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Participatory Employment Practices in Japan

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The Japanese Business and Economic System

Abstract

In many countries around the world, management systems are moving away from the traditional employment practices, which are often characterized by adversarial collective bargaining and a fixed-wage contractual payment. Prominent among the changes involved is the widespread adoption of participatory employment practices, or human resource management practices (HRMPs).1 This chapter provides an overview of important aspects of the postwar Japanese experience with HRMPs. The discussion is in three main parts. The first reviews the scope and nature of Japanese HRMPs and their diffusion among Japanese firms over time. The second looks at the effect of such practices on company performance. The third presents some preliminary findings from our most recent research on the response of participatory employment practices to the economic slowdown of the 1990s and speculates on the future of participatory employment practices in Japan.

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Authors
  1. Takao Kato
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  2. Robert Hart
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration and Faculty of Applied Science, Konwakai, Japan

    Masao Nakamura (Professor, Research Chair and Director) (Professor, Research Chair and Director)

  2. Centre for Japanese Research, Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Masao Nakamura (Professor, Research Chair and Director) (Professor, Research Chair and Director)

Copyright information

© 2001 Takao Kato and Robert Hart

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Kato, T., Hart, R. (2001). Participatory Employment Practices in Japan. In: Nakamura, M. (eds) The Japanese Business and Economic System. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230512283_3

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