India-Japan has a longstanding relationship that has evolved into a strategic partnership spanning political, economic, defence and science and technology sectors. The East Asian nation offers ample opportunities for India to explore and deepen the relationship further in view of the changing technological landscape.
At the recently organised inaugural edition of The Economic Times’ Japan Immersion Programme in Tokyo, Indian business leaders explored opportunities for deeper India-Japan business engagement while drawing lessons from Japanese companies’ emphasis on process standardisation, automation, consensus-building and continuous improvement.
The programme brought together business leaders from sectors including finance, construction, healthcare and communications for interactions with investors, bankers and other stakeholders in Japan.
The power-packed sessions focused on the potential for combining India’s fast-growing market with Japan’s technological capabilities and operating practices.
Shashichandra Desai, Founder of Dharma Foundation Mauritius, who was visiting Japan for the second time, said the meetings organised during the programme highlighted areas where India and Japan could work together in their mutual interest.
Dr. Sulabh Singh, Founder and CEO of Sociyo Communications, also pointed to interactions among delegates, investors and bankers as a potential foundation for stronger bilateral business relations.
Lessons from Japanese business practices
Beyond cross-border opportunities, Indian leaders highlighted process discipline, standardisation and continuous improvement as some of the main lessons from their exposure to Japanese businesses.
Akshay Baweja, Senior Manager at fractional finance advisory firm Finaks Advisory Services, said Japanese organisations displayed a strong commitment to process standardisation and attention to detail across organisational levels.
He also highlighted their preference for building consensus before taking decisions and their use of automation to eliminate repetitive work and improve consistency rather than merely reduce headcount.
A key takeaway for Baweja was Kaizen, the Japanese approach of achieving improvements through small, continuous changes involving teams rather than relying only on periodic large-scale overhauls. He said he plans to incorporate elements of the approach into the finance functions he works with.
“Decisions take longer to solidify, but they hold far better, because genuine organisational buy-in is established from the outset,” Baweja said.
However, he said that while the programme’s ground coordination and cultural exposure were strong, some of the formal summit sessions remained generic and provided limited scope for concrete deal-making.
Networking across sectors
Other leaders highlighted the programme’s role in bringing together business leaders, investors and operators from different sectors.
Vikas Gupta, Managing Director of Nivik Constructions, said interactions with investors, bankers and operators offered perspectives on how construction businesses could scale with greater reliance on processes and less on improvisation.
Pranav Bharadwaj, Managing Director of DSS Electric Corporation, highlighted an informal interaction outside the programme’s main agenda as one of his key takeaways, underscoring the role of conversations beyond formal sessions in facilitating business exchanges.
Ketan Nischal, Founder and CEO of InOut Creatives, said the programme helped him better understand Japanese culture while opening opportunities to explore potential engagement between the two countries and expand his professional network.
Pinky Topiwala, Director of Orange Physiocare, highlighted the community interactions and hospitality experienced during the programme.
Business culture beyond the boardroom
Leaders also pointed to punctuality, reliability, collective responsibility and discipline as characteristics of Japanese society that extend into its business culture.
Aadi Anand Jain, Project Engineer at VKJ Projects and the youngest delegate in the group, said the programme offered lessons in how Japanese communities organise themselves and work collectively.
“Japan being a Tier-1 country, we have to learn from their community practices, especially how they present themselves and support each other,” Jain said.
The programme gave participating Indian business leaders an opportunity to look beyond conventional business engagement and draw lessons from Japan’s emphasis on systems, reliability, consensus and continuous improvement. Indian leaders said these practices could inform their own organisations, while the interactions also opened avenues for exploring deeper business engagement between India and Japan.
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