Who Runs Japanese Business?

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Who Runs Japanese Business?

Management and Motivation in the Firm

9781858985114 Edward Elgar Publishing
Edited by Toshiaki Tachibanaki, Professor of Economics, Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University, Japan
Publication Date: 1998 ISBN: 978 1 85898 511 4 Extent: 288 pp
The nature of Japanese firms has come under intense scrutiny because of their international success and their distinct structure, employee relations and working practices. This book sheds light on the reasons for promotion within firms, the distribution of power within companies, business management methods and the relationship between shareholders, executives and employees.

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The nature of Japanese firms has come under intense scrutiny because of their international success and their distinct structure, employee relations and working practices. This book sheds light on the reasons for promotion within firms, the distribution of power within companies, business management methods and the relationship between shareholders, executives and employees.

The authors use empirical data from comprehensive surveys to support their research on the nature of Japanese business. They survey 1,816 white-collar employees in several large corporate enterprises, and 2,246 shareholder appointed board members in listed corporations. The authors’ primary concern is to explain the prerequisites for promotion to middle management and executive positions. Many criteria are analysed, including the extent of desire for promotion, working style, lifestyle, the effect of university education including the name of the university, the level of education attained, the effect of university education including the name of the university and the degree subject, the economic incentive behind severe competition for promotion and the role of trade unions. The book also deals with issues of corporate governance and the role of the incentive system and examines the popularity of labour managed firms in Japan.

This detailed work will be of great interest to economists, businessmen and students wanting to learn more about Japanese business.
Critical Acclaim
‘I believe this book is excellent not only because it is a reliable book about economics of internal promotion in Japanese firms, but also because it presents subjects that need to be studied further. I hope that this book will be extensively read by researchers on labour economics, economics of organisation and the Japanese economy in English-speaking areas.’
– Juro Hashimoto, Business History

‘All in all, the book provides a useful overview of what Japanese managers do . . . the data sets provide interesting descriptive information about the role of managers in the internal labour market of Japanese firms.’
– Masao Nakamura, Journal of Japanese Studies

‘The book has a much more discriminating and fine-grained approach than earlier research.’
– Prabhu Guptara, Journal of Japanese Trade and Industry
Contributors
Contributors: H. Itoh, Y. Kobayashi, H. Matsushige, N. Mitani, T. Noda, I. Ohashi, F. Suzuki, T. Tachibanaki, H. Teruyama, Y. Tomita
Contents
Contents: Introduction 1. Road to the Top and Executive Management Goals 2. Determinants of Top Executives’ Promotion and Remuneration 3. Do Positions and Tenure of Top Executives Affect their Attitude? 4. Path to Becoming a Manager 5. Effort Incentives 6. Work Incentives for White-collar Workers 7. White-collar Careers in a Large Electronics Company 8. Does the Name of the University Matter? 9. Careers and Work Attitudes of Engineers 10. White-collar Careers and Trade Unions 11. Conclusions
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