Shifting Boundaries of the Firm Japanese Company - Japanese Labour

by Sako, Mari

• ISBN13: 9780199547036
• ISBN10: 0199547033
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-08-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

All firms wrestle with restructuring, involving consolidation of mergers and acquisitions on the one hand, and fragmentation through outsourcing and spin-offs on the other. Through an in-depth investigation into the organizational strategies of Japanese corporate management and union leadersin Japan, Mari Sako explores the issue of 'organizational boundaries' that arises from such restructuring.Examining the strategy and structure of both businesses and trade unions, the book draws upon empirical evidence drawn from interviews conducted at Toyota and Matsushita and their respective unions. It examines their respective strategies in coping with organizational boundaries against the backdropof changing labour markets, and, in the process, challenges widely held notions about Japanese corporate and union structures.Mari Sako goes on to explore the implications of these relationships in other advanced industrial countries for corporate restructuring, jobs, and labour market flexibility.

Author Biography

Mari Sako is Professor of International Business at the Said Business School, University of Oxford. An international expert on Japanese business, she has published widely on the issues of global coroporate strategy, comparative business systems, and human resource management. Her recent books include Are Skills the Answer? The Political Economy of Skill Creation in Advanced Industrial Countries (with Colin Crouch and Donald Finegold, OUP, 1999) and Japanese Labour and Management in Transition: Diversity, Flexibilty and Participation (edited with Hiroki Sato, Routledge, 1997).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. viii
List of Figures	p. xi
List of Tables	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
Strategy, Structure, and Institutions of Management and Labour	p. 8
From Factory to Enterprise, from Enterprise to Business Group	p. 33
Strategy and Structure at Matsushita Group	p. 56
Strategy and Structure at Toyota Group	p. 92
Inter-Industry Differences: Criteria for Union Boundary Decisions	p. 128
Intra-Industry Differences I: Why Companies Differ	p. 152
Intra-Industry Differences II: Why Unions Differ	p. 182
Harmonization versus Differentiation, Employment Security versus Labour Flexibility	p. 210
Conclusions	p. 240
The Roren Questionnaire Survey	p. 248
References	p. 258
Index	p. 271
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