International Human Resource Management in Japanese Firms Essay

During the 1980s, commentators and queryers of almost every stripe witnessed what was invariably seen as a miracle the juggernaut Nipponese thriftiness. It seemed a perfect system, with either cylinders-from the policy-making coordination of the economy through industrial structure and interfirm interactions to man resources attention work outs and cooperative relationships on the shop unveilingclicking at high, flawless speed.In the mindset of the time, cardinal question quickly followed How could the Ameri hatful economic system, with whole its contrasting warts and imperfections, hope to compete against this titan? Now, dinky to a greater extent than a decade later, that sighting of a miracle has been downgraded preferably unquestionablely. In the words of a circumstance analyst (Po rise up, 2002), Being comp ard to Japan these days, economically speaking, is some as low as it gets (p. 91). The reasons for this decline are varied but include umpteen of the alik e factors that supposedly accounted for its ascendance.Now, Keeley pulls back the curtain until now more, exposing a system seemingly trapped in neutral. Keeley, a Westerner fluent in Nipponese and prof in international trouble at Sangyo University in Japan, is hygienic positioned to reveal the inner workings of the Nipponese corporation, particularly its international human resources management (IHRM) practices, without the compaction that marked many of the earlier reports. The inescap fit finding from this volume These practices create almost insurmountable matched hurts.In addition, Keeley provides a deep look at the tenets of Japanese gloss, the management and personnel practices tied to that kitchen-gardening, and the resulting demarcation practices and organizational dynamics that dispose the modern Japanese corporation. In the process, he overly murderers up a compelling argument for diversity, not simply as an affirmative action accounting of staffing, but r ather as a mindset of inclusion and involvement. For all those who read about the Japanese miracle of the 1980s, this have got is an most-valuable corrective and should go on your reading list.It can also be recommended to anyone interested in the cross-cultural application or transfer of management or human resources practices, or organizational behavior in a global environment. Keeley launches his compend with the observation that the great challenge Japanese companies face in expanding their abroad direct investment is how to integrate host estate national (HCN) four-in-hands into the management process of their oversees subsidiaries as well as that of the parent companies themselves (p. ). The reasons why such integration is important are clear and simple hawkish advantage in a global economy requires that a multinational company (MNC) be able to tap the talents of local HCN managers to do this, the MNC must be able attract, retain, and develop talented HCN managers. Abs ent this, the MNC go away forfeit local expertise as well as violate host country antidiscrimination laws, something for which Japanese MNCs have a certain notoriety.More specifically, Keeley argues, the IHRM practices of Japanese MNCs are their Achilles heel, and this is due to the fact that the Japanese system of management is so culture dependent that it is concentrated to incorporate nonJapanese into the system, making internationalization of their organizations problematic. (p. 9) This theme is examined more fully in Chapter 2, looking at the issues of cross-culture management and the importance of national culture on organizational dynamics. For example, using Hofstedes (1991) national cultures variables, it is the work radical-not the individual-that is the foundation of the Japanese organization.Japanese management techniques, such as lifetime employment, consensual decision making, and rewarding group members equally, are built upon the group. In Chapter 3, Keeley examin es the three HRM practices that characterize the larger, global Japanese MNC lifetime employment, a senioritybased wage system, and company-dominated unions. He also discusses the unique leadership purpose played by the personnel department. It is in this context that he reviews another(prenominal) distinctive features, like the persistent work hours of Japanese managers and the after-hours workgroup socializing that follows.Contending that this practice is essential to Japanese management, it is not common elsewhere, and Japanese managers find it difficult to manage without it. In this chapter, Keeley also does a good job reviewing the key traits of Japanese culture that so affect their HRM practices, including strong ethnocentrism an fury on the responsibilities of a (corporate) household (like paternalistic familism) symmetry and loyalty in the context of vertically specify relationships and the rigid separation of public face from private, private feelings.Keeley also d iscusses how educational institutions are used as recruiting sources for corporate staffing. Although aspects of his review of Japanese culture, history, and institutions may be familiar to some, the coverage of Japanese IHRM practices in Chapter 4 is probably not. According to Keeley, Japanese firms were slow to instill into investing in foreign sites and facilities, and it was not until the mid-nineties that Japan became a major foreign investor. evening so, only 8% of its manufacturing capacity was moved off shore, relatively small compared to the 17% for U.S. and 20% for German firms. On a continuum of IHRM practices, ranging from ethnocentric operations at one end to fully open and combine global operations at the other, most Japanese firms would be classified as ethnocentric. Further, management positions in Japanese subsidiaries are invariably filled by native Japanese. Over the last 30 geezerhood or so, Japanese firms have consistently use three to four times as many pa rent country nationals (PCNs) in manager jobs as have U. S. or European subsidiaries.Ethnocentric IHRM practices are also found in such other conditions as lack of local decision-making autonomy, demands for selecting and training PCN managers, substantial communication problems between PCN and HCN managers in Japanese subsidiaries, and even the pariah treatment that repatriating PCN managers experience when returned to Japan. In Chapter 5, Keeley continues his plastered and critical look at the interactions between culture and organizational behavior by examining communication and decision-making practices.This analysis is supported by the findings of his survey of Japanese subsidiaries in Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia in 1994 and 1996, as presented in Chapter 6. In the last(a) chapter, Keeley draws out the implications of his analysis. HCN managers play a limited fictional character in the management of local subsidiaries, with most decisions make at headquarters in Japan and communicated instantaneously to the Japanese managers on site without local HCN manager involvement.These conditions make working for a Japanese subordinate word unattractive to many ambitious HCN managers, putting Japanese firms at a relative competitive disadvantage in the labor market. More generally, Japanese management practices are difficult to transfer to foreign operations and indeed may actually impede efficacious and telling local operations.Both Japanese culture and their business operations create formidable barriers to effective integration. In short, Japanese MNCs seem tuck in an ethnocentric mode of operation that virtually dooms them to long-run mediocrity in the global economy. Keeley concludes that in set for them to succeed in a global economy, Japanese companies must transcend their ethnocentric attitudes and IHRM policies and practices and look at diversity, not as a defeat, but as a strength. Although some firms have recently begun to agnize this, mo st show little interest. International valet Resource Management offers an abundance of information and appreciation into the global HR operations of Japanese firms.In addition, it also provides an intriguing, more general assessment of the challenges compound in managing cross-culturally and the importance of effective diversity management. The book is well written. The frequent use of acronyms, like HCN and PCN, ultimately becomes easy to follow. Though I found Chapter 6 on the authors own research somewhat anticlimatic, all in all this is a fascinating tour book and is recommended without hesitation.