Материал: Management-and-Organization-Behavior
six office partiesall at the company’s expense. In addition, welfare measures like subsidized family housing for married, dormitories for the unmarried, nurseries for pre-school children, scholarships for children, mortgage loans and the like speak a lot about the concern for employees.
William Ouchi, an American management thinker, had extensively studied Japanese organisations and gave a name to their
management practices, called “theory z”. He strongly advocated for
the adaptation of Japanese practices for the American companies to improve productivity. It is appropriate here to understand how Japanese practices differ from American management practices.
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Comparison of Japanese & U.S. Management practices
Japanese management |
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U.S. management |
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Planning |
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Long term orientation |
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Short term orientation |
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Collective decision making |
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Individual decision making |
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Many people are involved in decision |
Few people are involved in decision |
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making |
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making |
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Decisions flow bottom up and back |
Decisions are Initiated at the top |
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Decision making takes a long time, but |
and flow down |
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implementation is fast |
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Decision-making is fast but |
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People share decision power & |
implementation is slow |
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responsibility |
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Decision making power vests in |
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Individual goal ambiguity. |
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designated individuals |
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Individual goal clarity |
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ORGANISING |
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Collective |
responsibility |
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Individual responsibility |
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accountability |
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Ambiguity of decision responsibility |
Clarity of decision responsibility |
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Informal organisation structure |
Formal organisation structure |
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Organisation culture and philosophy |
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are well known. |
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Common organisational culture is |
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Identification with company |
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lacking |
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Identification with profession |
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Organisational |
change by |
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Change |
prompted |
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change agent. |
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change agent |
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STAFFING |
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Hiring young people out of school. |
From institutions and companies |
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Slow promotions through ranks. |
Rapid |
promotion |
desired and |
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Loyalty to the company |
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demanded |
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Infrequent performance appraised for |
Loyalty to the profession |
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new employees |
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Performance appraisal is frequent |
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Appraisal of long-term performance |
Appraisal |
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short-term |
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performance |
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Reward for long term performance Small differences in pay increases
Reward for group performance Promotions based on multiple criteria
Training and development considered a long –term investment
Exposure to many functions
Lifetime employment
Leader as a social facilitator
Leader is part of the group
Paternalistic style
Common company values facilitate cooperation
Avoidance of confrontation emphasis is on harmony
Confluence of working and private life Emphasis on oral communication
CONTROLLING
Self control and control by peers Focus is on group performance
The objective of control is to save face Extensive use of quality circles.
Reward for short-term performance Substantial differences in pay
Reward for individual performance Based on individual performance
Training and development is on a low key due to high employee turnover
Narrow career path Absence of job security Leader as a decision maker Leader as head of the group Directive style
Often divergent values Individualism often hinders cooperation
Face to face confrontation is common Highly separated
On written communication
Control by superiors
Focus is on individual performance Control aims at fixing the blame Limited use.
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The Inherent Weaknesses of Japanese Management
-The system of the life time commitment and groupism encouraged employee dependence and suppressed individual creativity.
-The employment system discriminated against non-life time employees and prevented the formation of a free horizontal labour market.
-The seniority based system of rewards created a promotion grid lock for middle management and especially for the younger outstanding employee.
-By the mid -1980s the entire system of Japanese management faced three major challenges:
-After the dramatic rise in the value of Yen, the problem of cost containment became much more difficult. How to reduce labour cost and restructure without restoring to massive layoffs had become a problem.
-How to continue to motivate employees in a new environment in which the system of evaluation and rewards, as well as employee attitudes and expectations are fast changing;
-How to redesign employment relationships in a way that would blend the advantages of the order system of dependence in the company with the necessity to promote employees self-reliance, initiative and creativity.
The Emergence of a New Paradigm
-Companies rely on hiring freezes and on elimination of overtime.
-Extensive use of job rotation and employee reassignments.
-Wage, salary and bonus reductions are shared by all groups in the enterprise; directors, managers as well as workers.
-Erosion of seniority and promotions based on seniority.
-Companies are using various forms of early retirement incentives.
-Relative contributions of merit factors to pay raises
-As a result, performance appraisal systems and wage structures are undergoing changes.
-Company and work group loyalties are replaced by individualism.
-Life time employment is undergoing change.
-Hiring on the basis of skills for specific, narrowly defined job openings is growing.
-Mobility among Japanese managers and professionals is also increasing.
-Japanese employees’ preference for security over risk and opportunity is also changing.
-Creation of multi-trade employment system. Employees hired for life can enter the general track and can be moved horizontally (job rotation) as well as vertically (grade promotion).
The changes going on are not designed to destroy the old system, but to increase its flexibility. This is very much in keeping with the traditional Japanese approach to change, however fast and deep it is. Continuity with the uniquely Japanese “essence” must be maintained. The new Japanese emerging
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paradigm will certainly be different. Yet like the modern Japanese home which usually retains a Japanese style room among western style rooms and furniture, the Japanese company will retain a core of Japanese practices.
Review Questions
1.Discuss the salient features of the Japanese management practices.
2.Distinguish between Japanese and American management systems. Also comment on how Indian management compares with Japanese.
3.Critically examine the feasibility of Japanese management approaches for the management of Indian industry.
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