Special Features of Japanese Management
Japan's success in industrial development is primarily
attributable to its system of management which has certain specific features as
under :
(1) Reflection of
national character : The national character of the Japaresc has been, by and large.
reflected in their system of management. Each and every Japanese tries to put
to his or her maximum in industry. The Japanese put their national interests
above anything else and feel proud of being Japanese. They are engaged in
healthy competition with each other and are determined to take revenge in the
economic front of the defeat of World War-I1. In fact. the Japanese nurture a
deep feeling of mutual interests of serving the nation and thereby serving
their own personal interest. Drucker thus rightly remarked, "However, when
people or parties must live together, let alone when they must work together,
the Japanese make sure that their relationship have at their core a mutuality
of interest."
(2) Joint
responsibility : This is the must prominent feature of Japan's management. Joint
responsibility has intimate and direct relation with the determination to the
attainment of common objectives. The success and/or failure of managerial
decisions of Japanese industries are not attributed to the effort of any single
individual, rather they are being shared equally by all the members of the
group. Groups, not individuals. arc entrusted with jobs and arc also evaluated
in the same way. Thus when a division or a branch is entrusted with certain
tasks, all the people employed therein remain responsible for their
accomplishment. The manager acts as the leader and co-ordinator of the group
and tries to move ahead through odds and difficulties. Although the
responsibility of accomplishment lies with the group, no one tries to avoid his
or her part of the joint endeavour. The concern for recognition and advancement
in the management hierarchy. keeps each and every group member to put to his or
her best and thereby making joint endeavour really competetive and successful.
They hardly try to break the chain of command and are respectful of the wishes
of superiors. This makes the position of Japanese managers easier than that of
their western counterparts in motivating their group members in joint
endeavour.
(3) Participative
management : Japanese management can rightly be called participative. The
formulation and implementation of all major decisions are done by managers in
consultation and conjunction with subordinates. Inter-personal relation in
Japanese management is very important which the Americans are trying to follow
in their business enterprises. Theory Z. which is the outcome of a hybrid of
both American and Japanese management. emphasizes upon workers' participation
in decision making. There is also an emphasis on informal and democratic relationships
based on trust. These tend to reduce industrial conflict, labor turn-over,
tardiness and the like. Japanese management uses decision making by consensus to
deal with everyday problems. Lower-level employees initiate an idea and submit
it in the form of a proposal called
Ringishu, to the next higher level, until it reaches the desk of the top
executive. If the proposal is approved, it is returned to the initiator
for implementation. Although the decision-making process is time. consuming,
the implementation of the decision-because of the general consensus at various
levels of management-is swift and does not require additional "selling
."t3
An important
charactcistic of Japanese decision-making is the large amount of effort that
goes into defining the question or problem; there is a great deal of
communication before a decision is actually made. American managers are often
accused of making decisions before defining the problem. In contrast, Japanese
management makes a decision only after long discussions of the issue. To quote
Drucker in American context, "After making a decision we must spend much
time 'selling' it to and getting people to act on it. What may be worse, it
takes so long to make the decision truly effective that it becomes obsolete if
not out-right wrong, by the time the people in the organization actually make
it operational ... the Japanese, by contrast need to spend absolutely no time
on selling a
decision. Everybody has been pre-sold."
(4) Harmonious
Industrial relations : In Japan. the industrial relations are more harmonious
than that of any country of the west. The employers' and workers' organisations
are tolerant to each other. The managers. who are professionals themselves,
help maintain and develop conjenial relations between employers and workers.
The trade unions bargain with employers but they never right against the
company. Thus it is often said that "American unions fight the company but
Japanese unions fight the management."15 The formation of "Joint
Consultative Committees" in industrial enterprises after World War-II made
the participation of trade union-, in management imparative. Prof. Ichiro
Nakyama's remarks i, pertinent': "Many enterprises arc communicating with
trade unions and exchanging views. As a general trend, it may be said that
management not only reports the results. but is explaining basic policies or
plans to trade unions before implementation and asking for union
co-operation."
Japanese industrial relations can well be compared to that of
Germany and Sweden. Some researchers call it outstandingly
participative and pragmatically reformative. The existence of
"Joint Consultative Committee has also pro ided benefits to both parties
in that it has enabled management to maintain its prerogatives within the
enterprise, and the union to increase its influcnce.'18 In Japanese industries
the employees are not only highly paid but are also highly valued as
humanbeings. They enjoy psychological security at their work-place and for
these reasons. Japanese industries arc almost free from industrial conflicts of
unimaginable proportion.
(5) Life long
employment (Nenko) and the seniority system : These are the unique features of
Japanese management. Typically, employees spend their working life with a
single enterprise, which in turn provides employees with security and a feeling
of belonging. This practice brings the culturally induced concept
"Wa" (harmony) to the enterprise. Closely related to Nenko, is the
seniority system, which has provided privileges for older employees who have
been with the enterprise for a long time. But there are indications that the
seniority system may be superseded by a more open approach that provides
opportunities for advancement for young people.
The fact that
under 'Ncnko' an employee remains in job so long as she/he wishes to continue,
adds to business costs. because employees are kept on the payroll even though
there may be insufficient work. Consequently, firms arc beginning to question
about life-long employment which was started in the face of acute scarcity of
labour after World War-TI. Indeed, changes appear to be very slow. What is
often overlooked, however. is that permanent employment practice is used
primarily by large firms. In fact, it is estimated that the job security system
applies to only about one-third of the Japanese
labour force.
(6) Continuous
training : For employment in Japanese industries, candidates of younger age
are preferred. They are being trained and groomed for appropriate job
responsibility. On-the-job training is, of course, an on-going process.
Employees arc also sent for attending off-the-job training. The main objective
of all such training is to enhance productivity. Compared to our training
programmes it can well be stated that our training is promotion focused but the
Japanese training is performance focused.
Since performance is the main focus of employee training in Japan,
each and every employee becomes an asset to the enterprise concerned. Managers
in industries do not act as masters, they act as teachers. The sub-ordinates
get work-related guidance from them and that is also a good supplement to
training.
(7) Quality
control : The consumer products of Japan are noted for their quality. 'High
quality at low price' is the slogan of Japanese industries. They have captured
world market by making the consumers serve their purpose at low cost. In the
field of quality control Japanese follow a peculiar method called "Quality
Control Circle (QCC)." The workers work as members of these QCC's and they
themselves ensure quality under the guidance of foremen. This ensures quality
control as a continuous process. Japanese managers have used the high
motivation of workers in ensuring product quality. During the last few decades
the quality of Japanese products has gone so high that it has surpassed that of
many western countries even. It is a crime on the part of Japanese managers to
compromise with quality. In fact, each and every worker is a member of one or
the other QCC and thus each and every worker is a quality controller. (8)
Paternal human relations : The Japanese managers act as 'parents' of
sub-ordinates and take care of their problems as guardians. They have used the
"Confucian" concept, into their management system, which makes it
imperative to regard seniors as respectable persons. The seniors, in their
turn. also extend all possible help to juniors. This ensures a galaxy of
cordial human relations within the industrial. enterprise, thereby improving
productivity and profitability in almost an automatic manner.
Besides the
distinct features of Japanese management as described above, the industrialists
also maintain healthy relations with the Government. The strength of Japanese
management also lies in its capacity to keep all the relevant parties-workers,
employers, consumers and Government-satisfied. The fruits of industrial
development are being shared equally by all and this has reduced income
inequalities within the society.20 This should not be attributable to any
magic, rather it happened because the Japanese have worked hard under their
unique system of management and have put their national and orgnaisational
interests above their narrow personal gains. As if they are working under an
oath to take revenge of the humiliations that they suffered during World
War-II.
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