I joined a Japanese financial company N months ago and the expectations set forth by my manager and the reality is strikingly different. Let me give you a couple of examples:
I was promised a Linux computer the first day I joined. Despite my numerous requests over several months and being flexible about Linux or Mac (unix), I am still locked on my Windows computer. This impacts my performance greatly.
Every estimate from my boss for tasks that he has to make takes 3 to 5 times as long as he says (if they get resolved at all). I realized when I joked with the new recruiter from 1 month ago that he should expect things to take 3-5 times as long as promised, but then I actually measured my boss estimate vs the actual timeline and it was scarily accurate.
This has some issues:
Estimating is already hard in software, but with these great external dependencies I feel totally clueless about estimating my tasks. I will still be held accountable for the timelines, which doesn't make any sense.
I get greatly demotivated since all of the team members are ignored systematically. Anything we say or propose gets met with enthusiasm, but any follow-up email gets flat-out ignored or just met with a "sure, let's see about that later". My productivity is, as I estimate, 5-10% of the total I could be doing. Most decisions have to go through my manager as a company rule so we can also not do anything (though I learned a really cool trick here).
Security is a joke, we are severely limited due to the nature of the company but then the boss doesn't follow his own rules. Oh, they are not written anywhere, but every rule I hear I memorize and follow it, which is making my work absurdly complex (but better than being liable!).
The issue is mainly with my manager being overworked and I've raised it several times with him but again he agrees and nothing gets done.
I have a secondary boss (also Product Owner) so I am considering raising these issues with him. Not sure if it's the best person, or I should go above my boss, or to compliance/HR straight away. I am also considering contacting a lawyer, since I don't want the huge security issues to touch me in case there's any trouble with the company.
What do you recommend me doing? Who should I be talking with and how?
Extra: my team and boss are not Japanese, so culture is quite mixed.
Extra 2: let's assume I cannot leave the company.
Clarification (from OP): I estimate my productivity to be 5-10% of what I could be doing if there were no external limitations.