Managers' values, career and HR practices in Japan and UK plants : a new perspective of convergence

• Main Author: Okabe, Yasuhiro
• Published: Cardiff University 2002
• Subjects: 658; Human resources
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.270527

The current research firstly explores the degree of organisation/market orientation of Japanese managers in Japanese plants in Japan - called "Japan plants" hereafter - and British managers in Japanese owned UK plants - called "UK plants" hereafter - in terms of values and attitudes related to the work place. Secondly, the research examines the degree of organisation/market orientation of Japan and UK plants with respect to organisational structures and practices implemented in them. Thirdly, the research investigates the gap between Japanese managers' and Japan plants' organisation/market orientation, and British managers' and UK plants' organisation/market orientation, since recent environmental changes observed in Japan and the UK may create a gap between them British managers showed slight market orientation. In general UK plants also showed slight market orientation. There was little discrepancy between managers' and firms' market orientation in the UK. In contrast, Japanese managers showed very slight organisation orientation whereas Japan plants generally showed high organisation orientation. There was therefore a large discrepancy between firms' and managers' organisation orientation in Japan. This indicated that the speed of change occurring in Japanese managers' attitudes towards their tasks and company was much faster than Japanese firms' attempts to modify organisational structures/practices as a result of environmental changes. The internal pressures for change are pervasive since they directly impact on a key asset of an organisation, namely its human resources. Accordingly, firms will have to more promptly modify their structures/practices in accordance with changes in managers' conceptions and values. In today's globalised economy we are being constantly exposed to, and influenced by the prevailing cultural values and lifestyles. As a result, cultural differences are gradually and almost imperceptibly absorbed and assimilated. Eventually managers' attitudes towards their tasks and companies may not much differ across societies. The universal approach claims that the driving force towards conversion to the same structures/practices is an economic rationale. The current research, instead, suggests that the driving force towards similar structures/practices is the assimilated conceptions and values of managers and other employees.