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LEAM DISCUSSION PAPER NO 1(3)/2014

Yoshimi Ito

The Advantages and Disadvantages for Polish Employees Working in a Japanese Company: the case study of the Kujavian-Pomeranian region

Lodz 2014

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Yoshimi Ito1 The Advantages and Disadvantages for Polish Employees Working in a Japanese Company: the case study of the Kujavian-Pomeranian region

Does a Japanese company in business in Poland apply managerial principles, allegedly prevalent among Japanese firms, to Polish employees working in a Japanese company, in the same manner as to Japanese employees? Which facet of customs in their company do Polish employees regard as advantageous or disadvantageous? In order to answer such questions, I implemented interviews with 8 Polish employees working in a Japanese company near Toru in Poland (May, 2012). After analyzing the interviews, it turned out that in their opinion, the advantageous aspects outweighed the disadvantageous ones as a whole. Although disadvantages respectively accompanied them, among others, three main advantages appeared as remarkable: the mannerism of employing new graduates, wider range of work, and some structures fostering a sense of solidarity in an office and organization. On the other hand, a difference between the types of employment had considerably affected their attitudes toward work. As far as surveyed, many of the younger staff, employed as temporary workers, expressed their anxiety for an extension of their employment and enthusiasm for gaining new knowledge and experiences, which may help their career in the future. Satisfying their position, permanent employees tended to enjoy their work itself. Despite those advantages, the majority of employees that were employed as temporary workers, advantageousness of such managerial principles severely declined, as they tend to concentrate on developing their own skills, mostly to prepare their future career. In this case, a firm can offer them an opportunity to improve their knowledge on business and experience their first job at most.

Introduction
Companies act across the world. With increasingly interdependent economic activities as backdrop, it is truly common for relatively big companies to have branches or offices in multiple countries in the world of today. Poland is, of course, not an exception of this stream; many foreign enterprises have begun operating in Poland, especially after its economy was opened to capital and enterprises from other countries.

Yoshimi Ito is a lecturer at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. Please contact him at: yoshimito@gmail.com
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As of 2013, there are 14 special economic zones in Poland (Kureth, 2013), each of them being with its own strengths, weaknesses, and particular focuses. Foreign companies take regional peculiarities into consideration and decide where to invest. As a result, it leads to the formation of firms from a certain country in some economic zones, as big enterprises are often accompanied by allied ones, e.g. components supplier, trading, logistics, and so forth. In one of these special economic zones, the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone, in the Kujavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, several Japanese companies have invested their capital Using a scale that takes into account factory size and publicity, the most representative Japanese firm in the district would be SHARP. Japanese companies hire Polish employees for their operation in Poland. Although the size and type of industry of each firm are a decisive factor for their strategies of employing personnel, there is still a great need for factory workers, secretaries, salespersons and Japanese language specialists. In many cases, if superiors findan employee with Japanese language ability versatile, they tend to be engaged not only in translations between Polish employees and Japanese employees within a firm, but additionally in other kinds of work as well.

Customs Often Seen in Japanese Companies

A common aim of the majority of companies in the world is to yield profit through economic activities. However, there is an unavoidable interaction between the historically developed and deeply rooted norms and values of a culture, and the specific way of working of its economic institutions (Lhr and Steinmann, 1998). A company is, in many cases, not free from the influence of such factors. As the Japanese economy grew after World War II, the Japanese style of management became one of the core subjects for researchers, especially in the 1960s; a number of scholars began to emphasize the merits of its approach to management (Mouer and Kawanishi, 2005). James C. Abegglen is one of the most influential figures when it comes to interpreting this trend, whichwas based on the premise of the peculiarity of Japanese management in comparison to American or European counterparts (Shibata, 2006). Abegglen suggests that among the other features often seen in big Japanese companies with its own factory back then, three were of great importance; Lifetime Employment, Seniority Wages and Enterprise Union (Abegglen, 1958).Lifetime Employment means the tendency of Japanese companies to ensure employment of full-time workers basically until their retirement. By Seniority Wages, the longer a full-time employee works for the same company, the higher their wage becomes. Often, a pay rise does not depend on the performance or ability of an employee, rather the length of
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belonging to the same firm. Enterprise union stands for union inside firms. Lifetime Employment, along with Seniority Wages, functions as a strong incentive for employees to work longer for the same company. The Enterprise Union aspect encourages less hostile negotiations between managers and employees. Thus, these three factors reinforce solidarity within a company and stimulate employees devotion to work and their firm. In addition to these features, other customs, mostly concerning ways of employing and educating workers, were pointed out; In-company Training, Job Rotation, and Periodic Hiring (Abegglen, 1958). In-Company training is a convention that companies hire workers even if they do not possess the necessary skills for a job. After becoming an employee, they acquire the know-how by on-the-job training. Job Rotation refers to an inclination of companies towards personnel transfer. Managers may order an employee to work in another section. For instance, a laboratory staff member may have to be a salesperson for some years. By Periodic Hiring, fresh and young workers who have just finished school or university are hired. Instead of ensured employment and annual pay rise, employees must keep obtaining knowledge for the better performance of their company. Job Rotation is effective inproducing generalists within the internal labor market.

The Validity of Abegglens Model

At this point, we should be careful about the validity of Abegglens model, as his research did not include non-full time workers and those working in relatively small-sized companies as the main focus. Moreover, the model was suggested more than 50 years ago. Some of the characteristics in his model do not seem very valid anymore. For example, Lifetime Employment is at the core of this model, however, in recent years there have been more and more temporary workers in many countries including Japan. Additionally, many of these temporary workers cannot enjoy the merit of Seniority Wages. Finally, the presence of the Enterprise Union has remarkably declined. The estimated organization rate, including enterprise unions, was at17.9 % in 2012. It is around one-third of the highest rate in 1949, 55.8 %, and also much lower than the rate in 1958, 32.7%, the time when Abegglens book was published(Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2012). The validity of some of these aspects has weakened. However, as far as I worked and observed in a Japanese company and heard from people working in Japanese companies, other aspects are still seen in Japanese companies. Therefore I adopted this model for my analysis to grasp the situation of applying customs in a Japanese company for Polish employees.

Objective and Method

The primary objective of this research is to see whether or not customs often seen in Japanese companies are being applied also to Polish employees . If so, which aspect do they regard as an advantage or as a
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disadvantage? Advantages and disadvantages, if any, are to be analyzed with aid the of Abegglens model. In order to answer the question, the qualitative research method was used. Interviews were implemented with 8 Polish employees at a Japanese firm on 18th and 23rdof May, 2012. Each interview was one on one, face to face, and in English or Polish, depending on the language ability of each speaker. The time allowed by each employee was usually between 20 to30 minutes, though occasionally it took more than one hour. The interviewees included 6 of employees who were office workers, and 2 manual workers. More than half of them were young, in their 20s and 30s, with the others being in their40s and 50s. The number of Japanese companies in the special economic zone is not big, fluctuating between 10 an 20. Therefore, in order to avoid identification, I refrain from including any data about the surveyed firm, except the fact that at the time of the interviews it was employing around 20 workers, with the staff engaged both in office work or manual work.

Questions Covered During the Interview

After general information (age, business career, current position in the company, and duration of employment at the company), the questions proceeded tothe following topics; the reason why one decided to work there, range of work, merit and demerit of working in a Japanese company and the most important aspect of work. All of the employees were asked these questions. Depending on developments within conversation, from time to time other topics promptly followed. However, mostly due to the time limitation given to each employee, sometimes several topics from the above mentioned ones were omitted. The following results took this irregularity into consideration.

Results
As a result of the interviews, several advantages and disadvantages for Polish employees were found. They are to be compared with Abbeglens perspective later on. These are the main aspects that were referred to as an advantage; the way of employing new graduates (mainly from university), relatively wider range of work, a structure encouraging a sense of solidarity in their workplace, and comfortable working atmosphere to. The surveyed company was hiring new graduates from university without any relevant experiences, and the majority of young employees appreciated this method of employing. According to them, when they were looking for a job, unlike the Japanese company, most other companies required experience in a certain industry. This method is related to Periodic Hiring and In-Company Training in Abegglens model. What supports the relatively wider range of work as an advantage is that many of them had worked in more than one section within the company, and they tended to regard this as a good aspect,
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as the wider range of work, including new experiences and knowledge, stimulated them and made their work more interesting. All of those who said that this is a good aspect also answered that their work is interesting. This is relevant to In-Company Training and Job Rotation in Abegglens model. The range of work is not precisely defined by any job description in the firm. The company provides documents similar to a job description when it makes employment contracts with workers, however, it is not strict a definition of their tasks for office workers, and the vague range of tasks leads to their involvement in tasks within other sections. As a structure encouraging a sense of solidarity in their workplace, many of staff pointed out the physical arrangement of their desks in the office. In this company, sections were separated into some islands, though there were no partitions between them. As a result, office workers from all the sections work in one room. This facilitates more conversation between staff, and the sharing information, whether formal or informal, becomes smoother as well. As the last of the main advantages, the majority of staff including both office workers and manual workers indicated is the atmosphere of their workplace. It is very comfortable with3 employees describing the mood as almost like a family. Some other advantages were mentioned by a few employees; good organization, modern facilities, and the Japanese approach to business. The first was indicated by two office workers. Twothe . The processes of working in the company are well organized, thusit is comfortable to work. Basically, there is a guideline of tasks, and the company provides a working manual about how to deal with actual matters. They mentioned that the manual can usually answer their basic questions, though not always. Another advantage are the modern facilities in the company that a single manual worker praised, like automated control systems and new fork lifts. The Japanese approach to business was also mentioned by a single office worker. According to him, it is different from the European approach. Therefore they can learn a lot of things from Japanese ways; for example, how to understand situations behind visible factors, or how to develop reciprocal relationships with customers without concrete contracts. Although the number was smaller than that of the advantages, several disadvantages were pointed out as well; the type of employment, relatively wider range of work, a structure encouraging a sense of solidarity in their workplace, Japanese approach to business, and low wage. Some factors appear both as an advantage and as disadvantage. Concerning the type of employment, all of temporary employees expressed anxiety and dissatisfaction with their type of employment. The contract length depends on each worker, with not all of the employees able to renew it and continue to work there. The fact that the surveyed company had fired just several employees some weeks before my interviews seemed to have influenced their perception of employment. The next disadvantage is the relatively wider range of work. Although as mentioned before, many of them
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regarded this as an advantage, it was a burden for an employee. They were working in two sections for some months. Simultaneously handling tasks in one section while learning new tasks in another section was tough and difficult for them. In regards to a structure encouraging a sense of solidarity in their workplace, two employees mentioned its disadvantageous aspect. Without partitions in the office, staff can talk more actively, as seen in earlier on. However, when some of them want to discuss a sensitive issue, like a renewal of their employment contract, or one of them wants to concentrate on their own work, it can be a hindrance. The Japanese approach to business, one staff member referred to it as a two-sided aspect. According to them, the Japanese approach to business is more group-oriented and sometimes difficult to understand. As for their wage, 2 employees said theirs is rather low. In the light of Abegglens model, it is possible to divide the suggested customs into three levels of use in the surveyed firm, except Seniority Wages, about which my interview could not gain effective data; still in use, mostly not in use, and not in use. Periodic Hiring, In-Company Training, and Job Rotation are still in use: they were still seen, especially among young employees. The majority of them had no experience or knowledge in the industry when they began working there, and they were trained in the company. The transfer of staff is also frequent. Some employees were engaged in more than one section. Lifetime Employment is mostly not in use. Merely two employees in a higher position, a Polish manager and a section chief, were under permanent employment. Therefore, Lifetime Employment was still only partly effective and very rare. They, the permanent employees, were quite satisfied with their job and salary and expressed their affection to their job itself, as well as the company. The rest, including the majority of the younger staff, were temporary workers. An Enterprise Union did not exist in the firm. It was hiring just tens of personnel, with Polish employees and a Japanese manager often negotiating directly. Regarding Seniority Wages, the interviews did not provide any proof regarding the concrete implementation of it. Employees in higher positions were receiving a larger salary than their subordinates, however, it could not be confirmed how many workers were enjoying the merit of Seniority Wages.

Conclusion
Some of the customs often seen in Japanese companies were still effective, and were being perceived as an advantage. However, it is difficult to say that those are advantageous for both the company and employees without the core custom, Lifetime Employment. The applicability of Abegglens model to temporary workers is questionable, since long-term and stable employment is a prerequisite to make other customs more effective in the long run. In addition to that, this model is suggested as characteristic especially among Japanese companies operating in Japan and hiring Japanese employees. A
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company is an organization pursuing profits that is also embedded in the social context of a given society. Therefore it is not surprising that the model only partly suitedPolish employees = =. Taking such facets into consideration, in terms of the suitability of the model, another or new concept would be necessary for further research. Nevertheless, regarding the discovered advantages, at least some of the customs in the Japanese company can be beneficial for young staff, in terms of opportunities to experience their first job. Even if the employment contract is temporary, the possible skills and knowledge gained there may help their career in the future. In this sense, young employees can take advantage of the way that Japanese companies employ new graduates. On the other hand, when it comes to the contribution of Japanese companies to the Polish economy, although its number in Poland is not big, through employing people and training them, their activity can spread knowledge of the Japanese way of business in Poland. It will possibly serve as a point to differentiate ones business from others. Iwai, a Japanese economist, argues that the Japanese style of management was a very competitive principle to accumulate human assets specialized for operations within a certain firm during late industrial capitalism, where companies must effectively utilize their own facilities to be competitive, though it had already finished its historical role to some degree (Iwai, 2006). Will some of the customs in this style remain as an advantage in the future for global competition or disappear as being obsolete? An answer to this question is outside the scope of this study. However, without considering the social situations companies face, let alone the peculiarities of each region, gaining fruitful analyses would be difficult.

Reference
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Abegglen, James Christain. 1958. The Japanese Factory: Aspects of Its Social Organization (translated by Kuniyoshi Urabe and Yoshiaki Mori). Tokyo: Diamondsya (in Japanese), pp. 116, 128, 150, 178-179. Iwai, Katsuhito. 2006. From Capitalism to Citizenism. Tokyo: Shinshokan (in Japanese)pp. 68-71. Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. 2012. Basic Survey on Labour Unions 2012, p. 9 <Retrieved from http://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/itiran/roudou/roushi/kiso/12/dl/gaikyou.pdf> Kureth, Andrew (ed.). 2013. Investing in Poland 2013. Warsaw: Valkea Media SA, p. 71. Lhr, Albert and Steinmann, Horst. 1998. The Ethical dimension of CrossculturalBusiness Activities. In: Lange, Heiko, Lohr, Albert, and Steinmann, Horst. Working Across Cultures. The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 10. Mouer, Ross and Kawanishi, Hirosuke. 2005. A Sociology of Work in Japan. Cambridge University Press, p. 33. Shibata, Takashi. 2006. The Effects and Bounds of Abegglens Comprehension in the Japanese Management Studies. In: Omori, Kenji (ed.). The Journal of Tokyo Keizai University, No. 252, p. 4 (in Japanese).
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