IT industry

By James Mok -- Part III: My struggle at the frontline of Japanese Enterprise IT -- The ancient religion of Shinto regards all natural objects and exceptional creatures as kami or “Gods.” Visitors to Japan can easily sample a taste of kami-sama treatment by indulging themselves in the high level of customer service in tasteful restaurants, cozy ryokans or in engaging with the eye-dazzling selection of consumer goods. However, the same ‘Customer-is-kamisama’ attitude in the IT services industry has worked adversely by accounting for more inefficiency than hospitality. Vendors and IT departments, by solely focusing on indisputably meeting users’ requests, have not only engaged themselves in the costly pursuit of excessive perfection and overly riskadverse decision-making, but have also inhibited their ability to innovate beyond what is being told.

James MokBy James Mok

While troops of IT project managers and engineers are being sent to ‘Death March’—a popular term to describe the brutal working conditions of extreme overtime work, tremendous customer pressure and poor office environments at the frontline of failing projects—the Japanese enterprise IT industry has been failing to cultivate innovation, reward its workers or attract young graduates.