A good crisis for Japan?
The crisis gripping Japan presents an opportunity to overhaul the country's political economy and its public affairs, says Scott Pastrick
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| Pastrick: Japan's crisis also presents an opportunity |
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 Modern public affairs tools and enhanced communications efforts must become a core set of services that Corporate Japan uses as it competes in foreign markets and navigates its own domestic waters
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The Japanese government is reluctantly seeking a $100 Billion dollar stimulus package to jumpstart its ailing economy - just as corporate Japan’s anxiety deepens with declining growth, lack of credit, and painful cost cutting.
In short the country has woken to the reality that it faces the biggest economic crisis in decades, perhaps predating World War II. This anxiety is certainly not exclusive to Japan.
Indeed, this recession has sent shockwaves throughout the world’s financial and political capitals, and spared neither the developed or developing worlds.
I have witnessed the wrenching transformations in my native Midwest, where thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs have disappeared, maybe forever, and in my adopted home of Washington DC, where the severe economic downturn has ushered in a new administration along with sweeping changes in government policy.
Japan has always had a singular political economy. It has manufacturing processes, infrastructure, and a corporate culture that are the envy of the world. However, its political economy has, at the same time, been very conservative, traditionally inflexible, and change-averse.
Look outwardly
Instead of fretting about what has been lost, turning inward, and shutting down, Japanese leaders have a unique opportunity at this critical moment in history to make some long overdue changes; ones that will make an even stronger, more dynamic system in the long run.
To paraphrase the words of a growing number of top American government officials, Japan, like the US, has a great opportunity to “not waste a good crisis".
A couple of weeks ago I travelled to Japan and visited with executives of some of the country’s largest corporations as well as a number of senior government officials. I have made these trips to Japan every year since 1995. This was the first time I experienced such profound doubt and uncertainty about the future, but I also saw truly hopeful signs.
Corporations increasing their product growth targets outside of the domestic market, Chief Executive Officers streamlining organisational charts and putting more emphasis on building international sales units and internal discussions about agility and transparency.
I became convinced that, despite the obvious short-term pain brought by this recession, the seeds of future growth and prosperity in Japan were readily available.
Past successes revisited
How can Japan regain past successes, stay true to what makes Japan unique, while adopting and incorporating best practices from around the world?
I would argue that Japan and the US, two of the world’s leading economies – with complimentary strengths and weaknesses - have a lot to learn from each other and that this global crisis has brought both shared misery and shared opportunity. America’s political and economic leaders seem to know this.
President Obama’s economic stimulus package invests in critical infrastructure needs like high-speed rail, energy efficiency, and information technology. Those are areas where Japan is years ahead of the US, mainly because Japan achieved political consensus on the importance of investing in these areas long before the US.
Furthermore, America’s automakers, with a prodding hand from American policymakers, are undergoing a painful restructuring that will make them more competitive with their Japanese competitors. Crisis begets opportunity.
And what can the Japanese learn from the US in this time of crisis? America’s infrastructure is crumbling and needs modernization. And the deregulatory bent of the last 20 plus years went too far in the eyes of many. However, the nimbleness and dynamism of its economy is still unparalleled.
To date, Japan has been very reluctant to clear out the dead wood of outdated, burdensome regulations and corporate cronyism. And as exports fall off at a rate of 27%, gone are the days when Japan can rely on its domestic market to grow its economy.
Crisis begets opportunity
As the US and Japanese governments strengthen partnerships in foreign policy, trade, energy, climate, and global leadership, future growth will require strong fiscal discipline, retooling bureaucratic mismanagement, and opening closed doors.
Japan needs to promote domestic growth through better private and public partnerships, increased foreign investment, mergers and acquisitions, technology transfers, incorporation of best practices and the promise of a transparent, less cumbersome regulatory framework that shouts to the world that “Japan is open for business.” Crisis begets opportunity.
If they undertake the necessary challenges to transition to a more open and agile economic model, the Japanese Government and businesses should also consider best practices adopted by America’s leading public affairs professionals, tools that will help them manage perceptions and create a credible “change” message.
Barack Obama’s campaign for president revolutionised many aspects of the American political system from fundraising, to communications, to citizen involvement and get-out-the-vote efforts.
His campaign demonstrated masterful understanding of modern social networking tools like Facebook and iPhone applications, creating both real and virtual communities of voters. He has carried these tools with him to the White House, providing unprecedented avenues for citizen participation and civic awareness.
Getting in synch
America’s media, public affairs, and government relations professionals are changing in synch with the new Administration, creating an unprecedented buzz about government, policymaking and involvement by average voters.
Corporate America is following this blueprint by taking their policy objectives and corporate growth strategies through this changed market approach. These messages are being tailored and honed to bridge the gap as corporations become more aware of the reforms that are being placed at their feet by the new administration.
As Japanese thought leaders look to the future, these communications techniques, and the professionals that know how to employ them, could help bring about the same buzz that we feel in the United States and help redefine and rebrand the political and corporate landscape to signal a new day and a new methodology.
This bold step will be the beginning of the next generation of public/private leadership, one that realizes it is the responsibility of the company or agency to understand the interest of the public, and know how to navigate and communicate their objectives and their culture in a seamless, global effort.
Modern public affairs tools and enhanced communications efforts must become a core set of services that Corporate Japan uses as it competes in foreign markets and navigates its own domestic waters, all while meeting changing political and regulatory objectives.
Scott Pastrick is president and chief executive officer of BKSH & Associates, a world-wide government relations firm with offices in Washington DC, London and Brussels
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