset Manager, global bank, JPY4.5M – JPY5.5M<br>- Data Center Engr (Tape Change), IT Co., JPY3.5M – JPY4M<br>- Data Center Engr, international bank, JPY3.6M – JPY4.8M<br>- Project Manager, international IT co., JPY5.4M - JPY7M<br>
- IMAC Engr, international investment firm, JPY 4M – 4.8M<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:jason.kisling@biosjp.com">jason.kisling@biosjp.com</a>.<br><br>Interested individuals may e-mail resumes to:<br><a href="mailto:jason.kisling@biosjp.com">jason.kisling@biosjp.com</a> and check out the BiOS web page<br>
for other jobs: <a href="http://www.biosjp.com/positions.php">http://www.biosjp.com/positions.php</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br>
<br>+++ UPCOMING EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS<br><br>---------------- Start a Company in Japan -----------------<br><br>Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar 29th of September, 2012<br><br>If you have been considering setting up your own company,<br>
find out what it takes to make it successful. Terrie Lloyd,<br>founder of over 17 start-up companies in Japan, will be <br>giving an English-language seminar and Q&A on starting up <br>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>+++ 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>=> No corrections or comments this week.<br><br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br>
<br>+++ TRAVEL DESTINATIONS PICKS<br><br>=> Cape Kamui, Shakotan peninsula, Hokkaido<br>Soak up the beautiful coastal scenery<br><br>Cape Kamui, on Hokkaido's Shakotan peninsula, is great stop <br>for any sightseer, assuming you come by car or bus. From <br>
the parking lot, a maze of trails weaves its way to a <br>series of viewpoints overlooking the Sea of Japan. Hints <br>of historical intrigue begin at a signboard noting an <br>area that was once off limits to women. The legend has it <br>
(clumsily summarized) that a native Ainu chief's daughter, <br>devastated over the sudden departure of a man she loved, <br>shouted a curse dictating that any woman passing the cape <br>on a ship would die; she herself then jumped into the sea. <br>
For the whole story, search online for the legend of Kamui <br>rock, but for now, enjoy the pictures...<br><br><a href="http://japantourist.jp/photos/cape-kamui-shakotan-peninsula">http://japantourist.jp/photos/cape-kamui-shakotan-peninsula</a><br>
<br>=> Fuji, the Floating Antarctic Museum, Nagoya<br>Retired ice breaker that plied the South Pole<br><br>Sitting in the Port of Nagoya’s Garden Wharf, opposite the <br>Nagoya Aquarium, is a large, bright orange and white ship <br>
with a large Sikorsky Sea King helicopter riding piggy <br>back. This is the Japanese Antarctic survey ship, Fuji, a <br>retired ice breaker that plied the South Pole for 18 years <br>starting it’s first journey in 1965.<br>
<br>100 meters long, 11 meters wide and 22 meters high with a <br>displacement of 5,250 tons, the diesel electric powered <br>Fuji boasted a speed of 17 knots, (about 35 kilometers an <br>hour) and carried a 245 capacity full crew and research <br>
team. The Fuji could break through ice as thick as 80 <br>centimeters. After many successful missions, Fuji was <br>finally retired to its current location.<br><br><a href="http://japantourist.jp/view/fuji-the-floating-antarctic-museum">http://japantourist.jp/view/fuji-the-floating-antarctic-museum</a><br>
<br>***------------------------****-------------------------***<br><br>***********************************************************<br>END<br><br>SUBSCRIBERS: 7,886 members as of September 23, 2012<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>
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or, <a href="http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/">http://mailman.japaninc.com/pipermail/terrie/</a><br><br>Copyright 2012 Japan Inc. Communications Inc.<br><br>----------------- Japan Inc opens up Japan ----------------<br>
<br>J@pan Inc authoritatively chronicles business trends in <br>Japan. Each posting brings you in-depth analysis of <br>business, people and technology in the world's third <br>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><br><br><br><br><br>