Articles archive
PCCM: Programme For Cross-Cultural ManagementAuthor: Professor Naoto Sasaki, Tokohagakuen,
Hamamatsu University, Japan " The main purpose of AOTS is to promote technical cooperation of Japan with developing countries for their industrialization and to enhance mutual understanding and friendly relationships between. Japan and those countries." General descriptionPCCM is a three-week programme for the middle management of companies in developing countries held three times a year at the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS) in Tokyo. AOTS is a non-profit organization established in 1959 with the financial support of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan. Another financial source is contributions of member companies. AOTS provides scholarships to engineers from developing countries working for Japanese companies to come to Japan for training. The application for the scholarship should be made in principle by the host Japanese company to AOTS. Birth of PCCMIn the mid-1970s Japanese companies developed an urgent need for internationalization and thus were forced to make local managers, especially those in developing countries, acquainted with Japanese management. Trained engineers in the past AOTS courses were expected to become 'liaison officers' in the middle management level in Japanese subsidiaries. To meet with this need and expectation, PCCM was created in 1977 in AOTS, not only for the internationalization of Japanese companies but also for the cross-cultural development of participants. The duration of the course was set at three weeks and the maximum number of participants was designed to be no more than 28. By 1996, 56 courses were held and more than 1,200 managers from nearly 60 countries finished the course. Each time, the participants' nationalities ranged from 12 to 15. Contents of the courseThe first week of the course is for enhancing participants' mutual understanding by discussing their problems with the others. For this exchange a group dynamics method is used which is a modified version of the KJ Method, called the Problem Classification and Clearance Method. For the main discussion, Japanese management methods are used because they are based on both the European and American management styles, formulated when Japan was emerging as a developed country. The second week is for 'Seeing is Believing'. Namely, participants have a 'study trip' to factories to see TQM, TPM, JIT and other Japanese management systems. They have discussions with managers of those factories and companies on the spot. The second half of the trip is for networking by having 'Nommunication' in Kyoto ('communication on drinking'). In Japanese 'nomu' means drink. The third week is for integrating discussions, observations on the study trip and sessions of Japanese management and of such new systems as BPR. On the last day, participants have to present their plan how to improve their management as the result of the course. Cross-cultural facilitiesAOTS has four training centres in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka. All have good hotel accommodation. As AOTS has a number of courses all year round, they are always filled with trainees from nearly 100 countries. Trainees can develop excellent cross-cultural ties and exchanges while staying there. Development of PCCMGraduates of AOTS courses have formed Alumni Associations in their own countries and they carry out various activities on a voluntary basis. Among them, PCCM graduates are especially successful and in recent years they have begun to send requests to PCCM to accept managers of domestic companies and administrative officers of governments. As a result, the ratio of such participants has reached as high as 30 per cent. In addition, countries in Eastern Europe and the old USSR are enrolling their managers and government officers, so PCCM now looks like the United Nations. The chief coordinator of PCCM visits the course graduates in their countries for follow-up services. The gain from those visits are reflected in the design of future courses. Some companies have already sent half of their managers to PCCM. As a result, those companies have begun to change. PCCM for Asian managementThe emerging economic growth of the Asian countries has given birth to an identity of Asian management. And, at the request of Malaysian alumni, a new PCCM for Asian Management began in Kuala Lumpur in December 1996 for Asian managers. Notes and further informationThe Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship
(AOTS) A training visa should be obtained before leaving for Japan. For that a guarantee letter issued by AOTS is necessary. In many countries, returned trainees of AOTS have created their Alumni Associations and now carry out 'Selection of Applicants' who are not working in Japanese companies. The address of alumni associations can be obtained from AOTS, Japan. The designer and chief coordinator of PCCM is Professor Naoto Sasaki of Tokohagakuen, Hamamatsu University, Japan.
|
