Relentless: The Japanese Way of Marketing

Rating:
Summary: Not too many new lessons for me
Review: Overall, I found this book didn't provide new lessons for me.

I think the reason why I felt unsatisfied is because I've contacted with Japanese culture quite often already; therefore, all those Japanese culture and working philosophy are familiar to me. As now I'm in Taiwan, actually I almost watch Japanese TV program everyday. Many of the programs introduced how Japanese conduct their business - from reviving a dying resturant to developing a winning lunch box for the train, so it's not new.

The subtitle is 'The Japanese way of Marketing'; yet the better subtitle could be 'The Japanese way of Doing business', as the author talk about the total aspects of doing business. Personally I do appreciate the dedication of many Japanese to their work, no matter you're a business man or a cook in a small resturant. The core essence is 'detail matters', 'execution matters'. Still, this is not new to me.

For marketing side, though the author explained 4 P's one by one, I couldn't find something new and I couldn't find something can quickly apply to different culture context, i.e. Taiwan. Then this book looks like a pretty good guide if you're a foreigner and want to do business in Japan. Yet if you want to apply to your own country and context, you need to put lots of effort to adapt it yourself as the author didn't tell you how.

Net, I found this book provided few lessons to me, and didn't provide clear method on how to apply the Japanese way to different culture/context. Yet I still recommend it to the business people who are not familiar with Japanese culture/working philosophy, or if you're going to be assigned to Japan.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: RELENTLESS is one of the better books I've read on Japanese marketing techniques and strategy. I highly recommend it for its inside perspective. As a Haas alumni, I noted that both authors, Professors Johansson and Nonaka, attended Berkeley.