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Diversification of Japanese Firms: How Did a Hybrid Organization Emerge from Corporate Governance Reform?

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The new Japanese Firm as a Hybrid Organization

Part of the book series: Evolutionary Economics and Social Complexity Science ((EESCS,volume 16))

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the diversification of Japanese firms under corporate governance reform. First, it is shown that Japanese firms are classified into four types, based on whether performance-related pay (PRP) is introduced and whether long-term employment (LTE) is maintained. Next, such classification is analyzed as a diversification from the traditional Japanese firms and demonstrated that it is boosted by the effect of the board reform to strengthen strategic management, and a hybrid organization emerges by the combined effects of the board reform to advance the introduction of PRP and stakeholder orientation to maintain LTE. We also found that the other type—a combination of not-maintaining LTE and introducing PRP—emerges by the combined effects of the board reform and shareholder orientation. In this way, we show a gradual institutional change in Japanese firms; it begins by the board reform, an incremental change compared to the US-style governance structure, which proceeds to cumulative change in the work organization and finally results in the diversification of Japanese firms.

The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8851-3_7

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The other is that CSR is regarded as a measure to increase shareholder value by raising the company’s social reputation, as suggested by Porter and Kramer (2006).

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Miyamoto, M. (2018). Diversification of Japanese Firms: How Did a Hybrid Organization Emerge from Corporate Governance Reform?. In: The new Japanese Firm as a Hybrid Organization. Evolutionary Economics and Social Complexity Science, vol 16. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8851-3_3

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