Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

Editor's note: Walter S. Brown, Ph. D., is president of Focus Groups International, Seattle.

International focus group work demands some very special awarenesses and adaptations. Things that we take for granted in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and so on, are no longer quite as predictable when you venture overseas.

The major issues that confront the project manager on the international front can be reduced to four basic categories:

  • Socio-cultural differences
  • Linguistic differences
  • Differences in business practices
  • World events and economic differences

In my 20-odd years of research experience, I have worked in many countries and with many cultures. I picked Japan to highlight here because it is perhaps among the more different and unique venues for research. Some countries might be a challenge on one or two fronts but Japan is a challenge on all of them!

  • How are Japanese research companies different? There are relatively few research companies to choose from, even in cities the size of Tokyo. This creates booking problems, especially when you realize that the facilities are very tiny by American standards. One or two rooms are the norm. Keep in mind that real estate is scarce and expensive in Japanese cities. In addition, research company staffs are lean, which adds its own complications to the process: It will take longer to accomplish things and it will also be considerably more expensive.
  • What else increases the length of lead time? The cultural and linguistic differences between the U.S. and Japan require that your protocols and other materials be translated by your host organization and then translated back to English by an independent source to make sure that the correct nuances are getting across. This takes time. Often, direct translation is impossible and you have to rely on interpretation - getting the general idea across without word for word equivalence.

Scheduling a top-notch interpreting team is both critical and challenging. There are few of them and they are in demand. A team consists of two highly trained interpreters, each of whom interprets out loud for you for in 20-minute shifts. They do not rest while off "voice" duty, but rather support their teammate by listening for the subtleties of verb tense, word usage, classical allusions and idiomatic expression, as well as helping with numbers, which are particularly cumbersome to translate quickly in Japanese. So, one interpreter takes notes and feeds info to the "voice," while the "voice" races to keep a running commentary going for you. Also, the subtleties of nonverbal communication keep them both riveted to the task. Each facet of the overall task is exhausting and requires relatively frequent shifting of roles.

If the project requires the cooperation of any Japanese company or agency (other than the research company), add a few more months to your time line! The highly touted Japanese business setting has many strengths, but rapid decision making isn't one of them. On the contrary. Decision making in Japanese companies is group-oriented and is hierarchically pursued. All ramifications and implications of each aspect must be reviewed and completely thought through (and I do mean completely!) before it is passed to the next level of consideration. Thus a decision that may take a few days or a week in the U. S. or Europe may take months in Japan.

One last time extender is that you can really only accomplish one group per evening instead of the two to which we are accustomed. The Japanese in urban areas like Tokyo must commute from one to three hours home. If they are working, they have a long day and must be given a full dinner on arrival at the group. Then the work of data gathering can begin, but they must be finished in time to catch their trains home. This is, obviously, particularly onerous if you are doing business-to-business research. Regardless, it increases your time investment and the cost of hotel, food, etc.

  • What about the cost of doing foreign research? It is invariably higher than similar work domestically. As a general rule you can expect a project to cost two to two-and-a-half times more in Europe than it would in the U.S. and four to six times more in Japan. Higher real estate costs and salaries, make the cost of doing business in Japan very high for your subcontractors. Remember, when you have a group, you have two interpreters (hopefully U.N.-quality), a moderator, who may be the president of the firm, an English speaking project manager/liaison who guides you through all the details and is your right hand during the whole project, plus a young woman who is the assistant to the moderator. Her job is to handle food, pass out papers and generally fluff the feathers of the participants and the moderator during the group. You will end up feeling like a movie star with a rather extensive (and expensive) entourage. Quite honestly, there is no way to pare this down. Every person has a very important function.

Cost is also increased by all the translation and back translation of the protocols and materials, the expense of full meals, high incentives (especially so for business executives) and finally, travel expenses. In addition to getting tapes of the groups, which would do you little good if you are not a native speaker of Japanese, you will be paying for typed English translation/transcripts of each group. Flights, transportation, hotels and food can be very expensive, and since you can do fewer groups per day, you have to spend that much more time there.

Remember also that currencies inexplicably shift all the time, so if you bid in January and carry it out in September, the costs can vary considerably. Be careful how you write your contracts! Other problems can arise with major world events that occur just before your project - especially if it involves your two countries jostling one another politically or if your product category has had major negative news.

  • What are some of the important cultural differences that will affect research? In the Japanese culture, nonverbal behavior is of equal importance to the verbal. The subtleties of both segments of communication would make the Byzantine court seem like child's play by comparison! There is tremendous deference to seniority, power and status as defined by their culture. Within moments of arrival, everyone in the group will know where they stand in and will tend to defer to the most powerful person. As a result, the native moderator has a daunting task with many groups. Female executives and decision makers are still rare in Japan. In most groups it is best not to mix women and men because the women may just sit and smile nervously and defer to the men. In my business-to-business research with executives, however, the few female executives we found were quite able to hold their own. I imagine they get a lot of practice!

In discussions, brainstorming and decision making there is a real discomfort with standing out or taking big risks until everyone knows where everyone else stands and what the possible risks and ripple effects might be. This leads to what I call the circumnavigation syndrome. In the U.S. and Europe, you can ask fairly direct questions and get fairly direct answers - quickly. Not so in Japan. A direct question is often followed by a long discussion of things that may seem to be totally unrelated to the question on the table, as you sit listening to them, behind the glass. The discussion wanders here and there, on and on. You will ask yourself, "Why are they talking about that? Why isn't the moderator telling them to get back to the question?"

And, if you talk to the moderator during a break and tell him (rarely will it be a woman) to be more aggressive in channeling the discussion you will run into another prominent aspect of Japanese culture - politeness. It would be impolite to be more direct and the participants would be offended and might clam up. Also, because of the decision making process they are used to, they need to wander around and examine the issue from every point of view - no matter how bizarre their perambulations may seem to you - before they will be comfortable committing themselves to a response. Often, at the end of one of these "around the world" discussions, the moderator will summarize what he has been hearing with a statement that sounds like nothing you have been hearing, leaving you gasping over his putting words in their mouths. Oddly however, this is his way of finally getting the discussion down to brass tacks - and getting you some usable data! While his statement may seem off the wall to you, it gets everyone in the room to begin stating their positions. They will disagree strongly if they wish, or agree, but it gets them past the circumnavigation portion of the process.

Politeness and courtesy are paramount to every step of your work in Japan, and you will be wise to read up on it before you go, and then rely heavily on your English speaking liaison for the rest. Your liaison and the moderator will often explain why they do what they do on the basis of its perceived politeness or lack thereof. The rules mom or dad taught you will be useless.

The Japanese will not say "no" to you. That is impolite. They will often mean "no," however, and will express it through phrases like the supreme crusher of all hope: "That would be difficult." When you hear that, it's time to go back to the drawing boards and summon your best creativity, because that means "No!"

There is a great deal of gender bias, racial bias and bias toward the handicapped in the Japanese culture. If you are a minority or a female doing business in Japan, or managing a project there, prepare yourself well and be flexible. Build your status before you arrive and before they know any details about who you are. While we may still be racist and sexist here, it is much more marked there. Also, this influences how you can structure groups and who you can safely mix with whom.

As you design questionnaires and screening procedures, two other issues arise. One is the impoliteness of asking for certain kinds of information, such as income and using certain standard occupational classifications. Also, Japanese corporate structure is very different than Western structure, so some classifications you may be seeking will not exist and you will have to again be flexible and creative to find an analogous set of people.

So, what's the good news? If you are patient, creative, flexible, good at following up on details and cheerful, you will get your data and it will be solid. Japan is a fascinating place and the whole process will be a wonderful experience for you. On the personal side, there is much to see and do, the subway systems are wonderful and easy to use, people are generally friendly and anxious to help - even if they don't speak English - and you can feel safe almost anywhere, day or night.


If you're lucky enough to get a project overseas, dive in with a vengeance and have a ball. Just be prepared for some challenges that you won't find conducting research in Hometown, USA.