The adoption and diffusion of high-performance management: lessons from Japanese multinationals in the West

This paper draws on surveys and case studies of management practicesin Japanese transplants in the US, the UK and France to studypossible impediments to introducing high-performance work practices.It shows significant national differences in the adoption ofspecific practices and in their clustering. While the exerciseof power by labour and management and public policy result innationally specific hybrid arrangements, the results demonstratea common pattern in types of traditional practices that surviveand of Japanese practices transferred. The most commonly adoptedpractices (such as teamwork and quality circles) relate directlyto management interests in productive efficiency, while theretained traditional practices most often relate to worker compensationand internal labour market structures. National industrial relationssystems appear to be important in the balancing of efficiencygains for managers and economic benefits for workers.