Interview about the differences working in Japan and Belgium

desireedenorre · 21 May 2021

I am a third year student at Artevelde university college in Ghent, Belgium. for a course I have to broaden my internationalization. For this, I would like to do an interview with a foreign office manager / management assistant who can tell me what the difference is in the way of working with Belgium.
I have to be able to clearly demonstrate the differences and similarities of the (business) culture between a foreign country and Belgium, how it's different from the way it works in Belgium.
And how that country in general is committed to the SDGs and how they do this better than Belgium. (we really have to "immerse" ourselves in other cultures).
Do you think you can tell a lot about this or doe you know someone? and that there are actually many differences between the (business) culture and in the field of SDGs (compared to Belgium), and are you interested in a short interview (half an hour)?
if you are comfortable with this proposal, please contact me on this e-mail (desireedenorre(at mark)hotmail.com) or let me know below!
Thanks in advance,
Best regards,
Desiree De Norre

Lothor · 22 May 2021

Welcome to the forum. Are you looking for someone from Belgium in Japan?

desireedenorre · 22 May 2021

Lothor said:
Welcome to the forum. Are you looking for someone from Belgium in Japan?

Thank you! and it can be someone from Belgium that works in Japan as an officemanager/management assistant or someone working (as an officemanager/management assistant) and living in Japan who isn't from Belgium or related in any way to Belgium. I need to compare the differences in the way of working and cultures, so both options are helpful!

Davey · 22 May 2021

Don't really know anyone on the forum from Belgium besides "rocklee" but he hasn't been online for a while. Are Dutch alright as well

thomas · 22 May 2021

Perhaps @Maciamo could be of help?

desireedenorre · 22 May 2021

thomas said:
Perhaps @Maciamo could be of help?

That would be great!

desireedenorre · 22 May 2021

Davey said:
Don't really know anyone on the forum from Belgium besides "rocklee" but he hasn't been online for a while. Are Dutch alright as well

I think the Netherlands and Belgium are very simular in the way they work, so that can work also!

mdchachi · 22 May 2021

What does SDG mean?

desireedenorre · 22 May 2021

mdchachi said:
What does SDG mean?

those are Sustainable Development Goals, The 17 SDGs are: (1) No Poverty, (2) Zero Hunger, (3) Good Health and Well-being, (4) Quality Education, (5) Gender Equality, (6) Clean Water and Sanitation, (7) Affordable and Clean Energy, (8) Decent Work and Economic Growth, (9) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, (10) Reducing Inequality, (11) Sustainable Cities and Communities, (12) Responsible Consumption and Production, (13) Climate Action, (14) Life Below Water, (15) Life On Land, (16) Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, (17) Partnerships for the Goals. And how countries ensure that they do this well.
Belgium, for example, is not doing well in terms of poverty. I want to compare how Japan, for example, deals with poverty that is different from Belgium.
I hope this info is clear!

mdchachi · 26 May 2021

These are just some thoughts that could help. Or not.
(1) Japan certainly has poverty but I don't know how it compares to other G20 nations. Certainly far less than U.S.
(2) People do go hungry in Japan but there is also some social/safety net so my feeling is that when people go hungry - or even die from poverty/hunger - it's usually because they don't seek out assistance. I don't think there's a very strong support from the NGO side. I've never heard of a charitable food bank in Japan for example but it probably exists.
(3) The relatively high average life span of Japanese would indicate overall good health and well-being. On the other hand, the relatively high rate of suicide would indicate otherwise.
(4) I don't know how they are compared to other countries.
(5) Very poor compared to EU I would guess. Still traditional gender roles are very much expected and there's little to no support for single mothers, limited childcare to support working mothers, men are still expected to dedicate their lives to career/company. Gender inequality is still very much systemic. Here's one example.
(6) Not sure but I would guess they are on par with EU.
(7) Not sure how they compare. As far as I know they don't have any clean energy except for nuclear.
(8) Economically Japan has been relatively stagnant for decades now.
(9) No idea.
(10) Japan is relatively egalitarian. You don't see huge disparities in wealth or living circumstances like we have in the U.S. I have not heard of any efforts to reduce inequality further. Immigrants and non-Japanese are not really on their radar at all though.
(11) it's a big topic of discussion with some large corporate backers. So maybe they are more serious about it than some other places (see Woven City).
(12) Not sure how they compare.
(13) I haven't seen a lot of focus on this. Maybe they think they are already doing well.
(14) (15) (16) (17) no idea

desireedenorre · 26 May 2021

mdchachi said:
These are just some thoughts that could help. Or not.
(1) Japan certainly has poverty but I don't know how it compares to other G20 nations. Certainly far less than U.S.
(2) People do go hungry in Japan but there is also some social/safety net so my feeling is that when people go hungry - or even die from poverty/hunger - it's usually because they don't seek out assistance. I don't think there's a very strong support from the NGO side. I've never heard of a charitable food bank in Japan for example but it probably exists.
(3) The relatively high average life span of Japanese would indicate overall good health and well-being. On the other hand, the relatively high rate of suicide would indicate otherwise.
(4) I don't know how they are compared to other countries.
(5) Very poor compared to EU I would guess. Still traditional gender roles are very much expected and there's little to no support for single mothers, limited childcare to support working mothers, men are still expected to dedicate their lives to career/company. Gender inequality is still very much systemic. Here's one example.
(6) Not sure but I would guess they are on par with EU.
(7) Not sure how they compare. As far as I know they don't have any clean energy except for nuclear.
(8) Economically Japan has been relatively stagnant for decades now.
(9) No idea.
(10) Japan is relatively egalitarian. You don't see huge disparities in wealth or living circumstances like we have in the U.S. I have not heard of any efforts to reduce inequality further. Immigrants and non-Japanese are not really on their radar at all though.
(11) it's a big topic of discussion with some large corporate backers. So maybe they are more serious about it than some other places (see Woven City).
(12) Not sure how they compare.
(13) I haven't seen a lot of focus on this. Maybe they think they are already doing well.
(14) (15) (16) (17) no idea

Hello! This is very helpful!
I've noticed from posts on Facebook that people don't know or haven't heard of the SDG concept yet, so your information will definitely help me! (I also explained more about SDG in my interview questions because it may have been judgmental of me to think that everyone knows SDG).
Thank you very much! Kind regards

Lothor · 26 May 2021

desireedenorre said:
Hello! This is very helpful!
I've noticed from posts on Facebook that people don't know or haven't heard of the SDG concept yet, so your information will definitely help me! (I also explained more about SDG in my interview questions because it may have been judgmental of me to think that everyone knows SDG).
Thank you very much! Kind regards

SDGs are moderately well known in Japan. I've recently played that SDG game online and I've seen news reports of high school students playing the same game and adverts mentioning SDGs on trains. My son brought back a four-page professional-looking newspaper about the environment from his primary school the other day, which talked about the SDGs. However, it also contained an advert celebrating cow milk from some dairy organisation, highlighting the rather confused nature of environmental awareness in Japan!

desireedenorre · 26 May 2021

Lothor said:
SDGs are moderately well known in Japan. I've recently played that SDG game online and I've seen news reports of high school students playing the same game and adverts mentioning SDGs on trains. My son brought back a four-page professional-looking newspaper about the environment from his primary school the other day, which talked about the SDGs. However, it also contained an advert celebrating cow milk from some dairy organisation, highlighting the rather confused nature of environmental awareness in Japan!

wow that's great! I myself did not know there was a game of it! great to learn things here! I just had a bad experience with someone who was offended for not providing any information. during this year's Global SDG Festival Of Action, Japan was also central with a special Japanese Stage, so I assumed that everyone was aware of this. It is good that SDGs are mentioned in school! And yes that does sound a bit confusing! haha

Interview about the differences working in Japan and Belgium

desireedenorre

Registered

Lothor

Freelance proofreader

desireedenorre

Registered

Davey

先輩

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

desireedenorre

Registered

desireedenorre

Registered

mdchachi

Moderator

desireedenorre

Registered

mdchachi

Moderator

desireedenorre

Registered

Lothor

Freelance proofreader

desireedenorre

Registered

Similar threads