Abstract:
There has been an increased interest ill understanding the effectiveness of
the Japanese employment relations (ER) practices during the last two
decades. The myths or Japan's management techniques have been the
subject of many articles and research. This body or literature highlights
the importance of human resources as the key to success ill Japanese
multinational corporations, such as Japan IBM, Canon Corporation, the
success of which has also been attributed to the long range planning
capabilities of these organisations. There is a continuous fascination by
the West with the characteristics of the Japanese ER structures and
systems towards the effective performance of Japanese multinational
corporations. However, after the burst of the 'bubble economy' in the
1990s, researchers such as Ornatowski (1998) and Mroczkowski and
Hanaoka (1998) have stated that Japan has reached the end of its
Japanese-style ER. The review draws upon English and Japanese
literature 10 provide an in-depth understanding of the current status of
Japan's ER system. The paper then predicts some future trends in
Japan's management of human resources, by focusing on three main
aspects of the Japanese ER systems, including lifetime employment,
seniority-base pay and enterprise unions. In this analysis, information is
utilised from a number or statistical data published by the Japanese
Ministry of Labour. Recruit Research, and the Japanese Ministry of
Health and Welfare, The Japan Institute of Labour. Tokyo Metropolitan
Government, Teikoku Databank and the Statistics Bureau and Statistics
Center.
