JAPANESE MANAGEMENT
Key practices commonly associated with Japanese management techniques include: * in-house training of managers * consensual and decentralized decision-making * extensive use of quality control methods * carefully codified work standards * emphasis on creating harmonious relations among workers * lifetime employment and seniority-based compensation
Japanese management philosophy and techniques Nihonteki Keiei, or Japanese-style management, has become a popular phrase in the west. It refers to what people see as substantially different between Japanese management techniques and those widely practiced in the other countries.
The differences often cited are: lifetime employment, job rotation, based seniority wage and promotion system, Ringi and consensus decision-making, just in time, quality circles, kaizen, and the suggestion system. Most of these techniques have become well known across the world. However, a successful implementation by western firms requires a critical understanding of their basic principles and operations, while some of the elements need to be critically assessed in the light of the structural problems of the Japanese economy since 1989.
Lifetime employment (shushinkoyo) the main objective of offering lifetime employment or a job for life is to provide workers with a sense of security and identity. Once recruited, lifetime employees become members of the corporate family, which will have to take care of them for their entire career.
Job rotation is valued as the best means of increasing the motivation of the workers, improving their performance, and thus achieving better efficiency and productivity. Those identified as potential top management candidates are rotated through key departments on a regular schedule to increase the breadth of their knowledge and experience.
Seniority wage and promotion