Professional Documents
Culture Documents
JAPANESE MANAGEMENT
The practice was summarized well under a slogan of the era, "Japanese spirit, Western technology." 20th Century practices at both the level of micro and macro economics
Management Education
The education of managers in Japan traditionally takes place on a relatively informal basis within firms Japanese VS U.S Firms do not hire recruits to fill specific occupations The emphasis on in-house education Management training Linked with the lifetime-employment
Knowledge Tests
Combined knowledge tests (73.8%) General education/Common sense (51.8%) Foreign language (45.9%) Major-related achievement test (33.7%) Job-related knowledge test (11.1%) Other (4.5%)
Aptitude Tests
Combined aptitude tests (63.5%) Total aptitude test (36.6%) Personality inventory (34%) Cognitive ability test (18.5%) Aptitude test according to job (11%) Others (2.6%)
Interviews
Combined interviews Individual interview Group interview Medical exam Others
Evaluation Style
Eager and willing Cheerful and active Able to understand and judge Harmonious and adaptable Expressive and persuasive Has self-understanding and ambition Good manner and attitude Wealth of general and specific knowledge Curious and investigative Is conscious of his/her value system in relation to his/her job Willing to accept responsibilities Leadership Persistent Loyal to corporation Able to handle stress
Theory z
A combination of American and Japanese management philosophies 'Theory Z: How American management can Meet the Japanese Challenge (1981). To promote stable employment, high productivity, and high employee morale and satisfaction Promoting partnerships and group work. It leads to improvement and development
Features of Theory Z
LONG-TERM EMPLOYMENT CONSENSUAL DECISION MAKING INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY SLOW EVALUATION AND PROMOTION INFORMAL CONTROL WITH FORMALIZED MEASURES MODERATELY SPECIALIZED CAREER PATH HOLISTIC CONCERN
Concept of self. o Impediment to growth. Strong sense of nationalisms. Socialization. Willingness to be alike. More respect for authority. Loyalty.
Typical Japanese Belong to a group. Okay to show feelings and weaknesses. Strong sense of nationalism based on a single superior race. Rigorous system through high school.
Typical U.S. Individual. Macho. Hide feelings and weaknesses. Strong sense of nationalism, but many racial conflicts. Relatively weak system through high school. Click for
Education.
Team players. No stars allowed. The individual is Social cooperation and willingness to Competitive. Engage in political power plays not important. Uniformed teams are self work together. to become stars. Few team players. regulating. Respect for authority. Substantial. Live to work. Self sacrifice. Highly self disciplined. What can I do for the Company? High tolerance for personal discomfort. Decline vacations and sick days. One family service day per week acceptable. Minimal. Work to live. Self gratification. Little self discipline. What can the company do for me? Low tolerance for personal discomfort. Take all vacation and sick days allowed. Family demands require weekends plus.
A clean work-place and environment is Attitude toward work-place, property Everyone's job to keep it clean. Respect property someone else's job. Less respect for property and environment. of others. of others. Loyal to Company. Company first. Individual and Loyal to Self. Individual and family first. family second. Belong, to or married to, a Company second. Work for a company to gain company for a lifetime. experience to obtain a better job elsewhere.
Loyalty.
Expected to provide suggestions. Company s most important resource. Typical incentive system. Worker participation system Easy accessibility to workers.
Policy or Attitude
Typical Japanese Way to achieve continuous improvement (kaizen). Lifetime. Paternalistic. No layoffs. Promote from within.
Typical U.S
Workers suggestions.
Threat to management. Revolving door. Workers laid off during economic decline. Little commitment to training. De-skill so all are expendable. Use other firms training programs as leverage by scavenging workers.
Employment.
Training.
Use cross training and job rotation to develop human resources as a competitive weapon.
Incentives.
Recognition. Pats on back. Trophies, plaques and metals. Group approval and praise. Profit sharing. Charts or boards (andon) over Mostly monetary. Individual ego. work stations show goals and current rate of achievement. Dress code to promote team spirit.
Participation in decisions.
Worker participation expected to reach consensus decisions. Accessible to workers. Wear same uniform. Open office policy in plant.
Managers accessibility.
Companies long run competitive strategy. Policies and techniques grounded by concept of KAIZEN . Japanese concept of just-enough-resources usually referred as just-in-time or KANBAN . Concept of total quality control or zero defect and quality at source (Jidoka). Japanese unions. Area of production.
Policy Area Typical Japanese Typical U.S. Overall focus. Operating strategy.
Typical Japanese Long range focus on competitive strategy. Continuous Improvement (kaizen). Just-in-time (JIT) or just enough resources (JER). Squeeze out waste, (muda, mura and muri). Minimum workers must be highly skilled and flexible. Fewer parts, inspections and job classifications. TQC. Seek perfection. Zero defects. Use as strategic weapon. Long term partnerships. Have co-destiny. Frequent deliveries, few vendors.
Typical U.S. Short range focus on the bottom line. Optimize with a given set of constraints. Just-in-case (JIC) keep lots of slack inventory and resources. Highly specialized jobs based on scientific management. Dehumanizing repetitive tasks. EOQ for resource decisions. Inspect for optimum level of defects. No special relationships. Obtain best price from multiple vendors.
Equipment.
Buy turn-key systems as a form of Design in house to maintain technological leverage. Abused and overused. leadership. Used, but not abused. Emphasize Maintenance discretionary. Wait until it preventive (operator centered) maintenance. breaks down to replace, to enhance Replace parts before they break. current performance. Company. Emphasize cooperation. Promote team approach. No strike policy. Small focused plants. Work performed in sequential order to remove inconsistency according to program work sheets. National non-company. Adversary. Rules prohibit cross training and flexibility. Strike used as weapon. Less focused plants. Task not programmed.
Union.
Production.
Subservient to corporate strategy and are essentially used to influence behavior. Planning and control. Plan-Do-Check-Action (PDCA). Long run life cycle approach to product cost. Japanese investment justification decisions. Namawashi approach.
Policy Area
typical Japanese
typical U.S.
Used to inform management. Emphasis on Used to influence behavior. Emphasis on non financial measurements. Management by financial measurements of strategic the numbers, i.e., net income, ROI, and activities with charts on wall. EPS.
Bottom up. Goal setting and feedback. Worker involvement. Near fanatical commitment to four step Plan, Do Check Action approach. Budget and compare actual to market driven dynamic target costs continuously reduced. Long run plant wide life cycle costs. Life cycle costs. Quality, lead time, flexibility (e.g., average number of jobs mastered per employee, average setup times) number of line stops, down time, process times, amount of inventory, number of customer complaints.
Top down. Roll down financial budgets to lower levels. Budget and compare actual to flexible budgets based on engineer driven standard costs for given plant and resource constraints.
Cost.
Measurements.
Investment justification.
Long term perspective. Emphasis on growth, increasing market share, flexibility, customer Short run emphasis. Quick pay back. needs and business unit interrelationships.
Lesson #5 is management reporting Lesson #6 is the business planning/budgeting function Lesson #7 is the use of relevant measures of performance Lesson #8 is the role of accounting
Lesson #9 is the human resource management function Finally, lesson #10 is the effectiveness and efficiency
Kaizen ( )
Teamwork: A strong company is a company that pulls together every step of the way. Personal Discipline: A team cannot succeed without each member of the team being strong in themselves Suggestions for Improvement: By requesting feedback from each member of the team.
Phases of 5S
Sorting (Seiri): Eliminate all unnecessary tools, parts, and instructions. Go through all tools, materials, and so forth in the plant and work area Straightening (Seiton): Items should be arranged in a manner that promotes efficient work flow, with equipment used most often being the most easily accessible.
Systematic cleaning (Seiso): Keep the workplace tidy and organized. A key point is that maintaining cleanliness should be part of the daily work Standardizing (Seiketsu): Work practices should be consistent and standardized. Everyone should know exactly what his or her responsibilities are
Sustaining (Shitsuke): Maintain and review standards. Maintain focus on this new way and do not allow a gradual decline back to the old ways. Safety Security Satisfaction
Case Study
Solution
He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each Soapbox passed the fan; it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.