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Introduction

The culture of Japanese management is very famous in the West. When we talk about Japanese management we talk about very successful organizations and large corporations like Toyota, Hitachi, Toshiba, Sony and many others. Japanese organizations are well-known and respected for their quality and efficiency. Despite of much literature about it Japanese management is still understood very little. But what makes its practice so unique? To answer that question we will have to discuss the culture of Japan and how it impacts the business environment.

Japanese Management Culture

Geographically Japan is an island country located on the eastern side of China. Japan consists of more than three thousand islands and has an area about one thousand and 42 hundred square miles. Japans geography influences the development of its society and culture in many ways. It's location in relation to other nations has an effect to intercultural influences. Its size has an impact on its demographic and the development of social structures. High uncertainty avoidance is attributed to the fact that Japan is constantly threatened by natural disaster from earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and volcano eruptions. Japan has a population of 127 million people with more than 22 % of the population being aged 65 or older. High population density causes people to live in close quarters. This has an influence on cultural collectivism. Historically the transmission of the key elements in Chinese culture provides one of the most important examples of the spread of civilization from a central core area to its neighboring region, namely Japan. In the 1^st century A.D. people imported a wide range of ideas, techniques of production, institutional models and material objects from China. After adapting the imports to make them compatible with quite sophisticated culture from which they are previously developed the Japanese used what they borrowed to build a civilization of their own. Often transmitted from China throw Korea Buddhist religious beliefs and art forms enrich Japanese culture at both the elite and popular levels. Japan's society was a closed society for several hundred years. Early in Japanese history the society was controlled by ruling elite of powerful clans. The most powerful emerged as a kingly line and later as the imperial family in Yamato modern Nara Prefecture or possibly in Northern Kyushu in the 3^rd century A.D. In the later sixteenth century began a process of reunification followed by a period of great stability and peace, where we can see different forms of art and creativity. Japan rebuilt itself based on a new and earnest desire for peaceful development becoming an economic superpower in the second half of the 20^th century. Japan's economy is one of the largest in the world. There is a rapid economic development and increasing worker output. An increase efficiency of Japanese workers is a result of their strong discipline which in term stems from their cultural values. For example Japanese manufacturing systems receive pride for their efficiency, but they create a great stress for the labor force by the intensity of work and heavy responsibilities placed on workers. As result the Japanese incorporate collaborative relations of employers and employees which represent a mild collectivism. The Japanese are motivated by competition and a drive for excellence and perfection in their material production and services which contributes to their masculine culture. Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a prime minister leading the government. Japan's social relations are based on hierarchy having the most respect for the oldest and accepting values based on authority. This exemplifies high power distance in Japan. The Japanese government adopted many aspects of the Chinese bureaucracy including their versions of various titles, ranks and official functions. The first form of their constitution was influenced by the Chinese approach to a more centralized and organized government. Japanese family structure places a strong emphasis on providing their children to establish gender roles. Children are raised to have a high level of respect for both of their parents because of sacrifices they make to provide their family. According to the Japanese size of the living space is not important, but the atmosphere, the surroundings and the neighborhood are more important. Focus is on a particular area and environment. According to a whole theory of low territoriality the Japanese take on less individual ownership of space. The sharing of personal space exhibits values of collectivist culture. Living in small shared quarters demonstrates society exploiting its resources in an efficient manner. With its moderate level of power distance Japan represents a border line hierarchical society. That means that the clear hierarchy exists but it is not absolute and rigid. Business decisions may be slow, because these decisions may be confirmed at each level of the hierarchy. This shows how each level of the business has input and decisions are not only made from the top down Business Management Articles MANAGEMENT: JAPANESE STYLE by Rene T. Domingo. In the business world of Japan the positions are awarded on the basis of merit, not on social position. This extends to the education system where every man is given an equal opportunity but not necessarily every woman. Japanese tend to express a lower level of collectivism when compared to other Asian countries. This comes from a family tradition where the eldest son inherits everything from his father and his siblings are expected to make it on their own. This leads to development of a nuclear family. However Japanese show a high level of loyalty to the companies for which they work. The choice of where to work is individual but the loyalty to the company is collectivist. Japan is one of the most masculine societies in the world. Direct competition between individuals is rare due to the presence of mild Japanese collectivism. Instead competition is fierce between groups at all levels. The Japanese are also famous for being workoholics. Corporate competition is very high and perfectionism is often shown in material production and services in Japan. As discussed earlier Japan has one of the highest levels of uncertainty avoidance which is attributed to a frequency of natural disasters which the country faces. This has manifested itself in business culture throw a tendency to conduct a large number of feasibility studies and an obsession of working out all risk factors. Business tends to move very slowly because Japanese are reluctant to undergo any risky changes. In addition Japanese employees also need clear rules and guidance. In order to drive task completion managers must give their employees specific instructions rather than assigning a task and relying on their employees in decision- making ability. The durability of Japanese firms stands as a testament of the long term orientation of Japanese culture. The Japanese focus on research and development to continue long term growth even in poor economic times. Quarterly profits are not as important for Japanese companies when compared with long terms growth of market share. Japanese culture is distinctly high context meaning verbal communication is often implicit. Because there is a high degree of shared understanding specific ideas do not need to be elaborate. Feelings and emotions tend to be communicated nonverbally. Relating to a hierarchical structure of Japanese businesses subordinates will not often directly voice their opposition to an idea or their confusion about instructions. The flagships of the Japanese economy provides their workers with excellent salaries, working conditions and secure employment. So employment security and excellent reward systems is a great concern for the employees to contribute to the success of the Japanese organizations.

The key feature of the Japanese management References for business R. Anthony Inman and David A. Victor Revised by Gerhard Plenert, also called a lifelong employment. Permanent employment covers the majority of the workforce that works for the major companies. Japanese employees are accepted to the companies right after colleges, they are classmates, who know each other and continue to compete and interact, so managers don't have to rebuilt the team. They know the strength of each other. The permanent employees are hired as generalists What We Can Learn from Japanese Management Peter F. Drucker Harvard Business Review From the March 1971 Issue, but not specialists for specific positions, it is always an entry at the lowest level, they grow with the organization. They move from one department to another, from one group to another. Employees are selected for their ability to learn and their attitude to problem solving. There is also a concept of «master». The master is the one who can do all jobs in the organization, and 18-20 years is a period for becoming a master. Japanese Management Decisions are based on a Long-Term Philosophy. The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer

by Jeffrey K. Liker ISBN:0071392319 Japanese managers don't want anyone to work with the same boss for more than three years. In three years the individual gets exposed to every aspect of the company. In the Japanese system of promotion and reward after the learning period there is a practice called shuko, which mean that only 50% of people remains in the company, and the other 50% will be sent out to another organizations. This practice stimulates competition between former study colleagues. Seniority is always respected in the organization. Regular pay is always augmented with bonuses, which can be substantial. After the period of 20 years payment bases only on performance and contribution. Former classmates work for the same salary and there is no big difference when switching from one organization to another, the purpose is to build harmony and avoid stress. «On the job training» is another unique practice of the Japanese management. The basic view of a manager is a kind of a coordinator, but not a leader or decision maker. Depending on a particular situation an individual takes a required role in a company. The role is much more important than the designation. This gives a tremendous flexibility to an organization. Another feature of Japanese management is balancing views of an organization and society, responding to the customers and meeting their expectations. There is a concept of «the company as an entity», where the whole organization is reinforced as an entity one lives within. So organization itself is seen as a family. They use concepts called uchi (inner circle which people have in a family) and soto(outer circle). In the company's external market the emphasis is on the value of company's product. The value is delivery, quality and customer needs. In the company's internal operation the focus is on efficiency, cost, productivity, inventiveness, problem solving and a customer attention. These are put into practice on a daily basis throw many manufacturing practices, called world class manufacturing. In the case of company's employees the attention is paid to the needs of groups in reference to their productive function, human resource system, growth and development. All these things need to be harmonized with respect to the customers. In the company's relation to society and the state the focus is on values, expectation and legal requirement of the surrounding. The company's relations to culture are based on underlying believes about the «good». Japanese managerial style and decision making emphasizes the flow of information and initiative from the bottom up. The president and the other management staff are the «agents» of the stockholders and have an obligation to maximize stockholders' interests. A top-manager in Japan is rather the facilitator than the source of authority while middle management is both the impetus for and a shaper of policy. A Japanese chief executive officer is a consensus builder. This consensus is another unique feature in Japanese management practices. Another important feature is a practice of kaizen, which means continuous improvement involving everyone in an organization. This makes people of the shop floor to come together, not to ignore any problem and see what more or different thing can be done. So accepting the problem and making appropriate solution becomes a habit in Japanese management. Kaizen concentrates on improving the process rather than on achieving certain results. For example if someone can do in the sitting position, don't stand, or if the material can move, the people need not move. Kaizen is holistic management. Toyota Production System is known for kaizen, where all line personal is expected to stop their moving production line in the case of any abnormality and suggestions for improvement are rewarded.

Today Toyota manufacturing is considered to be so perfect and unique on a global level. Other companies find it extremely difficult to keep such manufacture standards. They have developed a system called «ringi», where people of all levels discuss a problem and when it comes to the most senior member he may agree or disagree, because he understands a complete picture of the problem. Also in Japanese management culture there is a problem solving system called HoRenSo HORENSO - (REPORT, CONTACT AND CONSULT) May 01, 2012 By Patricia Pringle, Japan Intercultural Consulting, meaning that in case of a problem workers should report the issue, but not keep it to themselves. In the Toyota manufacturing system there is a special cord at every assembly line and each worker can pull the cord in case of any deviation he sees or any problem he faces, then the line stops The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker ISBN:0071392319 and the supervisor must come and help to solve the problem. If they are not able to solve then the whole team runs and solves in about 90 seconds. So problems need not to be seen at a customer level, but solved within the organization. That is a supportive and conflict less human organization. shushin koyo japanese management

Conclusion

Today the Japanese management practices have become a global benchmark. Now the problem is how to adapt them to other countries. These practices effectively transformed to other countries can build more performing organizations.

References

1. HORENSO - (REPORT, CONTACT AND CONSULT) May 01, 2012 Patricia Pringle, Japan Intercultural Consulting. http://www.japanintercultural.com/en/news/default.aspx?newsID=169.

2. Business Management Articles MANAGEMENT: JAPANESE STYLE by Rene T. Domingo. http://www.rtdonline.com/BMA/ABM/3.html.

3. What We Can Learn from Japanese Management Peter F. Drucker Harvard Business Review From the March 1971 Issue.

4. The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer by Jeffrey K. Liker ISBN:0071392319.

5. References for business R. Anthony Inman and David A. Victor Revised by Gerhard Plenert. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Int-Loc/Japanese-Management.html.

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