Skip to main content
Log in

Cultural diplomacy as corporate strategy: an analysis of Pasona Group’s “New Tohoku” program in Japan

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Corporate diplomacy research suggests US executives display little interest in supporting government diplomacy and promoting national culture; rather, corporate strategy focuses on profit. The corporate diplomacy phenomenon, however, needs additional examination in the more collectivistic East Asia context. This study investigates a public–private partnership in which a corporation sponsors a cultural exchange project in Japan, specifically how Japanese business leaders perceive and integrate promoting national interests and country image into corporate strategy. This research analyzes the New Tohoku program that brings foreign students, businesspersons, and social media influencers to Tohoku, a region undergoing reconstruction since the 2011 tsunami, to learn about Japan’s economy, history, climate, and culture. Interviews with executives and managers and documentary information from corporate webpages, news releases, and promotional brochures reveal motivations for engaging to (1) promote Japan’s culture, (2) stimulate economic growth, and (3) generate awareness about Pasona through publicity. While unrelated to Pasona’s business model, New Tohoku reflects the “Japanese mindset” of helping Japan; the founder, employees, and shareholders ensure this remains a strategic objective regardless of profits. This research has implications for multinational corporations’ role in cultural diplomacy as a component of public diplomacy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Auer, C. 2016. Conceptualizing political crisis and the role of public diplomacy in crisis communication research. In The handbook of international crisis communication research, ed. A. Schwartz, M.W. Seeger, and C. Auer, 119–132. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolewski, W. 2019. Diplomatic engagement with transnational corporations: A path to sustainable governance. International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy 5 (1): 42–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bovaird, T. 2004. Public-private partnerships: From contested concepts to prevalent practice. International Review of Administrative Sciences 70 (2): 199–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brinkerhoff, D.W., and J.M. Brinkerhoff. 2011. Public-private partnerships: Perspectives on purposes, publicness, and good governance. Public Administration and Development 31 (1): 2–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D.L., A. Vetterlein, and A. Roemer-Mahler. 2010. Theorizing transnational corporations as social actors: An analysis of corporate motivations. Business and Politics 12 (1): 1–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowell, W.G. 2008. Official soft power in practice: US public diplomacy in Japan. In Soft power superpowers: Cultural and national assets of Japan and the United States, ed. Y. Watanabe and D.L. McConnell, 207–224. New York: East Gate Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzpatrick, K.R., C.L. White, and L.M. Bier. 2019. C-suite perspectives on corporate diplomacy as a component of public diplomacy. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 16 (1): 25–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fort, T., and K. Rehbein. 2015. Enhancing the concept of corporate diplomacy: Encompassing political corporate social responsibility, international relations, and peace through commerce. Academy of Management Perspectives 29 (4): 387–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frynas, J.G., and S. Stephens. 2015. Political corporate social responsibility: Reviewing theories and setting new agendas. International Journal of Management Reviews 17 (4): 483–509.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, B. 2015. Mapping boundaries in diplomacy’s public dimension. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 11 (1): 1–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. 2001. Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across cultures. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurn, B.J. 2016. The role of cultural diplomacy in nation branding. Industrial and Commercial Training 48 (2): 80–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurn, B.J., and B. Tomalin. 2013. Cross-cultural communication: Theory and practice. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingenhoff, D., and S. Marschlich. 2019. Corporate diplomacy and political CSR: Similarities, differences and theoretical implications. Public Relations Review 45 (2): 348–371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isar, Y.R. 2015. Culture in EU external relations: An idea whose time has come? The International Journal of Cultural Policy 21 (4): 494–508.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kallio, H., A.M. Pietilä, M. Johnson, and M. Kangasniemi. 2016. Systematic methodological review: Developing a framework for a qualitative semi-structured interview guide. Journal of Advanced Nursing 72 (12): 2954–2965.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamphof, R., and J. Melissen. 2018. SCGs, foreign ministries and the art of partnering with the private sector. Global Policy 9 (3): 327–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kvale, S. 1996. InterViews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, D. 2004. The growing influence of business in UK diplomacy. International Studies Perspectives 5 (1): 50–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, G., and K. Ayhan. 2015. Why do we need non-state actors in public diplomacy? Theoretical discussion of relational, networked and collaborative public diplomacy. Journal of International and Area Studies 22 (1): 57–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mark, S. 2009. A greater role for cultural diplomacy. Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’: Discussion Papers in Diplomacy, 1–51.

  • McConnell, D.L. 2008. Japan’s image problem and the soft power solution: the JET program as cultural diplomacy. In Soft power superpowers: Cultural and national assets of Japan and the United States, ed. Y. Watanabe and D.L. McConnell, 18–35. New York: East Gate Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCracken, G. 1988. The long interview. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melissen, J. 2011. Beyond the new public diplomacy. Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ 3: 1–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melissen, J. 2015. Conclusions and key points about public diplomacy in East Asia. In Understanding public diplomacy in East Asia: Middle powers through a troubled region, ed. J. Melissen and Y. Sohn, 239–252. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merriam, S.B. 2009. Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naoyuki, A. 2008. Japan does soft power: strategy and effectiveness of its public diplomacy in the United States. In Soft power superpowers: Cultural and national assets of Japan and the United States, ed. Y. Watanabe and D.L. McConnell, 224–243. New York: East Gate Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nye, J.S., Jr. 2017. Q&A with CPD: Joseph S. Nye, Jr. [blog post]. Accessed https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/story/qa-cpd-joseph-s-nye-jr

  • O’Reilly, M., and N. Parker. 2012. ‘Unsatisfactory saturation’: A critical exploration of the notion of saturated sample sizes in qualitative research. Qualitative Research 13 (2): 190–197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otmazgin, N.K. 2018. The chrysanthemum and the cool: cultural diplomacy and soft power in Japan’s foreign policy. In Routledge handbook of Japanese foreign policy, ed. M.M. McCarthy, 55–70. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paschalidis, G. 2009. Exporting national culture: Histories of cultural institutes abroad. International Journal of Cultural Politics 15 (3): 275–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patton, M.Q. 2002. Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinhard, K. 2009. American business and its role in public diplomacy. In Routledge handbook of public diplomacy, ed. N. Snow and P.M. Taylor, 195–200. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saner, R., and L. Yiu. 2003. International economic diplomacy: Mutations in post-modern times. Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’: Discussion Papers in Diplomacy 84: 1–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scherer, A.G., and G. Palazzo. 2011. The new political role of business in a globalized world: A review of a new perspective on CSR and its implications for the firm, governance, and democracy. Journal of Management Studies 48 (4): 899–931.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, C.P. 2005. Culture communicates: US diplomacy that works. In The new public diplomacy: Soft power in international relations, ed. J. Melissen, 147–168. Hampshire: Palgrave McMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, A., M.W. Seeger, and C. Auer. 2016. Significance and structure of international risk and crisis communication research. In The handbook of international crisis communication research, ed. A. Schwartz, M.W. Seeger, and C. Auer, 1–10. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seiichi, K. 2008. Wielding soft power: The key stages of transmission and reception. In Soft power superpowers: Cultural and national assets of Japan and the United States, ed. Y. Watanabe and D.L. McConnell, 191–217. New York: East Gate Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Signitzer, B. 2008. Public relations and public diplomacy: some conceptual explorations. In Public relations research: European and international perspectives and innovations, ed. A. Zerfaß, B. van Ruler, and K. Sriramesh, 205–218. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soeya, Y. 2015. The evolution of Japan’s public diplomacy: haunted by its past history. In Understanding public diplomacy in East Asia: Middle powers through a troubled region, ed. J. Melissen and Y. Sohn, 79–106. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szondi, G. 2008. Public diplomacy and nation branding: Conceptual similarities and differences. Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’: Discussion Papers in Diplomacy, 1–52.

  • Tamaki, T. 2019. Repackaging national identity: Cool Japan and the resilience of Japanese identity narratives. Asian Journal of Political Science 27 (1): 108–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Topić, M., and C. Sciortino. 2012. Cultural diplomacy and cultural imperialism: a framework for the analysis. In Cultural diplomacy and cultural imperialism, European perspective, ed. M. Topić and S. Rodin, 9–25. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsutomu, S. 2008. Japan’s creative industries: culture as a source of soft power in the industrial sector. In Soft power superpowers: Cultural and national assets of Japan and the United States, ed. Y. Watanabe and D.L. McConnell, 128–154. New York: East Gate Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J. 2006a. Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review 32 (2): 91–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, J. 2006b. Public diplomacy and global business. Journal of Business Strategy 27 (3): 41–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watanabe, Y., and D.L. McConnell. 2008. Soft power superpowers: Cultural and national assets of Japan and the United States. New York: East Gate Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westermann-Behaylo, M.K., K. Rehbein, and T. Fort. 2015. Enhancing the concept of corporate diplomacy: Encompassing political corporate social responsibility, international relations, and peace through commerce. Academy of Management Perspectives 29 (4), 387–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wettenhall, R. 2003. The rhetoric and reality of public-private partnerships. Public Organization Review 3 (1): 77–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, C.L. 2015. Exploring the role of private-sector corporations in public diplomacy. Public Relations Inquiry 4 (3): 305–321.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, C., and K. Alkandari. 2019. The influence of culture and infrastructure on CSR and country image: The case of Kuwait. Public Relations Review 45 (3): 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins, T. 2015. Reinventing Japan in the Asian century: towards a new grand strategy? In Foreign policies and diplomacies in Asia: Changes in practice, concepts, and thinking in a rising region, ed. M. Maass, 141–160. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, S.C. 2019. “Soft power is such a benign animal”: Narrative power and the reification of concepts in Japan. Cambridge Review of International Affairs 32 (4): 483–501.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R.K. 2014. Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zamorano, M.M. 2016. Reframing cultural diplomacy: The instrumentalization of culture under the soft power theory. Culture Unbound 8: 166–186.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lindsey M. Bier.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bier, L.M., White, C.L. Cultural diplomacy as corporate strategy: an analysis of Pasona Group’s “New Tohoku” program in Japan. Place Brand Public Dipl 17, 180–192 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-020-00165-4

Download citation

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-020-00165-4

Keywords

Navigation