Q. How do you tailor the vision to each group?
It’s not so much a tailoring of
the vision; it’s a tailoring of the
delivery, acknowledging what’s
important to an engineer in
Silicon Valley may not be as
important to an engineer in
Japan. In Japan, something else
may be emphasized that would
be de-emphasized or a nonissue
in the U.S.
For example, in the U.S., people
are very interested in how our
technology differs from the competition. What are we doing that’s
different than the company two
miles down the road? We talk
enough about the product that
they have an understanding.
In Japan, the team members
are aware of the competitors.
But at the same time, it’s more
focused how we are going to do
this internally. It’s more focused
on the process and less on
exactly what this product is
going to do.
Q. What’s your advice to a business that is expanding to China or Japan?
The first thing is, the senior
person you hire in those markets is very critical. No. 1,
make the choice of, ‘Will we
open an office, or will we work
through a local agent or partner in some way?’
Then if you decided to open
your own office, see if you can
work with someone who has
had a bicultural experience.
There is a certain threshold you
step over once you’ve worked
overseas. Rather than intellectually, it becomes a more intuitive or emotive response to
understand what it’s like when
you’re in another country.
That allows you to open up
and be able to work across
these cultural boundaries.
HOW TO REACH: Gemini Mobile Technologies Inc., (650) 227-2380 or
www.geminimobile.com