The March 11 tsunami that unleashed its fury on the Tohoku region of northern Japan caused extensive damage, beyond what can usually be imagined. It looks like it will take a while to clear up the mess and help people on their feet. News reports suggest that the process has been very slow. How can this happen in a society that works so efficiently? Where the trains don't just run on time, every time, but stop at the exact spot on the platform where you are asked to wait to enter the carriage of the particular train you need?

TSUNAMI AFTERMATH

I got a sense of the reason from a presentation I heard in Nagoya last month by Yoshioka Tatsuya, Founder and Director of the Japan-based NGO, Peace Boat. He has been active at the grassroot-level, in the disaster-affected areas, and was calling for volunteers to help distribute food, clear debris and build morale. He explained how the locals are too shell-shocked to talk to each other but volunteers are giving the traumatised residents moral support, listening to their problems and giving them hope that people all around the globe are prepared to support them in their efforts to rebuild.

But Tatsuya also made two interesting observations that throw light on the underlying managerial issues that are being faced.

First, he remarked that there is a lot of money that has been donated to various agencies, such as the Red Cross, that is sitting in their accounts and hasn't been distributed to those who need it to restart their lives, and their small businesses. The problem is that the authorities first want to arrive at a set of criteria, on the basis of which they would judge the need, then evaluate the needs of each family, before distributing funds.

The importance of equity and being seen as fair is so important that it has frozen action till the rules are developed. The authorities don't want to be accused later of iniquity. And it may be a couple of years before it is done. Second, a lot of the debris still hasn't been cleared. The government didn't have a disaster waste management guideline before March 11. They had guidelines for disaster rubble and typhoon-generated floods. But this time, residential and commercial debris is mixed up; wood, concrete, steel and other waste is all combined, and surely body parts have to be taken away for identification.

The local authorities and the prefecture officials are still discussing the rules regarding what is to be removed by whom and taken where. By law, the municipal government bears the responsibility for managing waste generated by a disaster, but given the scale of this one, they are seeking help from the prefectural governments. The existing garbage removal systems are very clear regarding what is cleared on which day and by whom, but the unusual situation here requires new planning and analysis.

Tatsuya's frustration was clearly reflected in his voice. As a grassroots organiser, he was too close to it. He threw up his hands and said, “This is Japan! How can it still be in this state three months after the disaster? And 20,000 families still don't get a hot meal.”

JAPANESE METHOD

You see the thread? The Japanese love to plan before they act, and love their systems. An expert panel on tsunami counter-measures released a report recently where they envisioned tsunamis of two types: the frequently occurring ones (that is, once every 50 to 150 years) for which they are quite prepared and the massive tsunami that occurred this time. They called it ‘far beyond past assumptions'. And, you can understand the amount of planning it will take when you throw in the government's objective. To quote the chief of the environment section of the city of Kamaishi: “What's important is to remove all environmental burden for the next generation, so making sure the waste is properly managed.” And they hope to get it all done by March next year. So we now have a situation where the normal Japanese approach of efficiently planning and executing has got in the way of making an immediate impact and providing relief for those suffering.

INDIA AND JAPAN

In contrast, India, at 45, ranks low on uncertainty avoidance. Indians are pretty good at dealing with chaos either because most of the time they do not have the right rules in place, or because people don't think the rules are meant to be followed. So they make things up as they proceed, and ‘somehow' find their way out, or ‘manage' the situation. This method isn't perfect, but they ‘sort of' get there. They can handle the crisis, but in the long term, this can result in inefficiencies because of improper planning and weak systems.

Organisations need both these skills. The skill to plan and efficiently execute in a routine manner maximises productivity and reduces waste. Responsibilities are clear, and actions are taken without any prodding or follow-up. No one gets in another's way, and decisions aren't pending approval. At the same time, the skill to deal with the unusual and to react promptly is also valuable. It enables the organisation to take advantage of opportunities, and explore new ways of addressing challenges. Combining the two would lead to the ability to take calculated risks and deviate or act in the absence of standard operating procedures, without missing out on the benefits of stability and systems.

You think Japanese-Indian collaborations can work towards having this ability?

(The author is professor of International Business and Strategic Management at Suffolk University, Boston, US. >blfeedback@thehindu.co.in )

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