ZS Associates saw Effects of Japan Office Almost Immediately after Opening

Immediate effects
After establishing the office, Mr. Peterson saw almost immediately the effects of having a direct presence in Japan. "Literally, within a couple weeks of us opening the office, existing clients that we had worked with sporadically-maybe every couple of years-reached out to us [for our services]," he said. After about six to 12 months of developing the company's network of relationships in Japan, Mr. Peterson saw a significant increase in the opportunities presented to the company from new clients. After two to three years, ZS Associates had grown to be well known in its field in Japan. "That's after two to three years of working [directly] in Japan versus working from outside of Japan for 15 years and never having accomplished that level of name recognition and brand awareness," he said.

Tokyo office, ZS Associates' 25th Anniversary
 

Comparison: Before and Now
Giving comparisons of the business from before the office to the time of the interview, Mr. Peterson illustrated how much of a difference having an office in Japan has had on the business.

More significant changes resulting from Japan office, contributing to growth

• Change of Japan project teams from non-Japanese speakers to mostly Japanese speakers. The reduction in language barrier led a wide number of personnel at ZS Associates' clients in Japan to feel more comfortable discussing additional projects with the company.


• Significant increase in convenience of doing business. Rather than flying in or working from the U.S. or Europe, the practicality of being in Japan made logistics so much easier that ZS Associates was exposed to many more opportunities.


• Deeper relationships. Being in Japan enabled ZS Associates personnel to see their clients and prospects more often, which led to deeper relationships revealing more areas where ZS Associates could help.

The role and significance of the Japan office
Beyond serving the Japan market needs of its clients, ZS Associates' Japan office plays a key role in its global business. "Many more of our clients' decisions are being made globally, not country by country," said Mr. Peterson. "And so for us to be able to win a project for a client, it's increasingly required that we are able to address all their major markets in that project. If we didn't have an office in Japan, we would be at a significant disadvantage on bidding for these kinds of global projects."

Japan is also a thought leader in some of ZS Associates' practice areas. "There's a number of dynamics of the Japanese market that have traditionally been more pronounced in Japan than perhaps in other parts of the world, that recently are becoming more important in those other places in the world," he said. As a result, approaches that ZS Associates have adapted for the Japanese market have led to the improvement of approaches in the rest of the world. For example, in pharmaceuticals in Japan, Mr. Peterson continued, the hospital sector has been relatively more important because more healthcare is practiced in hospitals rather than in individual doctor's offices. ZS Associates' experience with this large hospital base has enabled the company to take practices developed to help its clients with the group decision making, account buying practices and account management activities in Japan to help clients in other markets in the world.

Looking forward
ZS Associates is focusing on growing its Japan revenue with more ongoing, sustained work-over intermittent projects-and still looks to open a second office in Japan at some point, with the help of JETRO. And while ZS Associates still finds challenges in recruiting people with the right mix of skills, it plans to hire five to six new Associates in Japan to augment its current 23 employees by the end of 2011 to support growing client demand in Japan. "The Japan market is still a huge market by global standards," Mr. Peterson said. "It's generally the second or third or fourth largest market in any particular segment, so it's top of mind with clients."

Japan Company Profile

*Note: The opinions contained in this article are based on the experiences of the interviewee. They are not representative of all experiences in Japan or working with Japanese companies, and do not reflect the opinions of JETRO.