negotiations and dealings the reason why it is necessary to do things a certain way to avoid embarrassment or to avoid offending the sensibilities of the Japanese. The American sometimes feels that the Japanese are overly concerned with how something appears and that this interferes with arriving expeditiously at what is to be done. The second fundamental difference is how business is organized and how companies arrive at decisions. In general, U. S. companies are organized with clear lines of authority and responsibility and with very clear-cut delegations of authority to make decisions at lower management levels. The American executive appears freer to make a decision individually without reference to other executives or groups within the company. By contrast the Japanese Company is more inclined to arrive at a group decision. The proposal moves up the corporate levels without any clear decision being made at the first level until it has been informally ascertained that the next level will be in agreement if a recommendation is made, and the final decision does not seem to be made until all groups in the company have been consulted and are in agreement. Nor can the decision be changed apparently without the whole group decision process being given the chance to react to the change suggested. The American new to Japan is not ready for the degree of patience that seem to be required to deal with the many twistings and turnings and testing of positions that are customary in a negotiation with the Japanese. He finds it hard to understand why he cannot get more immediate agreement. - 4 -