Human factors in the transfer of the ‘Japanese best practice’ manufacturing system to Singapore

A detailed examination of the practices reported by managers in thirty-one affiliates of Japanese companies engaged in manufacturing in Singapore revealed a high degree of conformity with the Japanese best practice (also known as ‘lean production’) model in the way work is organized and in the shop-floor level manufacturing practices, but greater conformity to host country norms in the HRM practices applied to the local work-force. This is consistent with the patterns reported in the existing literature regarding Japanese transplants in other countries, including the US and the UK. Strong statistical relationships were found in the Singapore study among the work organization cluster, the manufacturing practices cluster, and the performance outcomes. No significant relationships were found between the HRM cluster and any of the ‘downstream’ variables (work organization, manufacturing practices or performance outcomes), but relatively heavy reliance on expatriates was found to be highly related to work organization, manufacturing practices and performance outcomes. These findings suggest that heavy reliance on expatriates may function as an alternative to Japanese-style HRM practices in situations where it would be unduly difficult or costly to extend the whole package of Japanese-style HRM practices to the local work-force.     

Effects of diversification of career orientations on management systems in Japan

Until a few years ago, when compared to employees in countries of the Western World, Japanese employees entering an organization tended to have similar values and to stay in that organization rather than switching from one organization to another. That fact, however, has been changing. This article discusses the effects of this diversification of career orientations in young Japanese people. The main focus is on the effects of diversification on employment choice, the individual's decision-making as to which kind of employer to work for, and on the differing perceptions of management systems. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

British Factory, Japanese Factory and Mexican Factory: An International Comparison of Front-Line Management and Supervision

This paper presents a case study of a Japanese-owned electronics firm, presenting a comparative analysis of the company's supervisory systems in three of its plants located in different countries – Japan, Mexico and Britain. Comparative analysis is enabled through use of the concept of a supervisory system of control, which allows us to match the relative positions of managers, supervisors and workers across the three sites. The case study data enables us systematically to examine questions of the transferability of a Japanese supervisory system – a central component of Japanese manufacturing – outside of Japan. The results suggest that 'Japanese' supervisory systems have been established with more success in Mexico than in Britain, and the main factors that explain this are varying local labour market conditions, limits to managerial control on the shopfloor, the relationship between the product market and the organization of production, and local and expatriate management commitment to a Japanese system.     

Local Agglomeration and Global Networks Of the Semiconductor Industry: a Comparative Study of U.S. and Japanese Firms

The objective of this study is to examine the spatial organization of the U.S. and Japanese firms in the semiconductor industry. Our analyses give special consideration to the nature of the activities undertaken in the semiconductor production processes, the nature of the firm organization, the nature of the firm ownership, and the geographical area of analysis. Our approach is essentially diagrammatic in order to incorporate all the above factors. Therefore, unlike past studies, our study places special emphasis on tracing the connections between the whole spatial chain of production activities. The result is that different stages within the semiconductor production process have different geographical features, and that even the same vertically integrated sectors in the semi-conductor industry that differ by Japanese or U.S. ownership have quite different geo-graphical organizations.     

ADOPTING JAPANESE-STYLE MANUFACTURING METHODS: A TALE OF TWO (UK) FACTORIES*

Japanese manufacturing methods such as just-in-time production and total quality control are serving as a model of manufacturing organization which many UK manufacturers are currently emulating. This article describes the implementation of just-in-time production and its supporting practices in two factories owned by the same company. Empirical evidence demonstrates a profoundly political dimension to these innovations, requiring a significant rewriting of organizations’ political and cultural maps.     

The Future of Japanese Manufacturing in the UK

The expansion of Japanese FDI into the UK manufacturing sector during the 1980s and early 1990s gave rise to the debate on the Japanization of British industry. The paper argues that this debate was constructed from a Western perspective. It did not locate the strategies and structures of Japanese subsidiaries within the broader context of how Japanese multinational corporations were evolving in this period. The necessity to look at these issues from a more global perspective is reinforced by the changes which have occurred since the mid 1990s in the environment for Japanese multinationals. The global economy offers more choices to firms about their location as well as facing them with a more competitive environment. In the Japanese case, this is leading to a growing differentiation between standardized mass production (which can be located in Asia and Eastern Europe) and science–led sectors of industrial production (which necessitate location near to centres of research and development expertise in the USA and Europe). This means that Japanese firms are reconsidering the strategy and structure of their subsidiaries in the UK. Standardized mass production will only survive in the UK as long as costs can be pushed further down and productivity increased, both of which are difficult conditions to meet given possibilities elsewhere in the world for cheap mass production. The growing area of investment will be in science–based manufacturing, though here the UK will be competing against the USA and Germany for Japanese investment. Here, however, the organizational and management characteristics of Japanese subsidiaries will make the necessary connections with local managers and local networks of expertise difficult to achieve. Thus Japanese subsidiaries in the UK are in a period of prolonged uncertainty about their role in the future. These changes open up the necessity for a new agenda of research which goes beyond the Japanization approach and is concerned with the organization and management of Japanese multinationals in an era of global competition.     

THE IRON FIST IN THE VELVET GLOVE: MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN JAPANESE MANUFACTURING TRANSPLANTS IN WALES

This paper assesses the transferability of a Japanese form of manufacturing organization to an alien institutional environment - the Principality of Wales in the UK. After characterizing what we mean by a 'Japanese form of manufacturing organization' and the arrival of Japanese companies in Wales, we describe the forms of organization, day-to-day management and working practices which have been established. Our conclusion is that the Japanese form of manufacturing organization has been re-created on Welsh soil, and that any 'adaptations' are not such as to alter the fundamental features of the new organizational form.     

Price-Earnings Ratios in Japan: Recent Evidence and Further Results

We analyse the disparity between Japanese and US price-earnings ratios between 1975 and 1995 with a view to find if the accounting differences between two countries can explain this disparity. Our results indicate that the accounting differences can explain a significant part but not all differences between Japanese and US price-earnings ratios. We further investigate the effect of other possible economic factors on the behaviour of Japanese price-earnings ratios and find that changing expectations about growth opportunities, changes in the real returns and differing inflation also do not fully explain the behaviour of the price-earnings ratios. Therefore, the possibility of the existence of the speculative bubble needs to be explored to fully explain the behaviour of Japanese share price-earnings ratios during this period.     

发达国家生产管理社会化与生产性服务业的发展

二战以来发达国家的生产管理呈现出明显的社会化特征。企业生产组织方式的变革不仅促进了企业内部生产管理权力的重新分配,还产生了在更大范围内进行生产管理协调的需要。企业生产外包网络的发展,实际上就是企业之间生产管理相互协调的产物。而20世纪80年代以来资本主义社会蓬勃发展的生产性服务机构,使很多企业内部生产管理职能转由这些社会性机构来完成,则是在生产外包发展基础上生产管理社会化程度的进一步提高。     

企业开展5S活动的探讨

5S是一种经营理念,它是指企业生产经营中的整理、整顿、清扫、清洁、素养。开展5S活动的目的是为了减少工作中隐藏的浪费。企业在生产经营过程中,实施5S能够改善经营管理,提高产品质量。文章详细阐述了开展5S活动的程序、方法以及成效,并指出中国企业要打造世界一流产品,进入世界知名企业行列,必须认真开展5S活动。     

面向可持续发展的整合产品政策思想

整合产品政策(IPP),是一种着眼于持续改进产品生命周期,全过程环境累积影响的策略组合。它要求所有与产品生产和消费相关的生产商、行政机关、消费者及非政府组织密切合作,尽可能利用市场机制,在不降低社会消费水平的前提下,达到可持续生产和消费。欧盟许多国家已经制定,并实施13一系列整合产品政策工具。IPP的影响力已不仅涉及欧洲国家自己的产品,也波及欧洲产品的进出口市场。     

Trade barriers and japanese foreign direct investment in the colour television industry

This paper examines the penetration by Japanese firms of the US and West European colour television markets, initially by exports and then, predominantly, by local production. It is demonstrated that Japanese foreign direct investment was basically a defensive response to trade barriers erected in these markets to re-locate Japanese plant from Japan and other Asian locations. A strategic oligopolistic imitative behaviour, rather than an orchestrated strategy, is identified, and a comparison is made of the effect of trade barriers in each region on industry structure and plant size.     

企业开展5S活动的探讨

5S是一种经营理念,它是指企业生产经营中的整理、整顿、清扫、清洁、素养。开展5S活动的目的是为了减少工作中隐藏的浪费。企业在生产经营过程中,实施5S能够改善经营管理,提高产品质量。文章详细阐述了开展5S活动的程序、方法以及成效,并指出中国企业要打造世界一流产品,进入世界知名企业行列,必须认真开展5S活动。     

The adoption of international best practices in a Western culture: East meets West

Contemporary organizations facing changing economic and strategic realities have considered many models of organizational performance, in particular those based on ‘actices’odels of best practice have emanated from the USA, some European countries and Japan; however, the question remains –ternational best practices be transferred to Australia or elsewhere? Since companies in Japan, in particular, have been seen as harbingers of these best practices, we compare the level of adoption in Japanese and non-Japanese companies in three Australian industries. Differences between Japanese and non-Japanese companies were more apparent in the automotive industry with only a few differences found for the information and tourism industries. The main differences between the two ownership categories were in areas of unionization and management–elations, that is, areas that may be influenced more by institutional arrangements than by cultural differences. Perhaps the most interesting finding from the comparative research was that there were relatively few differences between the Japanese and non-Japanese companies. These characteristics include: organizational structure, labour turnover, teams as part of the organizational structure, levels of training, use of ringi-style decision making, security of employment, employee welfare schemes, the use of and success with performance appraisal and performance-related pay, and a wide range of quality systems. The key pillars of Japanese management are not being transferred, and we cannot expect to see identical arrangements regarding other management practices. But the differences between Japan and western countries such as Australia are very gradually declining.     

Cultural barriers in the transferability of Japanese and American human resources practices to developing countries: the Turkish case

Multinational enterprises can be expected to increase their chances of success by understanding the socio-cultural systems of the regions in which they operate. This paper examines the applicability of Japanese and American human resources management practices in Turkey within a socio-cultural perspective. Emphasizing the contextual differences between developing and industrialized countries and comparing work-related values of the three countries, the paper argues that Japanese human resources practices are more compatible with Turkish societal characteristics than are their American or Western counterparts.     

集优生产管理的探索与实践

2007年以来,河南中烟工业有限责任公司南阳卷烟厂全面贯彻落实国家烟草专卖局和省工业公司目标管理工作指导方针,不断加强生产组织形式创新实践,通过对生产流程的梳理、整合,通过优化生产环节资源配置,尝试性地推行了集优生产组织方式,实现精益生产、集中生产、准时生产,保障了生产计划有效落实,实现资源有效节约,使生产效能达到最优化。该厂的做法适应了新时期订单生产组织方式的需要,对烟草和其他行业实施生产组织管理有一定借鉴意义。     

标准化战略与经济全球化研究

随着经济全球化的发展,国与国之间的经济交往、技术交流逐渐打破原有的界线,形成全球范围的大生产和大流通。标准不仅是企业之间的竞争,更是国与国之间的竞争。标准,已成为世界各地通用的一种技术语言,尤其是国际标准已成为国际贸易有效规则的一部分和产品质量仲裁的准则。国际上的标准化组织和一些工业发达国家为了在国际标准化活动中争取主动权、发言权,反映本国的要求,体现本国的利益,开始制定并实施标准化战略,全球形成了一股标准化战略热。文章详细分析了经济全球化的特征和表现,提出了标准化战略是经济全球化强有力的技术支撑和管理工具,成为企业跨国经营、产品跨国生产、商品和资源跨国流动及世界范围技术交流的规则和准则。     

Global Warming Disclosures: Impact of Kyoto Protocol Across Countries

The Kyoto Protocol that went into effect in February 2005 set limits on the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We document in this study that firms from countries ratifying the Protocol and setting limits on GHG emissions (i.e., European Union [EU] countries, Canada and Japan) are associated with higher GHG disclosures compared with firms in the United States, which has not ratified the Protocol. Additionally, we document that firms from India, which has not set any limits on GHG emissions, make even less GHG disclosures than firms from all other countries covered in this study. Our findings also show that GHG disclosures are greater for Canadian and Japanese firms compared with firms from the EU countries and that they also differ somewhat across EU firms. These findings suggest that ratification of the Protocol and limits on emissions improve pollution disclosures. In the absence of Protocol ratification, mandatory disclosure requirements may be needed to ensure adequate and reliable pollution disclosures.     

Managing Consultants in a Small Firm: A Case Study

There remains a paucity of research on Japanese investment in Asia, especially on Japanese management practices in China. The paper draws predominantly on interviews with Chinese managers in 31 Japanese wholly owned and joint-venture manufacturing plants. In order to account for any differences in the perception of operations between Japanese and Chinese managers, interviews were conducted with Japanese managers in three case-study plants. The purpose was to examine the structure and pattern of managerial control in different locations and industries, and with different patterns of share ownership, size and age of investments. The paper argues that the patterns of control in Japanese manufacturing investment in China are not unique, and as a consequence call into question much of the current conventional wisdom concerning the internationalization of Japanese management practices. Instead of Japanese seeking to maintain strong control over overseas plants and attain high degrees of 'Japanization' (a term used to indicate the dynamics of the transfer process), a complex and varied array of patterns of control are identified. On the one hand, production appears highly Japanized, but personnel management is not. On the other hand, Japanese multinationals make investment decisions that necessitate ceding a high degree of control to local managers. Moreover, it is shown that such 'localization' of control is willingly ceded, if not actively sought, by Japanese multinationals     

Human resource management in Asian subsidiaries: comparison of French and Japanese MNCs

European and Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) have expanded their activities in Asia, usually through massive mobilization of various human resources from head offices, whether expatriated or on short-term assignments, and a reliance on diverse categories of local employees. Because expatriation is costly, difficult and often limited in its results, MNCs have developed localization strategies for management positions to support their regional development. This contribution addresses such a scenario by comparing Japanese and French MNCs in eight Asian countries, based on 53 interviews across subsidiaries of 17 MNCs. We find that Japanese MNCs have not localized management positions as much as French MNCs, but they have grown more willing to do so. To compensate for the lack of local capabilities without sending more expatriates, both French and Japanese MNCs frequently send experts on short-term assignments. Finally, though human resource practices vary widely across countries, even for a given MNC, some harmonizing principles have been introduced to regional HRM strategies recently.