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Learning from Japan / by Brian J. Miller.

by Miller, Brian J.

Japan -- History

Competition, International

Production management

Just-in-time systems

ii, 111 leaves : ill.; 29 cm.

Purpose statement -- Introduction -- Background to Japan's rise in economic power -- Japan's production management strategies -- Japan's organizational and management behavioral developments -- Competing with Japan -- Learning from Japan -- Summary and conclusions.

In summarizing, this paper analyzed and evaluated how Japan rose in economic power from a nation that produced cheap and poor quality products following World War II, to one of the most productive and economically powerful nations in the world. Many factors helped to contribute to Japan’s “surge” in economic prosperity, including: Japan’s homogeneity of its people; their people’s powerful sense of self-identity and pride; the aid of their sophisticated political and government institutions linked directly to their business culture; a well-educated population; an acute awareness to continually learn from abroad; a group oriented society that practices collective responsibility and group consensus; the positive repercussions associated with the offering of such employee benefits as lifetime employment; their business executives focusing on long-term objectives and goals; the yen/dollar exchange rate incongruities; relatively low military expenditure; few unemployed; and, a government that encourages spending less and saving more.

Japan's production management methods and organizational/management developments were researched and outlined, with the resulting contributions from these strategies being quite positive and significant for Japan. These Japanese concepts/methods, and their accompanying attributes, included: 10 JIT - the elmination of "wastes'. and the continuous improvement in productivity, quality, customer services, cost reductions, and people development; 2) JIT purchasing (single sourcing) - a long-term commitment between both the buyer and the seller that stresses frequent deliveries in small quantities, no variability in amounts shipped, and exceptional quality; 3) Quality management - the catching of errors at the source, defect prevention methods; "everyone" has primary responsibility for quality, beginning with the actual makers of the products; and, to sustain the habit of quality improvement and to continually work towards the target of quality perfection with such facilitators as Quality Circles and employee training in quality; and,

Total People Involvement - the Japanese believed that the most critical factor of success in an organization is the development of the people; by giving action-point people responsibility and allowing them to participate in decision making, employee's feelings of self-worth and satisfaction are increased, the quality of decisions are improved, and resisitance to change still decrease; this Japanese teamwork approach also promotes job involvement and improves company communications.

1) JIT – the elimination of “wastes”, and the continuous improvement in productivity, quality, customer services, cost reductions and people development; 2) JIT purchasing (single sourcing) – a long-term commitment between both the buyer and the seller that stresses frequent deliveries in small quantities, no variability in amounts shipped, and exceptional quality; 3) Quality management – the catching of errors at the source, defect prevention methods; “everyone” has primary responsibility for quality, beginning with the actual makers of the products; and, to sustain the habit of quality improvement and to continually work towards the target of quality perfection with such facilitators as Quality Circles and employee training in quality; and, 4) Total People Involvement – the Japanese believed that the most critical factor of success in an organization is the development of people; by giving action-point people responsibility and allowing them to participate in decision making, employees’ feelings of self-worth and satisfaction are increased, the quality of decisions are improved, and resistance to change will decrease; this Japanese teamwork approach also promotes job involvement and improves company communications. Japan’s organizational disadvantages and a few of the problems currently facing Japan which may require the Japanese to alter their management style were explored.

Some of these problems included: 1) excessively long working hours, and consequently a lack of leisure time and time spent with their families; 2) lack of opportunities for women; 3) underpaid shareholders; 4) a lack of concern for the quality of life for the average Japanese citizens; 5) financial market woes – continuing collapse of the Tokyo stock market; impending real estate bankruptcies; higher capital costs; the rising value of the yen; declining asset values of banks; and, massive bad-loan problems; and, 6) persistent labor shortages. The implications of these problems on Japan’s management style and practices will most likely be significant. It also becomes apparent that Japan is now vulnerable to many of the same market forces that shape the economies of other nations. From now on, Japan will most likely compete more like the “rest of the pack”. The following changes should be made by the U.S. if they are to successfully compete with Japan:

1) an attitude adjustment away from protectionism and the idea that Japan is so uniquely different and superior, to one in which intense efforts are made at improving the U.S.’s delivery of high-quality goods, designed for consumer taste, accompanied by superior service, and at competitive prices; 2) a U.S. management style is needed that promotes quality improvement and incentives tied to these advancements, a long-term focus, JIT and people development principles, and upper management pay linked to employee wages; 3) U.S. must adopt an offensive strategy; 4) cooperation must be fostered between U.S. industry, government, and labor; 5) an improved educational system; and, 6) the U.S. government must cut excessive spending and promote saving. In conclusion, there is much the U.S. can learn from Japan, examples of U.S. companies that have adopted and benefited from Japan’s methods are given. While many of Japan’s “ways” are constantly changing and may not be translatable nor beneficial for each and every U.S. business, Japan should be studied with an open-minded willingness to learn and adopt what particular aspects of their system may prove beneficial. The U.S. should stop “pointing fingers” and feeling sorry for themselves, and start searching for ways to continually improve their own business environment, even if it means learning from Japan.

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