While a company operates with a small team, informal role divisions and individual effort can keep the organization running. As the business grows, however, this approach reaches its limits. Ambiguity in roles and authority often surfaces all at once, triggered by hiring or a rising workload.
- The business is expanding, but the organization has not kept pace
- It is unclear who makes which decisions
- Work and authority are concentrated in specific employees, creating an uneven workload
- New hires struggle to settle into the organization even as headcount grows
This article explains the organizational challenges that commonly hold back growth at a Japan entity, and how to address them.
Why Organizational Challenges Surface During Growth
While a company operates with a small team, informal role divisions and individual effort can keep the organization running. As the business grows, however, this approach reaches its limits. Ambiguity in roles and authority often surfaces all at once, triggered by hiring or a rising workload.
For a foreign company's Japan entity in particular, applying headquarters' org chart or job definitions as-is often does not fit the scope of work or business practices specific to the Japanese market, which can further complicate organizational challenges.
Common Organizational Challenges During Growth and How to Address Them
Japan entities in a growth phase are particularly prone to the following organizational challenges.
| Challenge | How to Address It |
|---|---|
| Ambiguous roles and authority | Document who can make which decisions and share this internally |
| Siloed knowledge | Identify work that depends on specific individuals and organize it so it can be handed off |
| Underdeveloped evaluation system | Design evaluation criteria and compensation ranges suited to the Japanese market, anticipating hiring |
| Insufficient onboarding | Build a structure that helps new members contribute quickly |
| Lack of information-sharing mechanisms | Establish regular touchpoints to close information gaps between headquarters and the field, and among team members |
How to Prioritize Organizational Challenges
It is difficult to address every organizational challenge at once, so it is best to start with the areas causing the most direct disruption to operations. Ambiguous authority and siloed knowledge, in particular, often underlie other challenges, making them effective places to start.
Organizational improvements are not a one-time fix; they need to be revisited each time the company hires or expands. Setting up a regular check-in on organizational health helps prevent the same issues from recurring at every growth stage.
Summary
- Informal role divisions that worked for a small team quickly reach their limits as the business expands
- Review ambiguous roles and authority, siloed knowledge, evaluation systems, onboarding, and information sharing
- Start with the challenges causing the most operational disruption, especially ambiguous authority and siloed knowledge
- Do not treat organizational improvement as one-time; review it regularly as the company grows
Contact
JBN provides one-stop support for foreign companies, from organizing organizational challenges at their Japan entity through to implementing improvements.
To discuss reviewing your organizational structure, please contact us.