International Human Resource Management in Japanese Firms Essay

During the 1980s, commentators and researchers of almost every pr level offingtion witnessed what was forever seen as a miracle the juggernaut Nipponese economy. It seemed a stark(a) system, with all cylinders-from the political coordination of the economy through industrial structure and interfirm inter litigates to gracious resources perplexity invests and cooperative relationships on the shop floorclicking at high, perfect speed.In the mindset of the time, one question quickly followed How could the American scotch system, with all its contrasting warts and imperfections, hope to compete against this titan? Now, little more(prenominal) than a decade later, that sighting of a miracle has been downgraded rather substantially. In the haggle of a Fortune analyst (Powell, 2002), Being compared to Japan these days, economically speaking, is some as low as it gets (p. 91). The reasons for this decline are varied alone include legion(predicate) of the same factors that supp osedly accounted for its ascendance.Now, Keeley pulls back the curtain even more, exposing a system seemingly trapped in neutral. Keeley, a Hesperian fluent in Nipponese and professor in inter subject field management at Sangyo University in Japan, is well positioned to reveal the inner workings of the Nipponese corporation, particularly its inter interior(a) human resources management (IHRM) practices, without the infatuation that marked many of the earlier reports. The inescapable conclusion from this volume These practices create almost unconquerable militant disadvantages.In addition, Keeley provides a deep insure at the tenets of Japanese culture, the management and personnel practices tied to that culture, and the resulting business practices and organizational dynamics that dispose the modern Japanese corporation. In the process, he overly darkers up a compelling argument for diversity, not simply as an affirmative action accounting of staffing, but rather as a mindse t of comprehension and involvement. For all those who read about the Japanese miracle of the 1980s, this discussion is an important strict and should go on your reading list.It can also be recommended to anyone implicated in the cross-cultural application or transfer of management or human resources practices, or organizational behavior in a spheric environment. Keeley launches his analysis with the observation that the greatest challenge Japanese companies face in expanding their foreign direct investment is how to integrate legions country national (HCN) film directors 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 competitive advantage in a global economy requires that a transnational company (MNC) be able to tap the talents of local anaesthetic HCN managers to do this, the MNC moldiness be able attract, retain, and develop talented HC N managers. Absent this, the MNC will throw in 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 rough to incorporate nonJapanese into the system, making internationalization of their organizations problematic. (p. 9) This bailiwick is examined more fully in Chapter 2, looking at the issues of cross-culture management and the greatness of national culture on organizational dynamics. For example, using Hofstedes (1991) national cultures variables, it is the work group-not the individual-that is the rigation of the Japanese organization.Japanese management techniques, such as lifetime employment, consensual decision making, and rewarding group members equally, are reinforced upon the group. In Chapter 3, Keeley examines 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 role vie by the personnel department. It is in this stage setting that he freshens other classifiable features, like the long 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 name traits of Japanese culture that so affect their HRM practices, including strong ethnocentrism an emphasis on the responsibilities of a (corporate) household (like paternalistic familism) harmony and loyalty in the context of vertically defined relationships and the rigid separation of public face from private, in the flesh(predicate) feelings.K eeley also discusses 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 move into invest in foreign sites and facilities, and it was not until the 1990s that Japan became a study foreign investor. Even 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 trading operations at one end to fully exculpated and integrated 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 days or so, Japanese firms have consistently employed three to tetrad t imes as many parent 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 conference 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 close 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 final chapter, Keeley draws out the implications of his analysis. HCN managers play a limited role in the management of local subsidiaries, with most decisions do at headquarters in Japan and communic ated directly to the Japanese managers on site without local HCN manager involvement.These conditions make working for a Japanese subsidiary 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 efficient and effective local operations.Both Japanese culture and their business operations create dangerous barriers to effective integration. In short, Japanese MNCs seem tuck in an ethnocentric mode of operation that virtually dooms them to long-term mediocrity in the global economy. Keeley concludes that in order 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 of late begun to acknowledge this, most show little interest. International Human resource Management offers an abundance of information and insight into the global HR operations of Japanese firms.In addition, it also provides an intriguing, more general assessment of the challenges entangled in managing cross-culturally and the importance of effective diversity management. The book is well written. The denounce use of acronyms, like HCN and PCN, eventually becomes easy to follow. Though I found Chapter 6 on the authors own research roughly anticlimatic, all in all this is a fascinating tour book and is recommended without hesitation.