ETHILA PALIT (ID: 133003806)

FARZANA SHAHIN (ID: 133002006)

MAHMUDUL ALAM (ID: 133000806)
ISTIAK AHMED (ID:
NUSRAT JAHAN (ID: 133002606)

Human Resource Management

The HR
Management has
several dimensions
in the organization
as it supports the
organization in its
growth and
competitiveness.

Formalness
Explicitness
Time Horizon
Participation

Scope
Justice
Groupism

Japanese firms have been identified as having a long

term time horizon.
Hiring fresh graduates and maintaining long-term
employment patterns, a strong emphasis on training
over the career of the employee, and corporate
objectives which focus on market share and other longterm objectives have all been noted as reflective of the
long-term time horizon of Japanese firms.
"Lifetime employment" and the mutual lifetime
commitment of employees and the company have been
indicated as an important basis of strong employee
consistency and company loyalty

On-the-job training in Japanese organizations

is intensive and designed to train employees
with a broad range of skills to be productive in a
variety of capacities for a significant length of
time.
Compensation is also based on a premise of
long-term employment with gradual increases
in pay at a minimal level for the first part of an
employee's tenure, leading to a more equitable
pay package after an individual has been with
the company for a long period of time

Participation is the extent to

which
employees
and
departments participate in HRM
decisions.
The participative approach to
decision making is the most
distinctive and well-known
feature of Japanese MNCs.
Authority is more centralized in
the Japanese plants.

 The major decisions are always made by the

top management in these Japanese firms.
The overall attitude of Japanese managers is
more consultative rather than participative.
The Japanese managers are reluctant to share
their decision-making power with employees.

Scope refers to the breadth of focus of HRM

activities, i.e., the extent to which such
activities are concentrated on or directed at a
limited set versus a wide range of goals or
purposes, or are confined to specific or a large
group of individuals.
Japanese MNCs have been described as
having a broader scope, focusing on a
relatively wide set of goals and activities.

 Justice refers to the extent to which HRM

activities encompass equity as opposed to
equality in the distribution of resources to
employees
Japanese organizations are widely recognized
for their pursuit of equality rather than equity.

Salaries are decided in balance with others on

one's team and practically all employees in a
given unit are given the same salary package.

 There is a strong preference for

collective
responsibility
and
accountability in Japanese firms, as
well as consensus decision making in a
culture that has a strong "groupthink"
mentality.
This group orientation is also reflected
in pay and promotion patterns which
follow an approach whereby most
employees remain undifferentiated
from their cohort until ten to fifteen
years
after
they
have
begun
employment.

Compensation Approach

Use of control mechanisms MNCs

of Japan
Control Mechanisms

Japan

Personal centralized control

Medium

Bureaucratic formalized control

Low

Output control

Very Low

Control by socialization and

Networks

Low

Expatriate control

Very High

The strong reliance on expatriates offers Japanese MNCs the

same disadvantages in coordinating and controlling their
subsidiaries.

Qualified local workers become frustrated and leave the

company because of insufficient participation in decisionmaking, limited career opportunities and a non merit-based
appraisal system

Firms suffer decreased ability for flexibility in their response to

the market because of limited information flows from the
bottom.

Finally, the heavy reliance on expatriates also meant limited

career opportunities for HCN managers.

 Value of varied life:

Regarding work flow, it is found that job and task rotation is
most common for factory workers in Japanese MNCs. Job
rotation implies the value of varied life, while lack thereof
indicates social order.
Values of broad-minded, and social power:
Proactive management in teams is found in firms in Japan, with
Japanese MNCs showing a partial adjustment. Using a narrow
and technical definition, the proactive nature of such teams
implies participation which is indicative of the values broadminded, sense of belonging, and social power.

 Security value-type
We find that the security value-type is important in human
resource flow in Japanese MNCs. In Japanese MNCs, employee
promotions are not based on length of service in Japanese MNCs.
This result may reveal an inconsistency in practices, as when
promotions early in a career are based on length of service but is
no longer the case at a later stage.

Value sense of belonging

Management positions were found to be filled through internal
promotions in Japanese firms indicating a distinctive element of
HRM in Japanese MNCs. This internal promotion is interpreted as
being expressive of the value sense of belonging.

Values wealth and varied life:

In the case of compensation, bonuses are offered to employees in
firms in Japan and in Japanese MNCs, indicating the values wealth
and varied life. But Japanese firms and MNCs do not offer stock
options.

Values of wisdom and creativity:

Japanese MNCs, inform employees of management conditions and
future plans, whereby such information may be reflective of the
value wisdom. Suggestion systems are used, implying the values
wisdom and creativity, in Japanese MNCs, by using suggestion
boxes.

Values of HRM practices in Japanese MNCs

Values of social power and achievement

In firms in Japan, decisions are made by all

departments, a practice that is less common in
Japanese MNCs. And so the values of social power,
sense of belonging, broad-minded, and achievement are
not usually carried out in the Japanese MNCs.
Value of hedonism and sense of belonging
Fun events held for employees and families are only
found in Japanese MNCs, in a narrow sense implying
the values sense of belonging and hedonism. Those
events are interpreted as expressive of the value
hedonism and sense of belonging because the events
aim to be fun.

 Huge reliance on the Expatriates of Parent country ensures that the

control is maintained among the subsidiaries.
The Japanese follow in long term time horizon even in case of foreign
assignment. They do not expect the expatriates to perform outstandingly
until three years. They think this period as Adjustment Period for the
expatriates.
MNCs provide widespread training for broadly defined tasks (goal: to
create a generalist). They have a tendency to be extensive and focused on
the work group.
Japanese were found to believe that a company and its members are like
a family. This approach ensures a feeling of security among the employees
and as a result, the turnover rate in Japan based MNCs are much less
compared to MNCs based in other countries.

 Problem of Non-Flexibility:
Japanese MNCs have very limited ability to react to rapid
changes in the operating environment.

Problem of high reliance on Expatriates:

Delays and mistakes in generating correct information in
subsidiaries resulting from the absence of local hires in middle
management. Control by socialization and networks, Japanese
MNCs restrict the international exchange of information nearly
exclusively to Japanese employees .Due to inability
international exchange of information Japanese IMC system
often fails to provide the sufficient structure.

 Problem of unshared values and Formal

Communication:
Japanese MNC do not allow for a cross-border
flow of information between subsidiaries of two
different countries that bypass Japanese
headquarters. The same holds true for
international task forces and cross functional
teams. They rarely take place in Japanese MNCs
involving managers from more than one other
country. And also Japanese and non-Japanese
employees at the managerial level are fairly
restricted.

 Language Problem:
English is the international business language and is a
prerequisite for all kinds of international networking at the
formal and informal level. Since the beginning of international
operations, lack of proficiency in English has put Japanese
MNCs in a disadvantageous position versus firms from other
industrialized countries.
Managing Problems
More Japanese senior managers stress employee task rotation,
give general directions to teams, stress breadth, and emphasize
values rather than rewards.