JAPANESE AND US MANAGEMENT APPROACHES

JAPANESE AND US MANAGEMENT APPROACHES


Japanese Management US Management
Planning
1. Long-term orientation 1. Primarily short-term orientation
2. Collective decision-making with consensus Individual decision-making
3. Involvement of many people while preparing and making the decision 3. Involvement of few people in making and “selling” the decisions to persons with divergent values.
4. Decisions flow bottom to Top and back 4. Decisions initiated at the Top, following down
5. Slow decision making; fast implementation of decisions 5. Fast decision-making; slow implementation requiring compromise, often resulting on sub-optimal decisions.
Organizing
1. Collective responsibility and accountability 1. Individual responsibility and accountability
2. Ambiguity of decision responsibility 2. Clear and specific decision responsibility
3. Informal Organization structure 3. Formal bureaucratic organizational structure
4. Well known common organization culture and philosophy; competitive spirit towards the enterprises 4. Lack of common organization culture, identification with profession rather than with company
Staffing
1. Young people hired out of school; hardly any mobility of people among companies 1. Young people hired out of school
2. Slow promotion through the ranks 2. Rapid advancement desired and demanded
3. Loyalties to the company 3. Loyalty to the profession
4. Very infrequent performance evaluation for new (young) employees 4. Frequent performance evaluation for new employees
5. Appraisal of long-term performance 5. Appraisal of short-term results
6. Promotions based on multiple criteria 6. Promotions based primarily on individuals performance
7. Training and development considered a long-term investment 7. Training and development undertaken with hesitance (for fear of turnover)
8. Life time employment common in large companies 8. Job insecurity prevailing
Leading
1. Leader acting as a social facilitator and group member 1. Leader acting as a decision-maker and head of the group
2. Paternalistic style 2. Directive style (strong firm, determined)
3. Common values facilitating co-operation 3. Often divergent values, individualism sometimes hindering co-operation
4. Avoidance of confrontation, sometimes leading to ambiguities; emphasis on harmony 4. Face-to-face confrontation common; emphasis on clarity
5. Bottom –up communication 5. Communication primarily Top to Bottom
Controlling
1. Control by peers 1. Control by superior
2. Control focus on group performance 2. Control focus on individual performance
3. Saving face 3. Fixing blame
4. Extensive use of quality control circles 4. Limited use of quality control circles