The Changing Face of Japanese Management

by Jackson,Keith

• ISBN13: 9780415287449
• ISBN10: 0415287448
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-11-06
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The face of Japanese management as it is emerging today is one of disappointment about the present and insecurity about the future. Although Japanese industry and the Japanese economy is likely to remain a dominant global player for at least another human generation, the social and cultural confidence which appeared to underpin typically Japanese models of management practice is at an ebb. Essential elements of the Japanese management experience are undergoing a fundamental transformation across a full range of business sectors and organisations: for example, changes in terms of expectations of lifelong employment and of loyalty as expressed in a 'social contract' with politicians and families and a 'psychological contract' with employers. The authors have generated sufficient evidence to suggest that this transformation impacts particularly on recent university or college graduates seeking employment, middle-level managers seeking promotion, and women managers at all stages of their career. This book setsout to identify the essential currents of change and explain how and why these impinge on the experience of managers in Japan. Working mainly with interview material, the book gives 'voice' to managers whose task it is to interpret changes in the Japanese working environment and implement change in the workplace. Too often, the perceptions, loyalty and motivation of these managers have been assumed rather than brought to critical light. Finally, the book suggests ways in which all managers with an international perspective can learn from the Japanese experience. Understanding the impact of this transformation is important for those who already work as, with or for managers in Japan or in Japanese-run enterprises worldwide. It is of value also to those who teach Japanese management students and to staff of non-Japanese companies who recruit or work with Japanese managers.

Author Biography

Keith Jackson is a tutor and researcher at the Centre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS) at The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Table of Contents

List of boxes	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
1 First encounters	7	(29)
SECTION 1: CROSSING BOUNDARIES	8	(6)
Defining cultural boundaries	11	(1)
Approaching cultures	12	(1)
Encountering cultures	13	(1)
SECTION 2: CRITICAL INCIDENTS	14	(2)
SECTION 3: EXPLAINING JAPANESE MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOUR - A CASE STUDY	16	(13)
The importance of context	25	(2)
Distinctive features of Japanese-style management communication	27	(1)
Practical recommendations	28	(1)
SECTION 4: CHANGES IN JAPANESE MANAGEMENT CULTURE	29	(5)
Problems and generalizations	29	(5)
SECTION 5: OUR OWN APPROACH	34	(2)
2 The face of Japanese management	36	(28)
SECTION 1: FACE AND REFERENCE GROUPS IN JAPANESE MANAGEMENT	37	(8)
The 'bawling out' scene	38	(1)
Reference groups	38	(4)
Understanding the context	42	(3)
SECTION 2: FACE AND CONTROL IN JAPANESE MANAGEMENT	45	(10)
Face and control	48	(3)
CCTV eyes	51	(4)
SECTION 3: RE-DEFINING FACE - CASE STUDIES	55	(9)
Breaking the rules	57	(7)
3 Learning how to work	64	(28)
SECTION 1: CULTURE AND PROBLEM SOLVING	65	(2)
The 'TH-T model'	65	(1)
Time and space/environment	66	(1)
SECTION 2: BEING JAPANESE	67	(10)
Attitudes to the environment	67	(2)
Attitudes to time	69	(7)
Communitarian achievement	76	(1)
SECTION 3: FAMILY AS ORGANIZATION - ORGANIZATION AS FAMILY	77	(5)
Ie tradition and Japanese business organizations	78	(2)
Fear of exclusion	80	(1)
Mutual obligations	81	(1)
SECTION 4: SOCIALIZATION - HOME AND SCHOOL	82	(4)
Early-years schooling as preparation for work	82	(4)
SECTION 5: HOW JAPANESE MANAGERS LEARN	86	(3)
How Japanese managers learn to learn	86	(1)
Learning kanji	87	(2)
SECTION 6: CASE STUDIES REVIEWED	89	(3)
4 Starting a career	92	(28)
SECTION 1: LES JEUX SONT FAITS	93	(4)
Entering university	93	(1)
Who goes to university?	94	(2)
Experiencing university	96	(1)
SECTION 2: ENTERING THE WORLD OF WORK	97	(6)
Recruitment and selection	97	(2)
Traditional experiences of recruitment and selection	99	(2)
Current experiences of recruitment	101	(1)
Current trends in graduate recruitment	102	(1)
SECTION 3: CONSTRAINTS TO WOMEN'S CAREER CHOICES	103	(9)
Career expectations of Japanese women	106	(2)
Learning from the experience of others	108	(2)
Learning from exceptions	110	(1)
Good news for women managers	111	(1)
SECTION 4: THE FIRST STEPS ON A CAREER PATH	112	(8)
The experience of organizational induction	114	(6)
5 Losing patience	120	(28)
SECTION 1: THE CLASSICAL MODEL OF JAPANESE-STYLE MANAGEMENT	121	(4)
The roots of patience: lifetime employment	121	(2)
The classical model of Japanese management	123	(2)
SECTION 2: THE EXPERIENCE OF TRAINING	125	(8)
SECTION 3: THE EXPERIENCE OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT	133	(4)
SECTION 4: PATIENCE AS A CORE VALUE IN JAPANESE HRM	137	(6)
Losing patience	140	(3)
SECTION 5: TRENDS IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT	143	(5)
Loyalty: a core value	145	(3)
6 Losing trust?	148	(26)
SECTION 1: MANAGING TRUST IN JAPANESE ORGANIZATIONS	149	(5)
'My door is always open'	149	(1)
Trust and control	150	(1)
Trust and the reference group	151	(1)
The harmonious office	152	(2)
SECTION 2: EXPERIENCING TRUST IN JAPANESE ORGANIZATIONS	154	(3)
Collective trust	154	(1)
Defining collective trust	155	(1)
Trust and co-operation	156	(1)
SECTION 3: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL	157	(7)
The 'psychological contract'	158	(1)
Trust and performance	159	(5)
SECTION 4: THE 'TRUST DILEMMA'	164	(4)
SECTION 5: REDEFINING TRUST	168	(6)
7 Regaining confidence	174	(31)
SECTION 1: REWARDS - PAY AND PROMOTION	175	(6)
Pay	176	(2)
Promotion	178	(3)
SECTION 2: MANAGING DIVERSITY	181	(6)
New problem areas in Japanese HRM	183	(2)
Implications: a case study from the Japanese pharmaceuticals industry	185	(2)
SECTION 3: CONSTRAINTS TO MANAGING DIVERSITY	187	(9)
Constraints at the national level	187	(2)
Global standards	189	(4)
Constraints at the national industrial level	193	(1)
Case study: Research and development	194	(2)
SECTION 4: CROSSING THE LIGHTS AT RED	196	(5)
Foreign winds of change: Nissan	197	(2)
Japanese winds of change: Mitsubishi Corporation	199	(2)
SECTION 5: MAKE THE SYSTEM WORK FOR YOU	201	(4)
8 Facing the future	205	(32)
SECTION 1: THE EXPERIENCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL EXIT	206	(6)
Managing organizational exit	207	(2)
Threatening silence	209	(1)
Heaven or window?	209	(3)
SECTION 2: SOURCES OF INSPIRATION	212	(10)
Self-help guides	213	(1)
Leadership	214	(2)
Trendsetting: the 'Uniglo effect'	216	(6)
SECTION 3: THE 'WAR FOR TALENT'	222	(4)
SECTION 4: THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT	226	(5)
SECTION 5: VOICES FROM THE FRINGE	231	(6)
Glossary	237	(4)
Bibliography	241	(14)
Index	255