Japanese Global Management: Theory and Practice at Overseas Subsidiaries

Citation

Edman, J. (2013), "Japanese Global Management: Theory and Practice at Overseas Subsidiaries", Critical Perspectives on International Business, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 325-327. https://doi.org/10.1108/17422041311330459

During the 1980s, few subject areas received as much scrutiny, analysis and commentary as the fabled Japanese management system. From the operational excellence of the kanban system, to the guiding hand of government industrial policy, to the centralized control of Bartlett & Ghoshal's Global strategy typology, countless books, articles and investigative reports heralded and vilified the distinctly Japanese way of doing business. Almost 30 years later, these stylized “truths” continue to dominate much of the literature and discussion of Japanese management; this is despite the fact that Japanese firms have evolved significantly from the heady days of the 1980s. When it comes to the orthodoxy of Japanese management, there is hence a real need for debunking some age‐old myths, updating others, and perhaps creating a few new ones.

At first glance, Katsuo Yamazaki's Japanese Global Management: Theory and Practice at Overseas Subsidiaries offers the tantalizing prospect of this much‐needed knowledge upgrade. Building on interviews at 114 foreign subsidiaries of Japanese multinationals and 17 subsidiary case studies, Yamazaki offers vignettes about how subunits of Japanese MNEs deal with everything from HR to sales training to new technology development. Yamazaki combines this data with his 20‐year experience at Furukawa Electric Company, a leading Japanese industrial company, to offer “golden rules” to guide global management in the twenty‐first century.

On closer reading, however, Yamazaki's work is not quite up to the task. While Japanese Global Management purports to advance knowledge, it is more of a travel diary. Travel diaries may be interesting in and of themselves, but this one is mainly confusing. Despite the clear need for research in the area, there is no anchoring research question, knowledge gap or even common empirical phenomenon: the reader floats from one case study to another, never quite sure of the main point or focus. Most cases simply begin by stating when the author visited a particular site, and subsequently list numerous data and facts, some of which are only marginally related to the case; it is left up to the reader to decipher what elements are unique and important.

The lack of organization is unfortunate because there are nuggets of insight. In one of the more detailed cases that Yamazaki presents, we learn how Komatsu used skill competitions and exchange programs to transfer crucial elements of its manufacturing capabilities from Japan to the company's Chattanooga plant. The classic literature on Japanese multinationals says little about skill upgrading for local hires in the host country, hence this case opens up a new and interesting avenue for research. But Yamazaki does little to raise these points, and the following case instead throws us into a discussion of how “southern hospitality” was crucial in helping Fujifilm set up its US operations. The reader is left with the impression that the cases are a sample of convenience and the interviews mainly done with the author's friends and acquaintances; frequent references to the “great achievements” of these interviewees does nothing to diminish this suspicion. Finally, all of the cases focus on manufacturing or industrial firms – Japan's numerous multinational banks, global software developers and successful international retailers are soundly ignored.

After plowing through the 17 cases, Yamazaki offers some “golden rules of business” to guide Japanese multinationals. These include:

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  the importance of close communication between headquarters and subsidiaries;

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  the need for developing detailed business plans before entering new markets; and

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  the importance of having not only manufacturing but also well‐developed marketing and sales capabilities in local environments.

Here in the final chapter, Yamazaki finally begins to speak to researchers and broader theories; unfortunately, he rarely links his discussion and findings to details from the cases; hence it is unclear whether they are derived from the data at hand, offered as prescription for the problems identified in the cases, or constitute a general summary of extant research. In the end, it does not really matter: the golden rules – and the book at large – do little to advance or critique prevailing theories of Japanese global management.

So does this mean the book is without value? Not quite. A critical reading, which treats Yamazaki's writing and the book itself as the research subject, is perhaps the most valuable addition. In particular, the book offers a strong refutation of the idea that there is anything like homogeneous Japanese Global Management. The cases span the gamut of international strategies, from the centrally coordinated HR strategies of Denso in Argentina, to the hands‐off approach of Yamaha Motors in Sweden, from the joint‐venture approach of NHK Spring in Brazil to the wholly‐owned subsidiary of Ushin in Hungary. Japanese business practices are clearly far less homogeneous than many foreign accounts would have us believe.

Unfortunately, this heterogeneity is seldom emphasized by Yamazaki. Instead, he makes sweeping generalizations about Japanese management and its unique standing vis‐à‐vis American and European management. Yamazaki rarely offers references to support these generalizations, but when he does so, they are inevitably from North American or European scholars. This division between foreign and Japanese management – and the emphasis on the latter's unique attributes – appears to be more a product of his own reading of non‐Japanese scholars' analyses of Japanese firms, than of any real and observable differences. Hence, a second insight that emerges from a critical reading is the extent to which the mythologizing and homogenization of Japanese management practices is a product of Western scholars' orientalization, as opposed to any actual common differences. If nothing else, this again suggests the need to move beyond the notion of uniquely Japanese management practice.

Japanese Global Management is a potential trove of insight for researchers looking for facts and data, as well as those interested in understanding how a senior Japanese executive views his own country, and its place in the global economy. Beyond that, however, the book is little more than a reification of extant myths.