Search

This paper attempts to explore the theoretical and practical implications of conducting comparative research in the realm of legal science. The endeavour is based on experiences gained from engaging in such activities as part of a research project in labour law. In order to allow for a critical evaluation of ways in which to regulate redundancy, the study mentioned sets Swedish collective agreements on employment security against British redundancy pay legislation and the Japanese Employment Stabilizations Fund system. The paper discusses the pitfalls and potentials of the chosen approach and presents some tentative conclusions regarding its benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes and compares the culture and organization structure of Japanese and British organizations. The article is based on a study of cross-cultural analysis of bureaucracy within a sample of British and Japanese firms. Recognition has been given to the various conflicting schools of bureaucracy, including the incorporation of task-environment variables as well as elements of context in analyses measuring organization structure. Institutional data were collected from structured interviews with chief executives in each organization, and where necessary, with senior managers and department heads. Where possible, the interviews were verified by company manuals and reports, union contracts, brochures, and organization charts. The study seeks to relate systematically variables of context, structure, and individual behavior, employing standardized measurement instruments tested for scaling validity within particular nations. The findings of the analysis reveal that Japanese firms are more formalized, more centralized, and more hierarchically differentiated than British firms.

This study demonstrates the analysis and findings of the field research undertaken in Japan in May 1988 on a small sample of Japanese firms with UK subsidiaries. The study examined the factors behind the marketing strengths of Japanese parent companies and the effects on their relationships with their UK subsidiaries. The research indicates that the Japanese companies saw their successes in the specific qualities and thoroughness of their management and labour, with a strong focus to committing resources to marketing, product innovation and R&D. The findings of the research with recommendations are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the labor management and the practice of industrial relations in Great Britain, U.S. and Japan. This article draws on the work of Alfred Chandler and his intellectual predecessors and followers in economics, business history, and industrial relations. Such an approach emphasizes markets and firms in a historical context. The Chandler thesis is essentially an argument about the relationship between markets and technologies, firm strategies, and corporate structures. British firms, in particular the family-owned firms that predominated in the British economy, were more conservative. Intent on maintaining family control, they paid less attention to recruiting and training a professional management hierarchy and to developing organizational structures. The nature of British markets has been offered as an alternative explanation. In Britain, the markets were smaller and less dynamic than in the U.S., and therefore, offered fewer opportunities for growth and organizational innovation. In the case of Japan, a number of large enterprises emerged in the late 19th century and early 20th century to take advantage of domestic markets. At the same time a few of these firms developed overseas markets, especially in East and South-east Asia. The Chandler thesis holds that both markets and organizational arrangements are important driving forces explaining the behavior and performance of the corporate economy.

This article addresses the question of the responses of British workers to Japanese management practices through a detailed case study of Japanco, a UK Japanese implant. The argument challenges the abstract 'ideal type' view of Japanization, by stressing the pragmatism of Japanese management, and its willingness to adjust to the contingencies of economic pressures and British industrial culture, over time. The introduction, outlining the main themes of the Japanization debate, is followed by a brief profile of Japanco. The main empirical body of the article is divided between an analysis of the start-up characteristics of Japanco, followed by a consideration of developments several years later, based on interviews and questionnaire material. The conclusion suggests that, like Ford of a previous generation, Japanco is being changed by its British industrial culture, just as this has been shaped in recent years by Japanese influence and example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]