Glossary
At Ahead Group, we focus on making things easy for you.
That includes simplifying both the business concepts and the Japanese terminology that often come with working in Japan.
Use this glossary as a quick reference whenever you need clarity or want to deepen your understanding of how business, recruitment, dispatch, and managed services operate in the Japanese market.
Direct Hire refers to a recruitment model where a candidate is hired directly by the client company as a permanent employee. Unlike dispatch or contract arrangements, employment responsibilities and benefits are handled entirely by the hiring organization.
Dispatch is a regulated employment arrangement defined under Japanese labor law, where the worker’s legal employer is the dispatch agency. The worker is assigned to a client site and is directed by the client in daily operations. Dispatch is common for IT support, back-office work, and roles requiring workforce flexibility.
An Escalation Matrix defines the structured process for raising issues to higher levels of authority when they cannot be resolved at the operational level. It ensures timely decision-making, reduces risk, and provides clarity during service delivery or incident management.
Fixed Bid is a pricing model where the provider delivers a defined scope of work for a predetermined total cost. It is often used when project requirements are clear and stable, allowing clients to forecast expenses with certainty.
Knowledge Transfer is the process of ensuring information, workflows, or technical understanding is passed from one party to another to maintain continuity of service. It is a key component of onboarding, transitioning work, and stabilizing a new team.
A Managed Service is an ongoing operational engagement where the provider delivers defined outputs supported by processes, governance, and performance standards such as SLAs and KPIs. It differs from project-based work because it covers continuous delivery with recurring reporting, improvement cycles, and predictable staffing.
Project Governance provides the structure, oversight, and decision-making framework that guides a project or long-term engagement. It ensures alignment with objectives, manages risk, and establishes clear reporting and accountability channels.
Resource Augmentation is a staffing model where a provider supplements a client’s team with additional talent on a flexible and scalable basis. It is often used for IT and project roles when immediate or temporary capacity is required.
A Retainer is an agreement where a client pays a recurring fee to secure ongoing access to a provider’s expertise, support, or services. It is commonly used for advisory work, ongoing consulting, or operational support where consistent availability is required.
A Service Level Agreement sets the measurable service commitments agreed between a provider and a client. It typically includes uptime targets, response times, resolution times, and reporting expectations used to maintain accountability in operational delivery.
A Statement of Work defines the scope, deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities for a specific project or engagement. It sets expectations clearly and provides the contractual basis for work performed under a project or outsourced arrangement.
Time and Materials is a billing method where clients pay for actual hours worked and resources consumed rather than a fixed project price. It provides flexibility for evolving requirements and is commonly used in development, consulting, and technical services.