At the Wahine in Hawaii Business Forum Christine Kubota, one of the firm’s directors, discussed the need for a basic understanding of cultural protocols when doing business on the international front. It was the second high-profile women’s conference convened by Hawaii Business Magazine.
Kubota was a panelist in the session ”Worldly Wise Women: International Business.” Copanelists were Bee Leng Chua with Hawaii Pacific University who focused on Singapore and Carla Kearns with TLI The Mandarin School who discussed business in China.
The experiences of women in international business vary from that of male counterparts. Kubota and the others burst stereotypes, provided perspective and in some cases produced chuckles. Kubota told attendees not to be surprised that guys in Japan get off elevators first; “eating and walking is bad; eating fast is good.” She said that as an attorney, she’s found that her gender didn’t hamper her abilities to do business in Japan; depth of knowledge was more important.
