A couple days ago (at the end of August) I had Joint Program 2020 webinar. This webinar is held for JICA scholars. This program aims for offering participants opportunities to learn additional knowledge such as innovation and leadership, and build a network with other JICA participants as well as Japanese public institutions/private companies.
The objectives of the joint program are:
- To deepen understanding as JICA participants, share some important points to continue scholarship program, and strengthen networking among themselves.
- To promote Cross-Cultural understanding.
- To gain Japanese social culture and business manner.
- To learn about Innovation and Leadership through lectures and workshops.
- etc.
What I want to share here is about my group discussion result. Yup, there was a group discussion. I joined group B (one of the targets is SDGs Global Leader Program-my scholarship program). For group B, we are divided again into groups. I was in group ten with other participants. I remembered one of five participants. He is from Salvador. The group discussed about three questions as follow:
Question 1
What kind of system/service/mindset do you want to take away from Japan to your country?
Answer:
- From Japanese Industry: the mindset about collaboration between the owner and the worker (work relationship or collaboration culture). The Japanese company very concerns about long term relationship with workers. They see it as human capital. In the Japanese industries, they will not only compete, but also work together in order to develop R&D.
- The structure of Japanese industry: the well structured industries make easier to develop the productivity. Hardworking sense, even it's difficult to adapt or take this quality out is difficult (high motivation is needed) Not giving up is also important attitude feature (continue working despite of the struggles). The serving nature of Japanese people, the way that Japanese consider the costumer feeling, and try to make feel good in any situation.
- The transportation is very organized and functual.
- Mechanization of agriculture.
- Health facility system.
- Human resources focus: how education system is structured and how Japan keep motivated people to train and improve human capabilities.
- The service industry: standardization of food and hospitalities in various service sectors.
- The garbage collection system is very well-organized. Each city is committed and concern about recycling infrastructure and keep cities clean. Reducing pollution, environment becomes better for living.
- The mail delivery system is very functional and effective (time and accuracy).
- The mindset, how people is facing pandemic (mutual respect, cough etiquette, not selfish behavior).
Question 2
What point do you think Japan should learn from your country?
Answer:
- To understand other cultures. Indonesia has the largest ethnicity and languages. The religion of the country, Islam is majority in Indonesia. Good hospitality (attitude like to be smiling, welcoming, friendly, more social interaction, and understanding about diversity).
- To make a social relation better in Japan: understanding about other cultures and interact with and from other cultures (industrial context).
- To wide knowledge about different continents in order to understand other different context.
- To make a better human relationship: stressing family and friends feeling (strengthen feeling, not to have a cold relationship).
- Self expression, how Japanese people express what they are thinking, how to distinguish what is acceptable or not (how to know what they consider negative or positive).
- Medicine beliefs. They do not believe kind of traditional medicine, but sometimes natural and traditional medicine may be considered into Japanese mindset (with less secondary effects).
Question 3
By combining the ideas of the two steps together, what kind of global collaboration should be done by Japan? (for example, which industry or field?)
Answer:
- Natural resources (oil and gas industry).
- Agriculture : the implementation of new technologies, like makin seeding automatically (truck and machines, fertilizing and insecticides by helicopter) for producing more efficiently.
- Education: ICT development.
- Automobile industry.
- Train and railway system.
- Tourism.
- Housing.
- Exchange system of collaboration in order to understand developing countries contexts and people, but also people from other countries come to Japan in order to understand the innovation and key ideas for development.
