Japanese Management for a Globalized World

The Strength of the Lean, Trusting and Outward-Looking Firm

verfasst von: Satoko Watanabe

Verlag: Springer Singapore

Buchreihe : Palgrave Macmillan Asian Business Series

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the changes that have taken place in the systems and practices of Japanese management over the last quarter century, identifies the positive and useful attributes that ought to be maintained, and clarifies the behavioral principles that form the groundwork of their strengths. Observing the changes in the business environment brought about by the forces of intensifying globalization, the book presents a highly effective management model that builds on the superior aspects of Japanese-style management while overcoming its weaknesses. It is a multi-layered human-resources management model that combines the mutually complementary aspects of the Japanese and Anglo-Saxon systems, incorporating the strengths of both systems. This hybrid model is aimed at increasing workplace motivation, promoting the creation of new value, and enhancing performance and can be used successfully in many countries around the world. It will be of interest to business strategists and consultants, scholars, and entrepreneurs.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. The Competitive Pressures of Globalization and the Motivation Crisis

Abstract

The chapter looks at the changes in the employment environment and the competitive pressures of globalization that are profoundly connected to these changes. The empirical evidence presented in this chapter indicates that levels of employee work motivation and engagement have diminished in many countries over the past several decades. Analysis of the data shows that this global trend is closely related to changes in the employment situation brought about by structural changes in the global economy. Watanabe points out that these changes in the business environment have given rise to the renewed global interest in Japanese-style management, which emphasizes the human side of the organization.

Satoko Watanabe

Chapter 2. Japanese Management: Changes and Survivals

Abstract

The chapter looks at personnel and employment practices and the internal decision-making structure of Japanese companies. It traces the changes in these systems over the last quarter century, examines the current situation, and analyzes what has changed and what is likely to survive into the future. Following the collapse of the bubble economy in 1990, many companies began to reexamine and reform their established practices. Since the beginning of the 2000s, however, especially with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, many Japanese companies have begun reevaluating the systems introduced in the 1990s and have shifted tactics again to cope with problems arising from those systems. Watanabe scrutinizes this process and gives a view of what the systems will be like in the future.

Satoko Watanabe

Chapter 3. Intercorporate Networks and Corporate Governance: The Present and Future

Abstract

What is the state today of Japan’s intercorporate networks centered on “keiretsu” and distinctive corporate governance practices? How are they likely to change in the future? Since the collapse of the bubble in 1990, Japanese-style insider corporate governance supported by the main bank system and keiretsu relationships have begun undergoing significant changes. They ceased to function as effectively as they once did, due to rapid globalization of the world economy and gradual deregulation of the Japanese economy. Watanabe investigates the process of these changes and discusses major contributing factors including increased dependence on financial markets for corporate funding, the attenuation of cross-shareholding, and the increase in the number of foreign shareholders.

Satoko Watanabe

Chapter 4. Japanese Management: Strengths to Preserve

Abstract

The chapter analyzes the management principles that form the foundation of Japanese corporations’ strengths, and identifies the ideas and principles of behavior that deserve to be preserved. In Japan, it argues, the organizational principles and the structures of social relationships that originated in the traditional family system went beyond the level of the actual family unit and were transferred into modern corporations, and that the trust cultivated and reproduced in this process was accumulated as “social capital.” Four particular strengths of Japanese management born out of Japanese-style social capital are presented, drawing attention to several specific examples and showing how these qualities have helped fortify Japanese companies today.

Satoko Watanabe

Chapter 5. International Transferability and Adaptability

Abstract

This chapter examines the transferability and adaptability of Japanese-style management to overseas operations. Focusing on Japanese automakers that have transplanted their management methods into their overseas operations, this chapter analyzes the management of overseas subsidiaries particularly with regard to lean production methods. Scholars and the general public have shown keen interest in these methods and systems, but not much work has been done on the human aspects of the production floor—how employees work on a daily basis, their attitudes to working in teams, the way they feel about the wider organization, and how they produce high-quality products. Watanabe looks at these aspects of the workplace and examines the way lean production functions successfully and sustainably in the overseas operations of Japanese firms.

Satoko Watanabe

Chapter 6. A Hybrid Model of Human Resource Management

Abstract

Analyzing the motivation patterns of the four major position groups within an organization (executives; gold-collar employees; permanent blue-collar, clerical and service employees; and nonpermanent blue-collar, clerical and service employees), Watanabe presents the hybrid human resources management model most effective for each group. The model combines the mutually complementary aspects of the Japanese and Anglo-Saxon styles of management to make the most of the strengths of both. Although the two styles are often thought to be diametrically opposed, the proposed hybrid system, incorporating effective practices from both, can be successfully applied in many countries of the world.

Satoko Watanabe

Backmatter

Titel: Japanese Management for a Globalized World
verfasst von: Satoko Watanabe
Verlag: Springer Singapore
Electronic ISBN: 978-981-10-7790-6
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-7789-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7790-6

Springer Professional

Über dieses Buch

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. The Competitive Pressures of Globalization and the Motivation Crisis

Chapter 2. Japanese Management: Changes and Survivals

Chapter 3. Intercorporate Networks and Corporate Governance: The Present and Future

Chapter 4. Japanese Management: Strengths to Preserve

Chapter 5. International Transferability and Adaptability

Chapter 6. A Hybrid Model of Human Resource Management

Backmatter

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