Client Testimonials

Action Japan and its partners have added value to a wide range of companies and industries in Japan, from Fortune 500 multinational organizations, to small privately owned Japanese companies.

Here is what a few of our clients have to say…

Performance Culture Building Consulting and Roll-out Testimonial

“Action Japan has been extremely useful to our new supply chain company Coca-Cola National Beverages Co., Ltd. (CCNBC). As we had created a new company to manage an existing business with a new business model, we needed to create our own distinguishable new corporate culture.
Victoria Bolam’s ability to make the link between the Western style directive and Japanese style consensus cultures has proven to be a big contributor to this work. Victoria leverages both her experience in big global corporations as well as her extensive network in solution providers related to business improvement through organizational performance.
The strategic support and guidance from Action Japan allowed our own people to define for themselves the corporate values that are now embraced by all staff and which will form the basis for our behaviours and ultimately corporate culture.”

Guy Wollaert
Former Managing Director, Coca- Cola National Beverages Co.

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Senior Leadership Workshop Testimonial

“Due to our company’s rapid growth and ambitious goals, we felt we could utilize training that would help our management team instill our company’s values into our hiring, training and office/sales procedures. We have definitely gotten what we were looking for from Action-Japan, and are now incorporating what we learned into virtually all aspects of our business.”

Director of major multinational recruiting firm

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Change Management Workshop & Consulting Testimonial

“Action Japan provided change management consulting to our company and we were very satisfied. Action Japan has a high proficiency in organizational development concepts, models and approaches and is able to effectively apply the appropriate solution for an organizational need.  The consultant’s years of experience, ability to exercise diplomacy, self confidence and interpersonal perceptiveness allowed them to influence both senior leaders and front line staff.  The company was collaborative in their approach and sought to solve problems creatively and not with one standard consultant solution.  Action Japan would be a great asset for a company that is serious about developing their organization.”

Ann T. Woods,
Former Assistant Director, Change Management
Hartford Life Insurance, K.K.

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Personal Development Training Testimonial

“Action Japan’s innovative programs engage our staff in stimulating and thought provoking sessions that help them develop skills and new ideas that they can apply immediately to the improvement of their performance.”

Larry Purdy
Director of Training and Development
Citigroup Japan

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Multicultural Team Building Workshop Testimonial

“We were looking for a combination of cultural awareness and team build for our multi-national team to improve ways of working and team spirit. Action Japan took the time to listen to our requirements and to get a good understanding of the challenges we faced. The resulting tailor-made program focused the team on our specific issues and was highly effective in raising motivation and gaining commitment to change. What was particularly impressive was their responsiveness during the sessions to adjust the content and emphasis as new information emerged.”

John Westnedge
Programme Director
Tesco Japan

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Executive Cross Cultural Coaching (Japan) Testimonial

“Being parachuted into a Japanese working environment is a daunting experience, especially for those who wish to understand why things happen the way they do in Japan! As the saying goes, there are many layers to the onion, but the cultural coaching provided by Action Japan enabled me to get on the inside both professionally and socially. Whilst it would take a lifetime (or more!) in Japan for a non-Japanese to fully understand the culture, I quickly grasped the critical nuances that can make or break a cross-cultural relationship. 
I found Victoria Bolam to be a knowledgeable and experienced tutor who was able to provide context to the working and social environment. Victoria’s depth of in-country experience, knowledge of Japanese cultural history and her language skills, coupled with her professional and approachable manner made for an effective and engaging learning experience.
Although I have now moved on from Japan to a regional office role, I often find myself advising my colleagues traveling to Japan with cultural tips drawn from the briefings I received from Action Japan!”

Nigel Clarke
Former Chief Finance Officer
PCA Life, Japan

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Executive Coaching

Japan was my first assignment as a Senior Executive. Not only did I have to deal with the pressures of an executive role, but had to deal with them in a foreign country – who’s business culture was vastly different to that I had experienced in my earlier years.  Action Japan’s coaches has been an invaluable tool in taking my career to the next level.  Having someone to ask me the ‘hard questions’ and help me to clarify the answers not only benefits my company, but also benefits me personally.

Through Action Japan’s coaching, I was able to gain an understanding of how things are done in Japan and adapt my experience to the new challenges presented in my organisation.  Gaining an understanding of the business culture in Japan assisted me in tackling a reorganisation of the Sales & Marketing divisions – leading to an increase in business penetration and employee, dealer and customer satisfaction.

I would highly recommend Victoria Bolam to anyone who would like to become more focused, use their time more efficiently and see their visions come to pass – especially in the very demanding environment of a foreign executive in Japan.

Marketing Executive for global automotive financial services firm

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