Dear Brunonians and Friends:
After years of research, our fellow alumnus and our regular Bonenkai member, Adam Komisarof, has published a book called “On the Front Lines of Forging a Global Society: Japanese and American Coworkers in Japan”. Please see the summary and purchase information below:
Adam Komisarof, 2011, On the Front Lines of Forging a Global Society - Japanese and American Coworkers in Japan, Reitaku University Press
As globalization advances and national borders become increasingly porous, Japan is now facing the human reality of these rapid changes: greater cultural diversity in the workforce, which brings the concomitant challenge of how to integrate multicultural workers into their organizations of employment. Japan is also admitting foreign workers to compensate for a labor shortage as its retiree population grows and birth rate declines–thus intensifying the demographic shift towards greater numbers of long-term and permanent economic migrants. To better facilitate this movement towards a more diverse society, it is critical to examine which factors have contributed thus far to creating smooth mutual acculturation processes for foreign workers and Japanese people vs. those which have not.
Therefore, the aim of this book is to assess the extent and manner in which the degree of compatibility of Japanese and American coworkers’ acculturation strategies affects their quality of intercultural relations (including job effectiveness), with the broader goal of building inclusive organizational spaces where both American and Japanese employees enjoy camaraderie, opportunities for advancement, and productive daily work lives.
On the Front Lines of Forging a Global Society contributes to both theoretical and methodological developments in the study of acculturation. On the theoretical level, revisions are made to the Interactive Acculturation Model–one of the premier theories in the acculturation field. New ground is broken in methodology by using the Vancouver Index of Acculturation (a leading acculturation strategy assessment instrument) as a tool to characterize perceptions of cultural outgroup members’ acculturation strategies. Furthermore, quantitative and qualitative methods are utilized to gain a more nuanced picture of the current state of American-Japanese intercultural relations and to generate numerous insights as to how they may be improved.
In the final chapter, practical advice is offered to cultivate better Japanese-American intercultural communication. Therefore, this book is intended for not only acculturation researchers, but also for administrators, teachers, and business people interested in promoting more effective American-Japanese communication. As the research findings are applicable to other cultural groups besides Americans (particularly Western ones), this work is also written for people from other nations who are curious about and/or professionally involved with Japan. The author’s hope is that this volume will aid both researchers and practitioners alike in their quests to facilitate smoother intercultural relations between Japanese and Americans, as well as Japanese and other non-Japanese ethnocultural groups.ADAM KOMISAROF is an associate professor of intercultural communication at Reitaku University. (ISBN 978-4-89205-602-4 C3036, Reitaku University Press)
For those wishing to purchase this book in Japan, copies may be bought directly from the Reitaku University Press or most major Internet book sellers, such as Amazon, Kinokuniya, and Rakuten.
Brown University Club of Japan
