In the cafeteria at Auto Alliance Thailand (AAT), a joint manufacturing venture between Mazda and Ford, Hiroshi Kinutani, 55, from Mazda, and David Snyder, 49, from Ford, are having a conversation over lunch. "Only a short time is left before the plant starts up, and admittedly, the expressions on our employees faces seem a little tense." The two serve as Executive Vice-Presidents in charge of most business matters at AAT, under the influence of American-style management.
At AAT, Mazda is responsible for manufacturing operations, including plant construction. Ford is in charge of management operations. Mr. Kinutani and Mr. Snyder supervise various departments and support the President, Toshihide Saeki, 55. Under them, there are five vice-presidents in charge, respectively, of manufacturing, purchasing, financial management, corporate planning and personnel & human development.
Manufacturing and management sectors have offices in separate buildings. The manufacturing sector looks like a typical Mazda office, a single large room, affording an unobstructed view of the entire place. Management sector offices, however, reflect an American style, with partitions around each desk. "Initially, we thought about taking a no-partition approach for both buildings. But upon Ford's strong request, the current style was adopted," reveals a Mazda employee involved in the construction of the plant. Thus, differences in Japanese and American cultures can even be seen in the office layout at AAT.
"Allowing different cultures to co-exist is easier said than done." Even Mr. Kinutani, who has a total of eight years of working experience in Myanmar and Columbia, finds it difficult sometimes to operate the Thai plant jointly with Ford. "With Ford, once a budget is set, you have to stick to it, no matter what. But the Mazda style is to consider some extra expenses for quality and punctual delivery as unavoidable," comments Mr Kinutani about the differences in thinking between the two companies.
On the other hand, Mr. Snyder, who serves concurrently as the President of Ford Thailand, says that, "The differences are not such a big problem for Ford, which has operations all over the world. The differences do not seem so huge as to pose any real difficulty. "Ford is a company staffed by a wide variety of people from different cultures: the United States, Asia and Europe."
While there is a difference even in the perception of difficulty faced, AAT supports the co-existence of the cultures rather than choosing one over the other. The two companies understand the need to make conscious efforts to recognize differences and to act cooperatively.
"That is why we have to continue many on-going conversations and dialogues," says Mr. Kinutani. In addition to the bi-weekly management conferences, eight executives, including vice-presidents and upwards, hold a meeting every Monday morning, to update the various departments and have some casual conversation. The meeting lasts between 30 minutes and one hour and helps prevent friction from arising due to a lack of communication.
Recently, an American management consultant familiar with both Japanese and American cultures was invited to suggest ways to improve understanding. As part of the training, a series of free discussions were held on how the companies should run the joint venture. Many positive suggestiojns were made, as in the following example: "I would like to ask X to stop pointing at the person he is addressing during meetings," said one employee from Mazda. The Ford person admitted to doing so unknowingly and accepted the request.
One-to-one interviews, where a Mazda executive engages the Ford counterpart to find out what each one is thinking, were also learned.
"I would like to run AAT on the basis of agreements reached mutually. What do you think of that?"
"We could learn more about each other, too. I agree with you."
Such conclusions were realized by Mr. Kinutani and Mr. Snyder.
"Problems stemming from cultural differences do not disappear so easily." It is an undeniable challenge that some AAT directors face. But the two executive vice-presidents must act as partners to steer the joint venture, while building a sense of unity among employees. It is especially hard for Mr. Kinutani, as this is a new task for him as part of Mazda's future with Ford. He will have to keep himself ready for what lies ahead.
