{"id":7668,"date":"2023-01-15T11:52:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T18:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=7668"},"modified":"2023-01-15T11:52:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T18:52:38","slug":"japanese-business-culture-the-window-tribe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=7668","title":{"rendered":"Japanese business culture: the window tribe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Japanese companies are barred both by societal and legal constraints that make it very difficult to fire employees.\u00a0 Historically, that led to the phenomenon of the\u00a0madogiwazoku\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 literally, the tribe that sits by the windows.\u00a0 Employees whose services were no longer needed, but that the company could not or did not want to fire, would be given a pleasant spot by the window to while away working hours by reading the newspaper.\u00a0 However, as the Japanese economy has had to deal with years upon years of recession, and the increasingly stiff winds of global competition, many Japanese companies are finding themselves with more redundant staff than could fit at the window seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The oidashibeya<\/em> is in a sense madogiwazoku<\/em> on steroids.  Employees are typically placed in a room, often windowless, where they have nothing to do.  In many cases their business cards are taken away, and they are forced to do menial, mind-numbing tasks, or given nothing to do at all. Being excluded from the mainstream is particularly painful for those who have dedicated themselves to the company for many years, especially in the context of Japanese culture where murahachibu<\/em> (ostracism from the group) is a traditional and strong form of punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of the oidashibeya<\/em> is that stripped of their status, ties with colleagues, and interesting work, the employees who are placed there will eventually quit out of shame and sheer boredom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link:<\/p>\n\n\n\n