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17/04/2006The pitfalls of exporting corporate culture

How, or even whether, to export corporate culture is becoming an increasingly common issue as firms derive more revenue or production from abroad. As we find out, understanding the local market is step one.

Three times a week, staffers at the Canadian unit of Japanese videogame maker Koei Co begin the day by standing next to their desks and facing their boss, Hidenori Taniguchi. "Good morning, everyone," says Taniguchi. "Good morning," chant Koei Canada's 30-odd employees.

That greeting ushers in a peculiar corporate ritual Koei has imported from Japan – morning meetings where employees deliver short speeches. The subjects can be anything from management talking about corporate principles to employees discussing 3D game engines. In Japan, such meetings, which are a common practice, are called 'chorei.' Some of Koei Canada's programmers, however, feel the sessions are like show-and-tell.

"It's kind of like school," says Samson Chan, Koei Canada's lead creator, who recently gave a presentation on family-oriented videogames. Chan says he thinks chorei can help improve communication — as long as staffers don't view them as a joke.

That is the kind of dissonance Koei and other multinational companies must confront as they struggle to blend their home cultures with local work forces. Trying to figure out how, or whether, to export corporate culture is an increasingly common issue as firms derive more revenue or production from abroad.

Many workplace practices simply don

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