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'title' => 'Crisis For The Better (October 2011)',
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'content' => '<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="right" alt="" border="2" hspace="5" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/saujanya.jpg" style="width: 124px; height: 160px;" vspace="5" />By Saujanya Acharya</span></strong></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">It has been roughly six months after the catastrophe caused by the quake along the coast of northern Japan. It was a terrifying day for the people across the world to see one of the economic giants drowning under the water and getting washed away. Well, it seems the nature spares nobody. Earthquake and tsunami were not the only problems. The nature also hit a devastating creation of man: a nuclear power plant. Hence, within a very short time span, the Japanese society had to face three different crises.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">The case of Japan provides a great study for the field of management: to be more precise, the handling of crisis in a large institution. When corner shops face a crisis, such as plummeting sales, decision making is quite simple as the options include whether to shut down the business, or keep operating at a lower cost level. However, at a larger scale, decision makers are asked for much more careful decision: one decision could trigger another problem in a chain effect. As far as crisis management is concerned, the Japanese government has been quite effective despite the public criticism – especially, from the international media.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government is criticized for its lack of information disclosure regarding the crisis in the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. It was only in the later stage of the crisis that the Japanese government finally admitted the situation to be as worse as that of Chernobyl – even though the level of crisis was apparent to them from the earlier stages. Such strategy seems dishonest on the part of the government. Yet, it has proved to be a wise one.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 245px;" vspace="2" />It was wise because the outcome of Japanese government’s honesty would have been quite catastrophic – as it could have invited unwanted havoc. Even with their strategy of concealing the information, there were some disturbances. For example, people started to flee the Japanese cities in the north. This phenomenon was seen also in Tokyo Metropolitan Area which was declared safe by the scientists. This panic was caused by the media which highlighted the impending disaster of nuclear crisis in a very speculative manner. Hence, massive exodus of population from the major surrounding cities would have been inevitable, had the government from the beginning admitted that the disaster level was at 5.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Argument against the government’s action would be on ethical grounds only. The government should be looking after the welfare of the society. People have the right to know what sort of danger they are in. Hence, when the Japanese government held the leverage tight for the flow of information, it was denying its citizens their right to know the truth. Later the then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his cabinet members were heavily criticized for such decisions. Their reputation was quite tarnished.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Yet, sympathy goes to those decision makers. They were in dilemma. Releasing complete information at once would have caused unwarranted panic. This could have generated another wave of socio-economic tsunami. On the other hand, gradual disclosure of information, with careful observation of the populace would have invited allegations of dishonesty. After all, the government as an institution had to take maximum measures to make sure that the impact on life and property was minimum – even if it had to come at the cost of their honesty. At least they had been able to avert socio-economic turmoil that would have been caused had the people and businesses chose to leave Japan.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Similarly, in the corporate setting, there are times for the management to be better off adopting the “controlled information†policy. As soon as there is a premonition or hype of a crisis in a company, non-managerial workers as well as line managers would try to put themselves in their comfort zones – such as finding different jobs. The problem is that there is no rigorous assessment of the situation – only the mid level or top level managers do so. Hence, even if their neck is not on the line, those workers would try to find a way out – because of lack of understanding. This actually ends up creating a problem in the company – which resembles a nature of self fulfilling prophecy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management1.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 190px;" vspace="2" />Instead, the management should try to avoid such panic among its workers. This does not allow them to exploit the workers through lack of information or misinformation. “Controlled information†strategy must take welfare of the workers as well as stability of the company into consideration.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In short term, Japanese government somehow managed the crisis. But, what ahead ?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government would be asked for a lot more than just achieving stability. Being one of the economic giants, they have to be able to not only get out of the mess, but be back on its feet as one of the global economic powerhouses. Just like a star athlete getting back after a terrible injury, people appreciate a good comeback story.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">I believe the strength of a nation is shown by its response to crisis. When the earthquake hit, a friend of mine was in a supermarket in downtown Tokyo. The quake caused panic: goods fell on the ground, wine bottles shattered and racks collapsed on top of each other. Soon, it stopped shaking. And, people picked up their grocery items, stood on the queue, paid at the cashier, and left patiently. The country was in the midst of “the worst crisis since Hiroshima and Nagasaki,†as Kan put. Yet, people still showed up at their city offices the same week to fulfill their tax obligation. Apart from the quake and tsunami, explosion of the nuclear power plant caused a power shortage throughout eastern Japan. Essentially, the Japanese government declared implementation of daily load shedding for four hours. People and businesses immediately reacted – but not in the form of a public demonstration or protests. Most people started saving electricity at home. Businesses, malls and restaurants shut their businesses early to save electricity. By the end of the day, load shedding lasted less than an hour.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In Japanese, crisis is written as å±æ©Ÿ (kiki). The word consists of two Chinese characters: å± (ki) meaning “dangerâ€, and æ©Ÿ (ki) meaning “opportunityâ€. The word itself indicates the perception of crisis in the Japanese society. Yes, people were shocked, and filled with fear. But they kept their heads up, searching for a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Let history speak for itself. Every time crisis hits the island nation, Japanese golden age follows. The 1932 Great Kanto Earthquake – which destroyed entire Tokyo and killed approximately 140,000 people – was followed by Japanese military glory and its rise as one of the world’s superpowers. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which also destroyed both cities killing roughly 200,000 people – was followed by Japanese economic prosperity and its emergence as the world’s largest economy. Every time they fall, they rise up stronger. And I believe such characteristic shows the grandeur of the nation. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Crisis tests our strength. Whether on our management of crisis or standing up on our feet in the midst of it – crisis could be an inevitable challenge at any point in our life. Some break down; others prevail. With wise but unpopular, “controlled information†strategy, Japanese government did not escalate the existing natural crisis by averting socio-economic crisis. Secondly, Japanese philosophy of seeing opportunities in times of crisis needs to be appreciated by the business minds. It is this attitude that brought the country from bottom rock to a leading position. On the whole, one could expect a better tomorrow if a crisis is managed smartly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><i>[Acharya grew up in Tokyo, Japan and attended St Mary’s International School. He is currently a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student at Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). He can be reached via email at saujanya820@gmail.com.]</i></span></div>',
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'content' => '<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="right" alt="" border="2" hspace="5" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/saujanya.jpg" style="width: 124px; height: 160px;" vspace="5" />By Saujanya Acharya</span></strong></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">It has been roughly six months after the catastrophe caused by the quake along the coast of northern Japan. It was a terrifying day for the people across the world to see one of the economic giants drowning under the water and getting washed away. Well, it seems the nature spares nobody. Earthquake and tsunami were not the only problems. The nature also hit a devastating creation of man: a nuclear power plant. Hence, within a very short time span, the Japanese society had to face three different crises.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">The case of Japan provides a great study for the field of management: to be more precise, the handling of crisis in a large institution. When corner shops face a crisis, such as plummeting sales, decision making is quite simple as the options include whether to shut down the business, or keep operating at a lower cost level. However, at a larger scale, decision makers are asked for much more careful decision: one decision could trigger another problem in a chain effect. As far as crisis management is concerned, the Japanese government has been quite effective despite the public criticism – especially, from the international media.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government is criticized for its lack of information disclosure regarding the crisis in the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. It was only in the later stage of the crisis that the Japanese government finally admitted the situation to be as worse as that of Chernobyl – even though the level of crisis was apparent to them from the earlier stages. Such strategy seems dishonest on the part of the government. Yet, it has proved to be a wise one.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 245px;" vspace="2" />It was wise because the outcome of Japanese government’s honesty would have been quite catastrophic – as it could have invited unwanted havoc. Even with their strategy of concealing the information, there were some disturbances. For example, people started to flee the Japanese cities in the north. This phenomenon was seen also in Tokyo Metropolitan Area which was declared safe by the scientists. This panic was caused by the media which highlighted the impending disaster of nuclear crisis in a very speculative manner. Hence, massive exodus of population from the major surrounding cities would have been inevitable, had the government from the beginning admitted that the disaster level was at 5.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Argument against the government’s action would be on ethical grounds only. The government should be looking after the welfare of the society. People have the right to know what sort of danger they are in. Hence, when the Japanese government held the leverage tight for the flow of information, it was denying its citizens their right to know the truth. Later the then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his cabinet members were heavily criticized for such decisions. Their reputation was quite tarnished.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Yet, sympathy goes to those decision makers. They were in dilemma. Releasing complete information at once would have caused unwarranted panic. This could have generated another wave of socio-economic tsunami. On the other hand, gradual disclosure of information, with careful observation of the populace would have invited allegations of dishonesty. After all, the government as an institution had to take maximum measures to make sure that the impact on life and property was minimum – even if it had to come at the cost of their honesty. At least they had been able to avert socio-economic turmoil that would have been caused had the people and businesses chose to leave Japan.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Similarly, in the corporate setting, there are times for the management to be better off adopting the “controlled information†policy. As soon as there is a premonition or hype of a crisis in a company, non-managerial workers as well as line managers would try to put themselves in their comfort zones – such as finding different jobs. The problem is that there is no rigorous assessment of the situation – only the mid level or top level managers do so. Hence, even if their neck is not on the line, those workers would try to find a way out – because of lack of understanding. This actually ends up creating a problem in the company – which resembles a nature of self fulfilling prophecy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management1.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 190px;" vspace="2" />Instead, the management should try to avoid such panic among its workers. This does not allow them to exploit the workers through lack of information or misinformation. “Controlled information†strategy must take welfare of the workers as well as stability of the company into consideration.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In short term, Japanese government somehow managed the crisis. But, what ahead ?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government would be asked for a lot more than just achieving stability. Being one of the economic giants, they have to be able to not only get out of the mess, but be back on its feet as one of the global economic powerhouses. Just like a star athlete getting back after a terrible injury, people appreciate a good comeback story.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">I believe the strength of a nation is shown by its response to crisis. When the earthquake hit, a friend of mine was in a supermarket in downtown Tokyo. The quake caused panic: goods fell on the ground, wine bottles shattered and racks collapsed on top of each other. Soon, it stopped shaking. And, people picked up their grocery items, stood on the queue, paid at the cashier, and left patiently. The country was in the midst of “the worst crisis since Hiroshima and Nagasaki,†as Kan put. Yet, people still showed up at their city offices the same week to fulfill their tax obligation. Apart from the quake and tsunami, explosion of the nuclear power plant caused a power shortage throughout eastern Japan. Essentially, the Japanese government declared implementation of daily load shedding for four hours. People and businesses immediately reacted – but not in the form of a public demonstration or protests. Most people started saving electricity at home. Businesses, malls and restaurants shut their businesses early to save electricity. By the end of the day, load shedding lasted less than an hour.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In Japanese, crisis is written as å±æ©Ÿ (kiki). The word consists of two Chinese characters: å± (ki) meaning “dangerâ€, and æ©Ÿ (ki) meaning “opportunityâ€. The word itself indicates the perception of crisis in the Japanese society. Yes, people were shocked, and filled with fear. But they kept their heads up, searching for a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Let history speak for itself. Every time crisis hits the island nation, Japanese golden age follows. The 1932 Great Kanto Earthquake – which destroyed entire Tokyo and killed approximately 140,000 people – was followed by Japanese military glory and its rise as one of the world’s superpowers. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which also destroyed both cities killing roughly 200,000 people – was followed by Japanese economic prosperity and its emergence as the world’s largest economy. Every time they fall, they rise up stronger. And I believe such characteristic shows the grandeur of the nation. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Crisis tests our strength. Whether on our management of crisis or standing up on our feet in the midst of it – crisis could be an inevitable challenge at any point in our life. Some break down; others prevail. With wise but unpopular, “controlled information†strategy, Japanese government did not escalate the existing natural crisis by averting socio-economic crisis. Secondly, Japanese philosophy of seeing opportunities in times of crisis needs to be appreciated by the business minds. It is this attitude that brought the country from bottom rock to a leading position. On the whole, one could expect a better tomorrow if a crisis is managed smartly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><i>[Acharya grew up in Tokyo, Japan and attended St Mary’s International School. He is currently a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student at Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). He can be reached via email at saujanya820@gmail.com.]</i></span></div>',
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'comment' => 'great article! the world is going through what japan went through 15 years ago when the bubble economy crashed. but as you say in times of adversity Japan shows its true strength. it is really unfortunate that we experienced this natural disaster. but in the long run things should work out and Japan will regain its status as an economic powerhouse. in the meantime, i hope the world work together and focuses on the economic issues that trouble us. Japan had the perseverance to fight through the bursting bubble, i hope the rest of the world shows the same type of character, stop rioting, and work to help the economy. or else a war seems inevitable...',
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'title' => 'Crisis For The Better (October 2011)',
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="right" alt="" border="2" hspace="5" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/saujanya.jpg" style="width: 124px; height: 160px;" vspace="5" />By Saujanya Acharya</span></strong></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">It has been roughly six months after the catastrophe caused by the quake along the coast of northern Japan. It was a terrifying day for the people across the world to see one of the economic giants drowning under the water and getting washed away. Well, it seems the nature spares nobody. Earthquake and tsunami were not the only problems. The nature also hit a devastating creation of man: a nuclear power plant. Hence, within a very short time span, the Japanese society had to face three different crises.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">The case of Japan provides a great study for the field of management: to be more precise, the handling of crisis in a large institution. When corner shops face a crisis, such as plummeting sales, decision making is quite simple as the options include whether to shut down the business, or keep operating at a lower cost level. However, at a larger scale, decision makers are asked for much more careful decision: one decision could trigger another problem in a chain effect. As far as crisis management is concerned, the Japanese government has been quite effective despite the public criticism – especially, from the international media.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government is criticized for its lack of information disclosure regarding the crisis in the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. It was only in the later stage of the crisis that the Japanese government finally admitted the situation to be as worse as that of Chernobyl – even though the level of crisis was apparent to them from the earlier stages. Such strategy seems dishonest on the part of the government. Yet, it has proved to be a wise one.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 245px;" vspace="2" />It was wise because the outcome of Japanese government’s honesty would have been quite catastrophic – as it could have invited unwanted havoc. Even with their strategy of concealing the information, there were some disturbances. For example, people started to flee the Japanese cities in the north. This phenomenon was seen also in Tokyo Metropolitan Area which was declared safe by the scientists. This panic was caused by the media which highlighted the impending disaster of nuclear crisis in a very speculative manner. Hence, massive exodus of population from the major surrounding cities would have been inevitable, had the government from the beginning admitted that the disaster level was at 5.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Argument against the government’s action would be on ethical grounds only. The government should be looking after the welfare of the society. People have the right to know what sort of danger they are in. Hence, when the Japanese government held the leverage tight for the flow of information, it was denying its citizens their right to know the truth. Later the then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his cabinet members were heavily criticized for such decisions. Their reputation was quite tarnished.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Yet, sympathy goes to those decision makers. They were in dilemma. Releasing complete information at once would have caused unwarranted panic. This could have generated another wave of socio-economic tsunami. On the other hand, gradual disclosure of information, with careful observation of the populace would have invited allegations of dishonesty. After all, the government as an institution had to take maximum measures to make sure that the impact on life and property was minimum – even if it had to come at the cost of their honesty. At least they had been able to avert socio-economic turmoil that would have been caused had the people and businesses chose to leave Japan.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Similarly, in the corporate setting, there are times for the management to be better off adopting the “controlled information†policy. As soon as there is a premonition or hype of a crisis in a company, non-managerial workers as well as line managers would try to put themselves in their comfort zones – such as finding different jobs. The problem is that there is no rigorous assessment of the situation – only the mid level or top level managers do so. Hence, even if their neck is not on the line, those workers would try to find a way out – because of lack of understanding. This actually ends up creating a problem in the company – which resembles a nature of self fulfilling prophecy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management1.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 190px;" vspace="2" />Instead, the management should try to avoid such panic among its workers. This does not allow them to exploit the workers through lack of information or misinformation. “Controlled information†strategy must take welfare of the workers as well as stability of the company into consideration.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In short term, Japanese government somehow managed the crisis. But, what ahead ?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government would be asked for a lot more than just achieving stability. Being one of the economic giants, they have to be able to not only get out of the mess, but be back on its feet as one of the global economic powerhouses. Just like a star athlete getting back after a terrible injury, people appreciate a good comeback story.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">I believe the strength of a nation is shown by its response to crisis. When the earthquake hit, a friend of mine was in a supermarket in downtown Tokyo. The quake caused panic: goods fell on the ground, wine bottles shattered and racks collapsed on top of each other. Soon, it stopped shaking. And, people picked up their grocery items, stood on the queue, paid at the cashier, and left patiently. The country was in the midst of “the worst crisis since Hiroshima and Nagasaki,†as Kan put. Yet, people still showed up at their city offices the same week to fulfill their tax obligation. Apart from the quake and tsunami, explosion of the nuclear power plant caused a power shortage throughout eastern Japan. Essentially, the Japanese government declared implementation of daily load shedding for four hours. People and businesses immediately reacted – but not in the form of a public demonstration or protests. Most people started saving electricity at home. Businesses, malls and restaurants shut their businesses early to save electricity. By the end of the day, load shedding lasted less than an hour.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In Japanese, crisis is written as å±æ©Ÿ (kiki). The word consists of two Chinese characters: å± (ki) meaning “dangerâ€, and æ©Ÿ (ki) meaning “opportunityâ€. The word itself indicates the perception of crisis in the Japanese society. Yes, people were shocked, and filled with fear. But they kept their heads up, searching for a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Let history speak for itself. Every time crisis hits the island nation, Japanese golden age follows. The 1932 Great Kanto Earthquake – which destroyed entire Tokyo and killed approximately 140,000 people – was followed by Japanese military glory and its rise as one of the world’s superpowers. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which also destroyed both cities killing roughly 200,000 people – was followed by Japanese economic prosperity and its emergence as the world’s largest economy. Every time they fall, they rise up stronger. And I believe such characteristic shows the grandeur of the nation. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Crisis tests our strength. Whether on our management of crisis or standing up on our feet in the midst of it – crisis could be an inevitable challenge at any point in our life. Some break down; others prevail. With wise but unpopular, “controlled information†strategy, Japanese government did not escalate the existing natural crisis by averting socio-economic crisis. Secondly, Japanese philosophy of seeing opportunities in times of crisis needs to be appreciated by the business minds. It is this attitude that brought the country from bottom rock to a leading position. On the whole, one could expect a better tomorrow if a crisis is managed smartly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><i>[Acharya grew up in Tokyo, Japan and attended St Mary’s International School. He is currently a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student at Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). He can be reached via email at saujanya820@gmail.com.]</i></span></div>',
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'title' => 'Crisis For The Better (October 2011)',
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="right" alt="" border="2" hspace="5" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/saujanya.jpg" style="width: 124px; height: 160px;" vspace="5" />By Saujanya Acharya</span></strong></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">It has been roughly six months after the catastrophe caused by the quake along the coast of northern Japan. It was a terrifying day for the people across the world to see one of the economic giants drowning under the water and getting washed away. Well, it seems the nature spares nobody. Earthquake and tsunami were not the only problems. The nature also hit a devastating creation of man: a nuclear power plant. Hence, within a very short time span, the Japanese society had to face three different crises.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">The case of Japan provides a great study for the field of management: to be more precise, the handling of crisis in a large institution. When corner shops face a crisis, such as plummeting sales, decision making is quite simple as the options include whether to shut down the business, or keep operating at a lower cost level. However, at a larger scale, decision makers are asked for much more careful decision: one decision could trigger another problem in a chain effect. As far as crisis management is concerned, the Japanese government has been quite effective despite the public criticism – especially, from the international media.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government is criticized for its lack of information disclosure regarding the crisis in the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. It was only in the later stage of the crisis that the Japanese government finally admitted the situation to be as worse as that of Chernobyl – even though the level of crisis was apparent to them from the earlier stages. Such strategy seems dishonest on the part of the government. Yet, it has proved to be a wise one.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 245px;" vspace="2" />It was wise because the outcome of Japanese government’s honesty would have been quite catastrophic – as it could have invited unwanted havoc. Even with their strategy of concealing the information, there were some disturbances. For example, people started to flee the Japanese cities in the north. This phenomenon was seen also in Tokyo Metropolitan Area which was declared safe by the scientists. This panic was caused by the media which highlighted the impending disaster of nuclear crisis in a very speculative manner. Hence, massive exodus of population from the major surrounding cities would have been inevitable, had the government from the beginning admitted that the disaster level was at 5.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Argument against the government’s action would be on ethical grounds only. The government should be looking after the welfare of the society. People have the right to know what sort of danger they are in. Hence, when the Japanese government held the leverage tight for the flow of information, it was denying its citizens their right to know the truth. Later the then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his cabinet members were heavily criticized for such decisions. Their reputation was quite tarnished.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Yet, sympathy goes to those decision makers. They were in dilemma. Releasing complete information at once would have caused unwarranted panic. This could have generated another wave of socio-economic tsunami. On the other hand, gradual disclosure of information, with careful observation of the populace would have invited allegations of dishonesty. After all, the government as an institution had to take maximum measures to make sure that the impact on life and property was minimum – even if it had to come at the cost of their honesty. At least they had been able to avert socio-economic turmoil that would have been caused had the people and businesses chose to leave Japan.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Similarly, in the corporate setting, there are times for the management to be better off adopting the “controlled information†policy. As soon as there is a premonition or hype of a crisis in a company, non-managerial workers as well as line managers would try to put themselves in their comfort zones – such as finding different jobs. The problem is that there is no rigorous assessment of the situation – only the mid level or top level managers do so. Hence, even if their neck is not on the line, those workers would try to find a way out – because of lack of understanding. This actually ends up creating a problem in the company – which resembles a nature of self fulfilling prophecy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management1.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 190px;" vspace="2" />Instead, the management should try to avoid such panic among its workers. This does not allow them to exploit the workers through lack of information or misinformation. “Controlled information†strategy must take welfare of the workers as well as stability of the company into consideration.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In short term, Japanese government somehow managed the crisis. But, what ahead ?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government would be asked for a lot more than just achieving stability. Being one of the economic giants, they have to be able to not only get out of the mess, but be back on its feet as one of the global economic powerhouses. Just like a star athlete getting back after a terrible injury, people appreciate a good comeback story.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">I believe the strength of a nation is shown by its response to crisis. When the earthquake hit, a friend of mine was in a supermarket in downtown Tokyo. The quake caused panic: goods fell on the ground, wine bottles shattered and racks collapsed on top of each other. Soon, it stopped shaking. And, people picked up their grocery items, stood on the queue, paid at the cashier, and left patiently. The country was in the midst of “the worst crisis since Hiroshima and Nagasaki,†as Kan put. Yet, people still showed up at their city offices the same week to fulfill their tax obligation. Apart from the quake and tsunami, explosion of the nuclear power plant caused a power shortage throughout eastern Japan. Essentially, the Japanese government declared implementation of daily load shedding for four hours. People and businesses immediately reacted – but not in the form of a public demonstration or protests. Most people started saving electricity at home. Businesses, malls and restaurants shut their businesses early to save electricity. By the end of the day, load shedding lasted less than an hour.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In Japanese, crisis is written as å±æ©Ÿ (kiki). The word consists of two Chinese characters: å± (ki) meaning “dangerâ€, and æ©Ÿ (ki) meaning “opportunityâ€. The word itself indicates the perception of crisis in the Japanese society. Yes, people were shocked, and filled with fear. But they kept their heads up, searching for a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Let history speak for itself. Every time crisis hits the island nation, Japanese golden age follows. The 1932 Great Kanto Earthquake – which destroyed entire Tokyo and killed approximately 140,000 people – was followed by Japanese military glory and its rise as one of the world’s superpowers. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which also destroyed both cities killing roughly 200,000 people – was followed by Japanese economic prosperity and its emergence as the world’s largest economy. Every time they fall, they rise up stronger. And I believe such characteristic shows the grandeur of the nation. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Crisis tests our strength. Whether on our management of crisis or standing up on our feet in the midst of it – crisis could be an inevitable challenge at any point in our life. Some break down; others prevail. With wise but unpopular, “controlled information†strategy, Japanese government did not escalate the existing natural crisis by averting socio-economic crisis. Secondly, Japanese philosophy of seeing opportunities in times of crisis needs to be appreciated by the business minds. It is this attitude that brought the country from bottom rock to a leading position. On the whole, one could expect a better tomorrow if a crisis is managed smartly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><i>[Acharya grew up in Tokyo, Japan and attended St Mary’s International School. He is currently a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student at Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). He can be reached via email at saujanya820@gmail.com.]</i></span></div>',
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'comment' => 'great article! the world is going through what japan went through 15 years ago when the bubble economy crashed. but as you say in times of adversity Japan shows its true strength. it is really unfortunate that we experienced this natural disaster. but in the long run things should work out and Japan will regain its status as an economic powerhouse. in the meantime, i hope the world work together and focuses on the economic issues that trouble us. Japan had the perseverance to fight through the bursting bubble, i hope the rest of the world shows the same type of character, stop rioting, and work to help the economy. or else a war seems inevitable...',
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'content' => '<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="right" alt="" border="2" hspace="5" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/saujanya.jpg" style="width: 124px; height: 160px;" vspace="5" />By Saujanya Acharya</span></strong></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">It has been roughly six months after the catastrophe caused by the quake along the coast of northern Japan. It was a terrifying day for the people across the world to see one of the economic giants drowning under the water and getting washed away. Well, it seems the nature spares nobody. Earthquake and tsunami were not the only problems. The nature also hit a devastating creation of man: a nuclear power plant. Hence, within a very short time span, the Japanese society had to face three different crises.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">The case of Japan provides a great study for the field of management: to be more precise, the handling of crisis in a large institution. When corner shops face a crisis, such as plummeting sales, decision making is quite simple as the options include whether to shut down the business, or keep operating at a lower cost level. However, at a larger scale, decision makers are asked for much more careful decision: one decision could trigger another problem in a chain effect. As far as crisis management is concerned, the Japanese government has been quite effective despite the public criticism – especially, from the international media.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government is criticized for its lack of information disclosure regarding the crisis in the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. It was only in the later stage of the crisis that the Japanese government finally admitted the situation to be as worse as that of Chernobyl – even though the level of crisis was apparent to them from the earlier stages. Such strategy seems dishonest on the part of the government. Yet, it has proved to be a wise one.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 245px;" vspace="2" />It was wise because the outcome of Japanese government’s honesty would have been quite catastrophic – as it could have invited unwanted havoc. Even with their strategy of concealing the information, there were some disturbances. For example, people started to flee the Japanese cities in the north. This phenomenon was seen also in Tokyo Metropolitan Area which was declared safe by the scientists. This panic was caused by the media which highlighted the impending disaster of nuclear crisis in a very speculative manner. Hence, massive exodus of population from the major surrounding cities would have been inevitable, had the government from the beginning admitted that the disaster level was at 5.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Argument against the government’s action would be on ethical grounds only. The government should be looking after the welfare of the society. People have the right to know what sort of danger they are in. Hence, when the Japanese government held the leverage tight for the flow of information, it was denying its citizens their right to know the truth. Later the then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his cabinet members were heavily criticized for such decisions. Their reputation was quite tarnished.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Yet, sympathy goes to those decision makers. They were in dilemma. Releasing complete information at once would have caused unwarranted panic. This could have generated another wave of socio-economic tsunami. On the other hand, gradual disclosure of information, with careful observation of the populace would have invited allegations of dishonesty. After all, the government as an institution had to take maximum measures to make sure that the impact on life and property was minimum – even if it had to come at the cost of their honesty. At least they had been able to avert socio-economic turmoil that would have been caused had the people and businesses chose to leave Japan.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Similarly, in the corporate setting, there are times for the management to be better off adopting the “controlled information†policy. As soon as there is a premonition or hype of a crisis in a company, non-managerial workers as well as line managers would try to put themselves in their comfort zones – such as finding different jobs. The problem is that there is no rigorous assessment of the situation – only the mid level or top level managers do so. Hence, even if their neck is not on the line, those workers would try to find a way out – because of lack of understanding. This actually ends up creating a problem in the company – which resembles a nature of self fulfilling prophecy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management1.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 190px;" vspace="2" />Instead, the management should try to avoid such panic among its workers. This does not allow them to exploit the workers through lack of information or misinformation. “Controlled information†strategy must take welfare of the workers as well as stability of the company into consideration.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In short term, Japanese government somehow managed the crisis. But, what ahead ?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government would be asked for a lot more than just achieving stability. Being one of the economic giants, they have to be able to not only get out of the mess, but be back on its feet as one of the global economic powerhouses. Just like a star athlete getting back after a terrible injury, people appreciate a good comeback story.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">I believe the strength of a nation is shown by its response to crisis. When the earthquake hit, a friend of mine was in a supermarket in downtown Tokyo. The quake caused panic: goods fell on the ground, wine bottles shattered and racks collapsed on top of each other. Soon, it stopped shaking. And, people picked up their grocery items, stood on the queue, paid at the cashier, and left patiently. The country was in the midst of “the worst crisis since Hiroshima and Nagasaki,†as Kan put. Yet, people still showed up at their city offices the same week to fulfill their tax obligation. Apart from the quake and tsunami, explosion of the nuclear power plant caused a power shortage throughout eastern Japan. Essentially, the Japanese government declared implementation of daily load shedding for four hours. People and businesses immediately reacted – but not in the form of a public demonstration or protests. Most people started saving electricity at home. Businesses, malls and restaurants shut their businesses early to save electricity. By the end of the day, load shedding lasted less than an hour.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In Japanese, crisis is written as å±æ©Ÿ (kiki). The word consists of two Chinese characters: å± (ki) meaning “dangerâ€, and æ©Ÿ (ki) meaning “opportunityâ€. The word itself indicates the perception of crisis in the Japanese society. Yes, people were shocked, and filled with fear. But they kept their heads up, searching for a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Let history speak for itself. Every time crisis hits the island nation, Japanese golden age follows. The 1932 Great Kanto Earthquake – which destroyed entire Tokyo and killed approximately 140,000 people – was followed by Japanese military glory and its rise as one of the world’s superpowers. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which also destroyed both cities killing roughly 200,000 people – was followed by Japanese economic prosperity and its emergence as the world’s largest economy. Every time they fall, they rise up stronger. And I believe such characteristic shows the grandeur of the nation. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Crisis tests our strength. Whether on our management of crisis or standing up on our feet in the midst of it – crisis could be an inevitable challenge at any point in our life. Some break down; others prevail. With wise but unpopular, “controlled information†strategy, Japanese government did not escalate the existing natural crisis by averting socio-economic crisis. Secondly, Japanese philosophy of seeing opportunities in times of crisis needs to be appreciated by the business minds. It is this attitude that brought the country from bottom rock to a leading position. On the whole, one could expect a better tomorrow if a crisis is managed smartly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><i>[Acharya grew up in Tokyo, Japan and attended St Mary’s International School. He is currently a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student at Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). He can be reached via email at saujanya820@gmail.com.]</i></span></div>',
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="right" alt="" border="2" hspace="5" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/saujanya.jpg" style="width: 124px; height: 160px;" vspace="5" />By Saujanya Acharya</span></strong></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">It has been roughly six months after the catastrophe caused by the quake along the coast of northern Japan. It was a terrifying day for the people across the world to see one of the economic giants drowning under the water and getting washed away. Well, it seems the nature spares nobody. Earthquake and tsunami were not the only problems. The nature also hit a devastating creation of man: a nuclear power plant. Hence, within a very short time span, the Japanese society had to face three different crises.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">The case of Japan provides a great study for the field of management: to be more precise, the handling of crisis in a large institution. When corner shops face a crisis, such as plummeting sales, decision making is quite simple as the options include whether to shut down the business, or keep operating at a lower cost level. However, at a larger scale, decision makers are asked for much more careful decision: one decision could trigger another problem in a chain effect. As far as crisis management is concerned, the Japanese government has been quite effective despite the public criticism – especially, from the international media.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government is criticized for its lack of information disclosure regarding the crisis in the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. It was only in the later stage of the crisis that the Japanese government finally admitted the situation to be as worse as that of Chernobyl – even though the level of crisis was apparent to them from the earlier stages. Such strategy seems dishonest on the part of the government. Yet, it has proved to be a wise one.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 245px;" vspace="2" />It was wise because the outcome of Japanese government’s honesty would have been quite catastrophic – as it could have invited unwanted havoc. Even with their strategy of concealing the information, there were some disturbances. For example, people started to flee the Japanese cities in the north. This phenomenon was seen also in Tokyo Metropolitan Area which was declared safe by the scientists. This panic was caused by the media which highlighted the impending disaster of nuclear crisis in a very speculative manner. Hence, massive exodus of population from the major surrounding cities would have been inevitable, had the government from the beginning admitted that the disaster level was at 5.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Argument against the government’s action would be on ethical grounds only. The government should be looking after the welfare of the society. People have the right to know what sort of danger they are in. Hence, when the Japanese government held the leverage tight for the flow of information, it was denying its citizens their right to know the truth. Later the then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his cabinet members were heavily criticized for such decisions. Their reputation was quite tarnished.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Yet, sympathy goes to those decision makers. They were in dilemma. Releasing complete information at once would have caused unwarranted panic. This could have generated another wave of socio-economic tsunami. On the other hand, gradual disclosure of information, with careful observation of the populace would have invited allegations of dishonesty. After all, the government as an institution had to take maximum measures to make sure that the impact on life and property was minimum – even if it had to come at the cost of their honesty. At least they had been able to avert socio-economic turmoil that would have been caused had the people and businesses chose to leave Japan.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Similarly, in the corporate setting, there are times for the management to be better off adopting the “controlled information†policy. As soon as there is a premonition or hype of a crisis in a company, non-managerial workers as well as line managers would try to put themselves in their comfort zones – such as finding different jobs. The problem is that there is no rigorous assessment of the situation – only the mid level or top level managers do so. Hence, even if their neck is not on the line, those workers would try to find a way out – because of lack of understanding. This actually ends up creating a problem in the company – which resembles a nature of self fulfilling prophecy.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="left" alt="" border="2" hspace="2" src="http://newbusinessage.com/ckfinder/userfiles/Images/oct-management1.jpg" style="width: 404px; height: 190px;" vspace="2" />Instead, the management should try to avoid such panic among its workers. This does not allow them to exploit the workers through lack of information or misinformation. “Controlled information†strategy must take welfare of the workers as well as stability of the company into consideration.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In short term, Japanese government somehow managed the crisis. But, what ahead ?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Japanese government would be asked for a lot more than just achieving stability. Being one of the economic giants, they have to be able to not only get out of the mess, but be back on its feet as one of the global economic powerhouses. Just like a star athlete getting back after a terrible injury, people appreciate a good comeback story.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">I believe the strength of a nation is shown by its response to crisis. When the earthquake hit, a friend of mine was in a supermarket in downtown Tokyo. The quake caused panic: goods fell on the ground, wine bottles shattered and racks collapsed on top of each other. Soon, it stopped shaking. And, people picked up their grocery items, stood on the queue, paid at the cashier, and left patiently. The country was in the midst of “the worst crisis since Hiroshima and Nagasaki,†as Kan put. Yet, people still showed up at their city offices the same week to fulfill their tax obligation. Apart from the quake and tsunami, explosion of the nuclear power plant caused a power shortage throughout eastern Japan. Essentially, the Japanese government declared implementation of daily load shedding for four hours. People and businesses immediately reacted – but not in the form of a public demonstration or protests. Most people started saving electricity at home. Businesses, malls and restaurants shut their businesses early to save electricity. By the end of the day, load shedding lasted less than an hour.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">In Japanese, crisis is written as å±æ©Ÿ (kiki). The word consists of two Chinese characters: å± (ki) meaning “dangerâ€, and æ©Ÿ (ki) meaning “opportunityâ€. The word itself indicates the perception of crisis in the Japanese society. Yes, people were shocked, and filled with fear. But they kept their heads up, searching for a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Let history speak for itself. Every time crisis hits the island nation, Japanese golden age follows. The 1932 Great Kanto Earthquake – which destroyed entire Tokyo and killed approximately 140,000 people – was followed by Japanese military glory and its rise as one of the world’s superpowers. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which also destroyed both cities killing roughly 200,000 people – was followed by Japanese economic prosperity and its emergence as the world’s largest economy. Every time they fall, they rise up stronger. And I believe such characteristic shows the grandeur of the nation. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;">Crisis tests our strength. Whether on our management of crisis or standing up on our feet in the midst of it – crisis could be an inevitable challenge at any point in our life. Some break down; others prevail. With wise but unpopular, “controlled information†strategy, Japanese government did not escalate the existing natural crisis by averting socio-economic crisis. Secondly, Japanese philosophy of seeing opportunities in times of crisis needs to be appreciated by the business minds. It is this attitude that brought the country from bottom rock to a leading position. On the whole, one could expect a better tomorrow if a crisis is managed smartly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><i>[Acharya grew up in Tokyo, Japan and attended St Mary’s International School. He is currently a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student at Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). He can be reached via email at saujanya820@gmail.com.]</i></span></div>',
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'comment' => 'great article! the world is going through what japan went through 15 years ago when the bubble economy crashed. but as you say in times of adversity Japan shows its true strength. it is really unfortunate that we experienced this natural disaster. but in the long run things should work out and Japan will regain its status as an economic powerhouse. in the meantime, i hope the world work together and focuses on the economic issues that trouble us. Japan had the perseverance to fight through the bursting bubble, i hope the rest of the world shows the same type of character, stop rioting, and work to help the economy. or else a war seems inevitable...',
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Crisis For The Better (October 2011)
It has been roughly six months after the catastrophe caused by the quake along the coast of northern Japan. It was a terrifying day for the people across the world to see one of the economic giants drowning under the water and getting washed away. Well, it seems the nature spares nobody. Earthquake and tsunami were not the only problems. The nature also hit a devastating creation of man: a nuclear power plant. Hence, within a very short time span, the Japanese society had to face three different crises.
The case of Japan provides a great study for the field of management: to be more precise, the handling of crisis in a large institution. When corner shops face a crisis, such as plummeting sales, decision making is quite simple as the options include whether to shut down the business, or keep operating at a lower cost level. However, at a larger scale, decision makers are asked for much more careful decision: one decision could trigger another problem in a chain effect. As far as crisis management is concerned, the Japanese government has been quite effective despite the public criticism – especially, from the international media.
Japanese government is criticized for its lack of information disclosure regarding the crisis in the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. It was only in the later stage of the crisis that the Japanese government finally admitted the situation to be as worse as that of Chernobyl – even though the level of crisis was apparent to them from the earlier stages. Such strategy seems dishonest on the part of the government. Yet, it has proved to be a wise one.
Argument against the government’s action would be on ethical grounds only. The government should be looking after the welfare of the society. People have the right to know what sort of danger they are in. Hence, when the Japanese government held the leverage tight for the flow of information, it was denying its citizens their right to know the truth. Later the then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his cabinet members were heavily criticized for such decisions. Their reputation was quite tarnished.
Yet, sympathy goes to those decision makers. They were in dilemma. Releasing complete information at once would have caused unwarranted panic. This could have generated another wave of socio-economic tsunami. On the other hand, gradual disclosure of information, with careful observation of the populace would have invited allegations of dishonesty. After all, the government as an institution had to take maximum measures to make sure that the impact on life and property was minimum – even if it had to come at the cost of their honesty. At least they had been able to avert socio-economic turmoil that would have been caused had the people and businesses chose to leave Japan.
Similarly, in the corporate setting, there are times for the management to be better off adopting the “controlled information†policy. As soon as there is a premonition or hype of a crisis in a company, non-managerial workers as well as line managers would try to put themselves in their comfort zones – such as finding different jobs. The problem is that there is no rigorous assessment of the situation – only the mid level or top level managers do so. Hence, even if their neck is not on the line, those workers would try to find a way out – because of lack of understanding. This actually ends up creating a problem in the company – which resembles a nature of self fulfilling prophecy.
In short term, Japanese government somehow managed the crisis. But, what ahead ?
Japanese government would be asked for a lot more than just achieving stability. Being one of the economic giants, they have to be able to not only get out of the mess, but be back on its feet as one of the global economic powerhouses. Just like a star athlete getting back after a terrible injury, people appreciate a good comeback story.
I believe the strength of a nation is shown by its response to crisis. When the earthquake hit, a friend of mine was in a supermarket in downtown Tokyo. The quake caused panic: goods fell on the ground, wine bottles shattered and racks collapsed on top of each other. Soon, it stopped shaking. And, people picked up their grocery items, stood on the queue, paid at the cashier, and left patiently. The country was in the midst of “the worst crisis since Hiroshima and Nagasaki,†as Kan put. Yet, people still showed up at their city offices the same week to fulfill their tax obligation. Apart from the quake and tsunami, explosion of the nuclear power plant caused a power shortage throughout eastern Japan. Essentially, the Japanese government declared implementation of daily load shedding for four hours. People and businesses immediately reacted – but not in the form of a public demonstration or protests. Most people started saving electricity at home. Businesses, malls and restaurants shut their businesses early to save electricity. By the end of the day, load shedding lasted less than an hour.
In Japanese, crisis is written as å±æ©Ÿ (kiki). The word consists of two Chinese characters: å± (ki) meaning “dangerâ€, and æ©Ÿ (ki) meaning “opportunityâ€. The word itself indicates the perception of crisis in the Japanese society. Yes, people were shocked, and filled with fear. But they kept their heads up, searching for a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Let history speak for itself. Every time crisis hits the island nation, Japanese golden age follows. The 1932 Great Kanto Earthquake – which destroyed entire Tokyo and killed approximately 140,000 people – was followed by Japanese military glory and its rise as one of the world’s superpowers. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – which also destroyed both cities killing roughly 200,000 people – was followed by Japanese economic prosperity and its emergence as the world’s largest economy. Every time they fall, they rise up stronger. And I believe such characteristic shows the grandeur of the nation.
Crisis tests our strength. Whether on our management of crisis or standing up on our feet in the midst of it – crisis could be an inevitable challenge at any point in our life. Some break down; others prevail. With wise but unpopular, “controlled information†strategy, Japanese government did not escalate the existing natural crisis by averting socio-economic crisis. Secondly, Japanese philosophy of seeing opportunities in times of crisis needs to be appreciated by the business minds. It is this attitude that brought the country from bottom rock to a leading position. On the whole, one could expect a better tomorrow if a crisis is managed smartly.
[Acharya grew up in Tokyo, Japan and attended St Mary’s International School. He is currently a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student at Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM). He can be reached via email at saujanya820@gmail.com.]
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By Saujanya Acharya
It was wise because the outcome of Japanese government’s honesty would have been quite catastrophic – as it could have invited unwanted havoc. Even with their strategy of concealing the information, there were some disturbances. For example, people started to flee the Japanese cities in the north. This phenomenon was seen also in Tokyo Metropolitan Area which was declared safe by the scientists. This panic was caused by the media which highlighted the impending disaster of nuclear crisis in a very speculative manner. Hence, massive exodus of population from the major surrounding cities would have been inevitable, had the government from the beginning admitted that the disaster level was at 5.
Instead, the management should try to avoid such panic among its workers. This does not allow them to exploit the workers through lack of information or misinformation. “Controlled information†strategy must take welfare of the workers as well as stability of the company into consideration.
