Show rr- - i I Rebekah Alpisa 10 Crossword 12 The Herald Journal Logan Utah Monday February 14 1994 Understanding language and culture vital in trade relations By Patrick Williams USU Information Services Traders at the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market deal the US Dollar today which opened at 10615 yen the lowest it’s been since Nov 15 1993 Dollar stocks plunge on trade discord TOKYO (AP) — The breakdown in trade talks between Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and President Clinton last week sent Tokyo share prices plunging today while the yen i f manager of equity operations with Nikko Securities At their summit in Washington on Friday Hosokawa and Clinton failed to reach an accord on cutting Japan’s $50 billion trade surplus with the United States shot up against the dollar The Nikkei Stock Average 225-iss- i holiday "The lack of agreement between the US and Japan led to strong market pessimism” said Yasuo Ueki general ue fell 53145 points or 266 percent closing at 1945925 On Thursday the Nikkei gained 14932 points or 075 percent to 1999070 Japan’s financial mafkfeti Wdrif closed Friday for? Trader ' ' v1 a'vi -- said prices especially of The Ibkyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the first section was down 2616 points or 163 percent to d electronics and precision instrument issues fell in reaction export-oriente- to a surge in the value of the yen against the dollar A stronger yen reduces the value of earnings that Japanese exporters make overseas It also tends to make Japanese exports to the United States more expensive while making US exports to Japan cheaper — a factor that many believe could help ease the trade imbalance 158198 The TOPIX rose 1012 points or 063 percent on Thursday An estimated 300 million shares changed hands on the first section down from Thursday’s 359 million shares Declining issues outnumbered advances 934 to 155 with 82 unchanged Cultural understanding and language proficiency are keys to successful international trade a guest speaker told an audience at Utah State University Saburo Yuzawa chief executive director for the office of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Los Angeles spoke to a group of students and faculty in USU’s Asian Studies program “An important key to successfully working with Japanese companies is to recognize the cultural differences between Americans and Japanese” Yuzawa told the audience “Also don’t assume that all Japanese speak English Although this may be true of representatives of large corporations it is seldom true of business people in small to medium size Japanese companies” The ideal in Japanese business is “perfectionism” and in Japanese manufacturing the concept of “zero defects” is taken very seriously Yuzawa stated He said that in his experience with American customer service representatives he has found that expecting defects is the norm rather than the exception “The first thing a Japanese customer service representative will do is to apologize to the customer for the defective part” Yuzawa ’s visit to USU was part of an Asian Studies Program seminar series sponsored by the Center for International Studies the College of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences the College of Business and International Programs and Studies Yuzawa joined JETRO in 1963 and has served in Tokyo His overseas assignments include posts as executive director of JETRO San Salvador office in charge of Central American and Caribbean countries 1969-7- 4 and as executive director of the Lima Office of Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan (OECF) JETRO is a nonprofit government supported orga- nization which promotes beneficial trade and ' See RELATIONS on page 10 - In 30 years Olsen has seen local work force double But he is now hanging it up as Job Service manager bunches after school Kids now have the opportunity to stay here if they want to” That’s something Olsen appreciates because all Logan Job Service Manager Hyrum Olsen has five of his children still live with their families in overseen what was probably the biggest increase in this area He expects that to make his retirement Cache Valley’s work fence since the first influx of more enjoyable since he’ll be able to spend more pioneers took root here and now he’s ready to call time with his 14 grandchildren preferably on his ranch in Box Elder County it quits ' Olsen isn’t planning to become a couch potato “Maybe it’s time to move on when you start dealing with the third generation of applicants” Olsen After his first act as a retiree — “I’m going to stuff” — he says with a smile When he walks out of his office throw away all my for the final time upon retirement later this month plans to travel golf ski do some writing and he will have worked at Job Service for more than “straighten out the garage and see if I can find my 30 years 17 of those as the Logan office manager fishing pole” He will also have time to get reacquainted with Olsen’s career spanned the explosive industrial growth the valley experienced from the late 1960’s his wife Ellen who retired last October “She’s until now when big employers such as Moore starting up a list of things around the house and Business Forms Schreiber Foods and Pepperidge yard for us to work on” Olsen says Farm migrated into the area Ted Nyman who has been at Logan Job Service “The work force has more than doubled in the for about 17 years describes Olsen as a good manpast 30 years” Olsen says “We now have more ager who was active and involved in the communitthan 33000 people In the last 25 years we’ve seen ya dramatic change in the valley’s employer commuHe adds “One thing about Hyrum he has a lot of n in the wit and humor” Olsen was nity and opportunities for people to work” The response to each new business’s entrance he office for writing humorous poems for fellow workers Nyman says says was "fascinating" Olsen says his biggest challenge was the move “A new company would announce they were coming in and people would come out of the from the working floor into the manager’s office and the woodwork and want to apply” he says Many of “One day you’re seen as a the applicants were people who left Cache Vklley next day you’re seen as a manager — at least you and wanted to come back and he expects that trend hope you are” he says “The Logan office has to continue always had a reputation for high production and it “The next 20 years will be an exciting time" was a challenge to maintain that high level and Olsea says "There will be more growth and it’s improve on ft” The biggest rush for jobs he remembers is the day important to plan and be ready for that When I first after Thiokol announced ft was taking applications came to this office there weren’t that many opportunities and people were leaving the valley in for the first time in 10 years The 5000 applications By Lance Frazier staff writer ‘ 40-ac- re well-know- er Dim BuahHaraM Journal Logan Job Service Manager Hyrum Olsen known for his office humor is retiring after 30 years with Job Service and 17 as the Logan offica manager provided for the Logan and Box Elder offices were o weather He spent gone in one day despite that day handing out applications in the parking lot for people to fill out in their cars since the office was packed “The companies that came in saw the potential sub-zer- here” Olsen says “There was a great work ethic on the part of the local work force A lot of workers were right off the farm and they bad the attitude employers were looking for At that time their language didn't include calling in sick That ethic may have eroded somewhat in the past 25 years but it’s still good" Change is an ongoing process that leads to ‘learning organizations’ By CWw M —'Business Sense McEvoy The “capacity for change” means that an organization is able to move through e change cycle quickly: a) the present state of the organization b) planning for change c) managing the transition and d) evaluating outcomes of the change and transitioning back to the first stage As discussed in presious columns a four-stag- dug-nosi- ng firm las developed the capacity for change when ft makes cmtinwal Hnfwve meats is its ability so reduce the time ft takes to move through this cy tk To manage change sscrcwfuHy one must be able to kw this process as as and uaeisiMirt cycle rf neats fcpr Jr three- - and four-daworkshops form the starling point for developing an internal mindset designed to "bust the bureaucracy” and focus on swift response to changing market conditions The Work-Ometaphor effectively conveys to employees Welch's vision of an organization that is lean quick nimble resilient and in good enough shape to survive for the long y Essentially the need is to develop a “learning organization” That is a firm needs to develop an internal organizational capability to quickly change what it is doing — it's internal processes structures procedure systems — in ropewe to charges in the external environment haul Furthermore to remain competitive the Organizations have found that it is scry organizatinu aeeds to be aWe to assess the valuable during change efforts to fares on impact of these charges and make correcbuilding networks and cwliiinu — the tions o the nut political subsystem in organizations are organizations using Relationships built during mining and Ixmurgly train irg workshops as a means of devcL development workshops can do much to foe charge In break down the i4J norms and rptrf the internal tapaciry at GE Jaek ckVfcirk-Ou- r lhes about bow we do things around ut iiurrp this organization" This ia particularly true if customers and suppliers are involved in these workshops and internal participants are able to establish networks and coalitions with these external stakeholder groups These relationships become a primary means of overcoming boundaries and barriers to communication across the functions inside the organization and also across the external boundaries of the firm As tuned above the last step ia the charge process is evaluation and cycling back to Ranalysis of the current state of the syvsem This essentially becomes the renewal Imp by which organizations learn and improve what they them to enhance no- art dtH7g to rule petitive advantage Renewal requires learning how to learn An organization's capacity for learning how to change is directly a function of the extent to which individuals in the organization know how to learn and can manage change more rapidly than their competitor One increasingly popular approach to learning how to leant ia organizations Is through the use of outdoor experiential approaches so management development Such approaches are used regularly as prvgranv part of GCs Work-Ou- t Ottiixe management tramirg use a to drive variety f exercises fiwiiiiw) See CHANGE eu page |