HJG Consulting

Dr. Joe Greenholtz is Managing Partner of the HJ Group, which consists of Platinum Rule Diversity Consulting and HJG Language Solutions.

Dr. Greenholtz is an adjunct Professor of Education in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia. He has taught intercultural communication in both Canada and Japan for many years, and has an extensive list of publications and presentations in cross-cultural communication and acculturation.

Dr. Greenholtz has been administering the Language Proficiency Interview (also known as the Foreign Service Interview or FSI) since 1985. The LPI has been used to assess practical speaking skills in the US Foreign Service and the Peace Corps for over 50 years. It is also the scale underlying the TOEIC computer-based speaking test.

In addition to his academic background, Dr Greenholtz has spent half his adult life in Japan - both as an 'expatriate' with Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd. (Panasonic) and the Canadian Embassy, and as a 'local'. Fluent in Japanese and married to a Japanese spouse, he has seen and lived Japan from every angle. Dr. Greenholtz has been in management positions in the private sector and academia, and has extensive experience in dealing with government ministries and the bureaucracy.