JAPANESE WORK CULTURE

Readings from J. Martin Corbett (Critical Cases in Organizational Behaviour):

Nissan's plant at Zama(near Tokyo) has an automatic production line with no human interference (except for maintanance).

The basis for their HRM techniques is interesting and generic for all Japanese culture.

Ruth Benedict (1946) describes the Japanese as possessed of a 'shame culture'' in which each worker has a fundamental duty (giri) not only to do good work, but also to match exactly the contribution made by other members of the work group.

Hence failure to make the requisite number of suggestions (and the subsequent danger of failing to repay giri) is likely to induce profound feelings of shame in letting one's colleagues down.

Japanese people can be unhappy with the company they work for and yet not complain or dissent. This is partly to do with giri and gaman (a resigned acceptance and endurance of hardship without complaint) and partly to do with the fact that Japanese culture demands less consistency between an individual's attitudes and behaviour.

In the UK, for instance, if a person who knows you are a vegeterian sees you eating beef in a restaurant, they are likely to regard you as incosistent, weak-willed, or even untrustworthy.

In Japanese culture such incosistency of thought and deed is far less problematic. The notions of omote (meaning 'front') and ura (meaning 'back') help explain this. Omote is presented to the public as a socially acceptable aspect of self, whereas ura is an aspect of the self hidden from public view. Both are recognized socially and the appropriate use of them is highly valued.

Nissan workers (at Zama plant) are obliged to give suggestions on improvement of quality and efficiency (of the work carried out by each worker). This is reflected on a huge screen with indication of a worker's name whose idea is directed to the supervisor.


Nissan beleive this is the best way to help workers keep their minds on their work.


Facts about Japanese economy:

GDP (PPP)	$4.22 trillion (2006 est.)
GDP ranking	3rd by volume; 16th per capita