Solomon B. Levine

Transplanting Japanese Labor Relations

This article addresses the issue of exportability of the Japanese model of labor relations consisting of lifetime employment, length-of-service wage and promotion, and enterprise unionism, which together are sometimes called three divine treasures. A quick examination of the models applicability in Japan itself reveals that it is a myth rather than a reality. A survey of literature on the practices of Japanese-owned companies in Southeast Asia and North America indicates that there is a wide variation of employment practices and that the divine-treasures model is seldom followed in its entirety. Even if there is partial adoption of the model, it is difficult to determine if those seemingly Japanese features are actually imported from Japan or home grown. It is concluded, therefore, that Japanese companies are pragmatists in adapting to local conditions and that globalization of business tends to bring about convergence of different models into one that is most suitable under dynamically changing conditions.

Management and industrial relations in postwar Japan

IN ANY highly industrialized country, especially one which relies mainly upon private enterprise for its economic development, the managerial system assumes a position of critical importance. It has been widely recognized in this connection that practices and policies developed by management are principal determinants of employer-employee relations2 and, in turn, affect significantly the outcome of many economic, social, and political problems that emerge in the process of industrialization. Close examination of management in varying cultural and national settings helps to understand the nature of conflicts existing in modern industrial societies and may furnish clues to their solution. A recent study comparing present-day business management in Western Europe and the United States represents a first step in this direction.3 This article deals with Japan-still another nation in which modern industrialization operates largely under a system of private enterprise the characteristics of which contrast sharply with America. Of special interest in the Japanese case is that, among the efforts since the Surrender ten years ago to restructure institutional arrangements, the managerial system has been a principal target. Not only have steps been taken to redistribute economic power, for example, by enacting anti-monopoly measures and breaking up the huge family-controlled combines, but also new procedures are being introduced for internal management decision-making. In the latter respect especially, the presence of the Occupation for seven years and the close commer-

Industrialization and urbanization in Japan: The emergence of public discontent☆

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses industrialization and urbanization in Japan. Japan has been a country of special interest to theorists of modernization because it is the most successful example of the transition among the countries outside the historical circle of western civilization. During the past quarter-century, Japan completed its modernization with rapid, intensive industrialization, and urbanization. Developments of comparable magnitude also occurred in the United States and European countries and it has become apparent that certain social issues associated with intensive industrialization were shared by all of these countries, including Japan. The policy of production, first among the capitalist nations also assumes that ideally the free market will make up for social deficiencies, absolutely, or relatively perceived that may accumulate in the system. The welfare gap appears to be a mixture of both absolute and relative deprivations, felt or perceived by large and growing segments of the Japanese population. Analysis of damage to the environment begins with the growth and concentration of industrial activities and the output of polluting or disrupting substances by these activities.

Our Future Industrial Society: A Global Vision

In terms of resources as well as scope of interest and effort, the Inter-University Study of Labor Problems in Economic Development may well be the largest intellectual enterprise ever undertaken in the industrial relations field. The effort to draw off and unify the essence of the already incredibly large flow of research stimulated by this project is itself a sizable undertaking. In this review-article, the author provides a critique of this effort by the project directors to systematize the results thus far obtained and to establish a theoretical framework for research in industrial relations. (Authors abstract courtesy EBSCO.)

Book Review: Labor-Management Relations: Labor Relations in Japan TodayLabor Relations in Japan Today. By HanamiTadashi. New York: Kodansha International U.S.A., 1979. 253 pp.

the collective bargaining process is excellent, however, and truly represents the balanced approach for which Fossum strives. What is missing here is a nitty gritty discussion of strategy and tactics, although this neglect is compensated for by the negotiation simulation included at the end of the chapter. Comprehensive coverage and valuable supplementary materials are also found in the chapter on impasses and their resolution. The coverage of institutional, legal, and behavioral approaches is well balanced. In fact, the only area some might find lacking is the evaluation of the economic and behavioral causes of strike activity. The discussion of bargaining concludes in chapter 12 with a treatment of alternate negotiating sequences, bargaining structure, and other special topics in collective bargaining. Chapters 13 and 14 examine the grievance process and grievance arbitration in detail. The legal and institutional material and examples again provide the reader with a good sense of the purpose and operation of these procedures. The cases included also allow the student to obtain some experience with the process. The similarities and differences between the private sector and the public and health-care sectors are the subject of chapters 15 and 16, respectively. A current topic involving substantial controversy, equal employment opportunity, is addressed in chapter 17 with special emphasis on the role unions may play in this process. Thus, the author has selected three very current labor relations topics that merit separate coverage for more in-depth analysis. In his final chapter, Fossum presents inferences about the future of collective bargaining and the labor movement. Unfortunately, he is much less innovative in these predictions than he was throughout the previous sections of the book, sticking to the nature of demographic shifts in the labor force and potential changes in labor legislation. Issues central to the bookprocess and issues of collective bargaining, the changing needs of workers, certification and decertification, quality of working life, joint union-management cooperation or conflict, and human resource management-are left without predictions concerning their impact on the future of collective bargaining. While Fossum does not always achieve his goal of a balanced approach, this text is extremely well written. The use of up-to-date research studies, examples, historical and documentary materials, cases, and simulations provides the reader with not only a comprehensive treatment of most topics but also an interesting and readable presentation. Moreover, the book contains material and approaches to topics (especially behavioral) that are unavailable in other industrial relations texts. All teachers of both undergraduate and graduate courses in labor relations would find it worthwhile to examine this book seriously. John C. Anderson Assistant Professor of Industrial Relations School of Business Queens University Kingston, Canada