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Just What is Japanese Management Style?

Since the 1970s, when the Japanese auto manufacturers started competing

uccessfully with U.S. carmakers (now, theres an understatement), you couldll a library with books and journals which contain articles on Japanese

management. The search term "Japanese style management" in the QuestiaOnline Library returns 15,068 book titles alone.

There is no question, especially in the areas of manufacturing and high-tech

lectronics that Japanese management practices have been successful in

roducing some of the worlds highest quality and most innovative products.Despite recent recession and economic problems, Japanese manufacturing and

igh-tech businesses remain vital.

So just what is this phenomenon called Japanese style management? Specifics

re open to debate. Valuing cooperation over competition, long-term or life-me employment, consensus decision-making, and teamwork have been

resented as the trademarks of Japanese management.

n his book, The Sun Also Rises Over Toledo, WIN President Sada Honda distills

he characteristics of Japanese management into three essential features:eople orientation; long-term view; and process culture.

Sada on People Orientation:

One of the most striking things I observed at the beginning of my job with the

apanese firm in Detroit was to see the visiting Japanese executives insist onmeeting American employees. They went through all the names and the

ackgrounds of the employees before the visit and greeted each one of them.There was a dinner at night to which all the employees were invited. . . . I

ould see [the Americans] increasing sense of belonging. The act was certainly motivating factor for every American and a confidence builder in their

working for a Japanese company. The important observation here is that thiskind of action comes naturally to even the upper echelons of a Japanese

ompany.

n Trends in Japanese Management: Continuing Strengths, Current Problems,

nd Changing Priorities, author Toyohiro Kono calls this characteristic Respector People, reporting it "is evident in various personnel management practices,

uch as job rotation, the status ladder system and job security. The highmorale created by this system contributes significantly to the quality of

roducts."

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Long Term View

Successful Japanese corporations tend to focus on long-term goals while U.S.

orporations emphasize short-term profit. These long term goals manifest inhe expenditure of large sums for research and development and the esteem

apanese corporations hold for their workers. The practice of life-timemployment, at one time prevalent in some Japanese industries, has given

way to long-term employment. However, the initiative Japanese companiesave taken to develop people and professional career paths is evidence of

emaining long-term human resources commitments.

Process Culture

The term process culture comes from a focus on how the work gets done,ather than the end result. Though this concept has been criticized, it has been

xtremely successful in the manufacturing and high-tech fields; areas where its clear that a focus on how the pieces fit together or how a product is built

rom the ground up results in a higher-quality product. A by-product of thisrocess culture is that Japanese managers expect and reward effort, evenhough it may not immediately result in short-term gain. (More evidence of

ong-term view.) Thats not to say that the goal is not important. However,

ecognition is given for effort and value placed on what is learned frommistakes.

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