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Through Expert's consulting activities, he has assisted clients in developing strategies for new business, product and market opportunities. The basis of these efforts has been to conduct market research on a topic and develop a fact base driven against selected issues that the client wishes investigated. From the resulting information, Expert assists clients in their strategic planning efforts.

One area of expertise in developing market and business strategies is competitive intelligence. Expert works with clients in identifying competitive intelligence issues and then does the necessary field work to gather the information on competitive situations. He has been quite successful in gathering competitive intelligence and understands the methodologies and techniques for doing this type of research.

Expert has assisted U.S. and European companies who are interesting in doing business with Japan. Through an affiliate Japan-based business research and consulting firm, he has identified new products and technologies in Japan and has investigated market opportunities in Japan. A vital aspect of doing business with Japan is understanding the business culture differences between the Japanese and U.S. and European clients. He has successfully assisted clients with new opportunities in Japan and with Japanese partners.

Entering the sophisticated Japanese market requires research, planning and a long-term strategy. Expert has hands-on experience assisting U.S. and European clients in doing business with Japan. The following considerations are just a few of the important lessons that Expert presents to companies wanting to develop relationships with Japanese partners.

- Understanding the Japanese Business Culture. Doing business with Japan is significantly different than doing business in the U.S. and in Europe. One needs to understand both the social and business cultures to succeed in Japan or with a Japanese partner in the U.S. One key element is a long-term comment when dealing with a Japanese partner.

- Selling in Japan. Marketing and selling products in Japan requires establishing close business relationships. Markets take longer to develop in Japan than elsewhere due to relationship building aspects of the culture. It is imperative to have knowledgeable partners in Japan who will make the investment in time, people and Yen to make your business succeed.

- The Changing "Three Ds." Since the beginning of the 1990s, significant changes have occurred in Japan relating to the "Three Ds" - Distribution, Discounting, and Deregulation. These changes have created opportunities for U.S. and European companies who want to do business with Japanese companies, both inside and outside of Japan.

- Sourcing Technologies From Japan. Rote education, group dependency and consensus thought are some of the reasons postulated as to why the Japanese are not innovative. Because of this culture-based limitation, the Japanese have learned to adopt and adapt technologies and improve on them. Many interesting technologies are still available from Japan, and many Japanese companies continue to look for partners overseas where they can license their technologies.

- New Government Programs Bolster Japanese Industries. The direction has been set by the Japanese government to enhance high tech industries, namely semiconductors, biotechnology and information technologies. Japanese companies within those industries are looking for partners outside of Japan to strengthen their positions.


Expert has conducted numerous in-depth, on-site personal interviews to gather competitive intelligence and conduct market research. In some instances, he has assisted the client in implementing the research findings.