I received a touchy feedback from Ravi Kasinathan on my story entitled "Teams perform better when managers demonstrate effective leadership qualities not separate skill sets but interconnected' published by newswav.com on 7th August 2026. Ravi is the son of the late Kasinathan, who was Malaysian Sales & Marketing Manager, working alongside with me at the said wholly Japanese Multinational Corporation (MNC) manufacturing plants. The management committee (MC) comprised of both team of Japanese and Malaysian (Malay, Chinese and Indian) managers reporting to Kiyonosan, a Japanese engineer Sacho (Managing Director). I remember when Japanese and Malaysian managers form a joint leadership team, we bring together two highly distinct, culturally rich management styles. A successful partnership requires blending Japan's relentless focus on process, structural precision, and consensus with Malaysia's strength in rational harmony, adaptability & linguistic flexibility. Because both cultures naturally prioritize workplace harmony, we formed exceptionally strong bonds of teamwork when we navigated the structural values differences correctly.
I remember we practiced the 3 pillars for joint team success by synchronizing “speed” (Kaizan vs. Ppalli-Ppalli style): Japanese managers define efficiency as zero-defect processes achieved through deep planning. Malaysian managers (often influenced by regional trading rhythms or fast-paced corporate metrics) favor speed of entry and rapid readjustments. We established explicit project milestones by allocating untouchable “planning phases” to satisfy Japanese risk-management protocols, paired with “agile implementation phases” where Malaysian managers take control for the operational lead.
What we love most was the social bonding outside the office. Both cultures believe business trust is built after office hours, but our methods differ: Japanese Nomikai (Drinking Culture) by informal venting and genuine bonding happen over drinks, where hierarchy is temporarily lowered. Malaysian Inclusive Hospitality of which team-building centers around diverse, strict multi-ethic culinary experiences (halal-conscious dining, multi-cultural festive lunches). So, I arranged team dinners around Halal Japanese Izakayas (inclusive spaces) to respect Islamic practices while fulfilling the Japanese need for informal Nomimeshi (eating and drinking together). Malaysian organizational structures are traditionally respectful of titles which mirrors the Japanese for seniority (Ninko Joso).
Zulkifly Baharom (hajizul50@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.