JAPANESE MANAGEMENT STYLE

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 Japanese Culture
• Self-Awareness, the Group, and Conformity
• One of the most homogenous nations in the
world
• Strongly aware and proud of their country
• High on fashion and technology
• Relationships take foremost priority, reflects in
business too
• Hard work is a given, not a exception
 Japanese Management
• Japanese companies, like Japanese society, are
hierarchically organized with individuals
knowing their position within a group and
with regard to each other
Features of Japanese Management
• Life time employment
• Collective decision making
1] Ringi-sei - The circulation of consultative memorandums
around a company in order to achieve consensus.
2]Information flow from the bottom of the company to the top.
3]Most policies originate at the mid-level management
4]Top Management plays only a “supervisory” and “encouraging” role.
• Collective responsibility
• Slow evaluation and promotion
• Implicit control mechanisms
• Non specialized career path
• High self disciplined
• Holistic concern for employee as a person
 Key elements
• Centralized management control
• Strong head office/subsidiary manager interpersonal
relations
• Multiple locations
• Business strategy
 Single product focus
 Minimize costs of production
 Maintain consistently high quality output at all factories
through standardization of best work practices &
procedures
 Diversify market segments, geographic markets, &
production location
Strengths of strategy and structure
• Qualified senior management
• Low costs of production
• Quality control
• Diversified & strong market positions in
established & growing markets
• Good reputation – early leader in small motors
• Good fit between organization structure &
competitive environment
Weakness of strategy and structure
• Limited scope for continued expansion with
existing managerial capacity
• Relative difficulty in transferring Japanese
management style across cultures
• continued growth will be difficult; long term
problem is new competitors allowed to
establish themselves or if existing competitors
were allowed to grow in strength
 Model of Japanese Management
• Hatvany and Pucik (1981) offer a model of Japanese
management in which they define three interrelated
strategies:
The authors assert that these general strategies are
translated into specific management techniques including
• Job rotation and slow promotion;
• Evaluation of attributes and behavior;
• Emphasis on work groups;
• Open communication;
• Consultative decision making; and concern
• for employee.
 Philosophy of Japanese management
• Fully satisfaction of customer’s needs
• Achieve employee's fulfillment
• Slow and careful way of implementing
• Willingness to any activity if necessary
• Zero-defect theory
 Concepts given
• Six Sigma
• TQM
• Kaizen approach
• Just in time