Tsuyoshi Mano became president of Kyocera Wireless Corp. after helping implement its takeover from Qualcomm Inc.

Tsuyoshi Mano’s home is in Japan, but his career has taken him to a pair of long-term assignments in the United States. After joining Kyocera Corp. in Kyoto as a chemical engineer, he took advantage of a company scholarship to obtain an MBA at the University of Washington. The three-year program provided insight not only into business, but also into the United States, where the Japanese company desired to expand.

After returning home, Mano was assigned to Kyocera’s corporate growth and development department. He recommended that Kyocera invest in such companies as SanDisk, a maker of compact flash cards, and in PictureTel, a pioneer in video conferencing. But his most momentous recommendation was that Kyocera purchase outright the handset division of Qualcomm and create the Kyocera Wireless Corp.

He was sent to the United States in 2000 as part of the executive team implementing the takeover, and later became president of the wireless corporation. Having lived in both countries, he knows Japanese and Americans often misperceive each other.

It’s normal in Kyoto for executives to stay at their jobs late into the night. Families understand. In the United States, the social customs are different, he says. Such behavior by an executive could lead to a divorce. Some executives in Japan “feel that American people live ‘higher’ than they should.”

Americans tend to be direct in the way they discuss issues, whereas Japanese executives often “hesitate to speak up, don’t discuss the real issues,” Mano says. As a result, Americans and Japanese sometimes don’t communicate well, the problem being not one of translation but of openness.

With more interaction between American and Japanese executives, “I think people need to accept the differences,” Mano says. “Having the same goals is very important for a team — and then how to accomplish those. We have different cultures. Both need to use their own strengths. It takes time. Business practices are different, but the core is the same. Price, delivery, services are very important for the customer — so how can we achieve these?”

— Donald H. Harrison