This book outlines the particulars of Japanese management and how modern Japanese management employs many practices which are very successful and worth adopting. The main objective of this book is to illustrate the many teachings that Japanese management practice can offer the rest of the world. The book thus targets managers who deal with Japanese business partners, or work in Japan, students of Japanese Studies, Asian Studies or International Business.

With the service industry taking up the largest portion of its GDP, Japan has much to share in the area of managing service industry. This book explores and elucidates the unique management styles in non-manufacturing industries or service industries in contemporary Japan, both practically and theoretically through case studies. These specially selected cases are the management of the world No.1 convenience store chain of Seven-Eleven, the sales finance business and auto sales business of Toyota, application of TPS (Toyota Production System) to life insurance company, performance evaluation of local government, BSC (balance scorecard) in local government hospitals, cost and pricing policy of telecommunication company, Japanese-style OC hospitalityOCO in the retail industry, service level agreement (SLA) in IT and shared service companies, and ICT (Information & Communication Technology) applied to BPN (Business Process Network) of service industry.The analyses presented in this book were carefully laid out in regard to the business in general. It will be useful for business practitioners in service industry and beneficial to the scholars, students or general readers interested in this area.

The values and behaviors of the Japanese businessman--and of the Japanese in general--are quite diverse and keep changing, making it difficult for anyone (including the Japanese themselves) to truly understand why they act the way they do. The Eight Core Values of the Japanese Businessman saves readers time and effort when pursuing business opportunities in Japan because it identifies the core values of the Japanese businessman, ranging from the obvious and public, “Diligence,” to the more private, “Silence as Eloquence” and “Perception of Time.” After identifying these eight core values, Yasutaka Sai explores the history and modern interpretation of each. Based on over 300 Japanese language sources--otherwise unavailable to those who do not read Japanese--The Eight Core Values of the Japanese Businessman reveals the diversity and dynamism of Japanese values and behaviors. This information empowers businesspeople and international business educators to develop solid business relationships with the Japanese. With many years of experience, the author focuses on specific values that are most common among Japanese in the business world. These are not exclusive, but the most prevalent or widely shared values that Western businesspeople are likely to encounter: Japanese diligence, work ethic, and “Gambarism” or persistence group orientation: sense of belonging and participation, spirit of harmony, interpersonal relations aesthetics and perfectionism curiosity and emphasis on innovation respect for form and “Hana Yori Dango” or practicality a mind for competition and outlook on rewards the value of silence as eloquence perception of time As there is no single uniformly accepted source for the values of today's Japanese citizen or business person, Sai's exploration opens a vital window into understanding many Japanese values and behaviors. The Eight Core Values of the Japanese Businessman is vital reading for those with international business concerns--business and management educators, businesspeople interested in how Japanese managers manage and employees work, and practicing managers interested in cross-cultural management issues. It allows readers to develop good relationships with the Japanese based on a realistic understanding of how they think and act, both individually and as members of business organizations.

The Routledge Handbook of Japanese Business and Management provides a comprehensive overview of management and business processes and practices in Japanese companies. The contributors combine theoretical findings and research results with a practical and contemporary view on how corporations and firms are managed in Japan. The handbook is divided into eight sections covering: historical perspectives on Japanese management; structure and theory of the Japanese firm; the corporate environment in Japan; the Japanese work environment; the Japanese market; manufacturing and logistics; interaction and communication; the future of Japanese management. This book is an essential reference resource for students and scholars working on Japanese companies, the Japanese market-place, Japanese consumers, or management processes in the Japanese firm. The book also provides an interesting and informative read for managers who need to deepen their knowledge on Japanese business processes.

This case book on Japanese companies and multinational corporations in Japan presents 12 entirely new cases studies for academics and business professionals alike. The cases in the book deal with market entry, corporate growth and crisis management of Japanese firms or international firms in Japan. It presents new developments, such as technological changes (electronic payment and gaming) in the Japanese business environment and provides an overview on the diversity of business activities in the Japanese economy. Written in a simple and an accessible manner, this book can be used as a textbook for students of International, Asian or Japanese management or by international managers and business professionals to make business decisions.

The Encyclopedia of Japanese Business and Management is the definitive reference source for the exploration of Japanese business and management. Reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of this field, the Encyclopedia consolidates and contextualises the leading research and knowledge about the Japanese business system and Japanese management thought and practice. It will be welcomed by scholar and student alike as an essential resource for teaching, an invaluable companion to independent study, and a solid starting point for wider exploration.

The practice and perceptions of Japanese management are undergoing fundamental change. This book sets out to identify the essential currents of change and explain how and why these impinge on the experience of managers in Japan.

After two decades of reinvention, Japanese companies are re-emerging as major players in the new digital economy. They have responded to the rise of China and new global competition by moving upstream into critical deep-tech inputs and advanced materials and components. This new "aggregate niche strategy" has made Japan the technology anchor for many global supply chains. Although the end products do not carry a "Japan Inside" label, Japan plays a pivotal role in our everyday lives across many critical industries. This book is an in-depth exploration of current Japanese business strategies that make Japan the world's third-largest economy and an economic leader in Asia. To accomplish their reinvention, Japan's largest companies are building new processes of breakthrough innovation. Central to this book is how they are addressing the necessary changes in organizational design, internal management processes, employment, and corporate governance. Because Japan values social stability and economic equality, this reinvention is happening slowly and methodically, and has gone largely unnoticed by Western observers. Yet, Japan's more balanced model of "caring capitalism" is both competitive and transformative, and more socially responsible than the unbridled growth approach of the United States.

Engineered in Japan presents a unique and comprehensive examination of technology management in the most successful Japanese companies: unique in that all chapters go beyond superficial descriptions of stylized practices to look in depth at particular issues, often contradicting or qualifying the conventional wisdom; comprehensive in that it covers the entire technology life cycle from basic R&D, to development engineering, to manufacturing processes, to learning from the Japanese. Each chapter is based on original research by noted scholars in the field, and identifies technology management practices that have become a major source of competitive advantage for highly successful Japanese companies. Engineered in Japan documents the best practices from such companies as Toyota, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Nippondenso, and discusses how these technology management practices can be usefully adopted in other cultural contexts. Going beyond past observations, the authors all delve below the surface of Japanese management approaches. They look more closely than has been done before at how particular methods are applied, and they identify some new practices that have not yet been highlighted in books on Japanese methods. Presenting recent data that contradict some conventional thinking about U.S.-Japanese differences, they look at old techniques from a new perspective. "U.S. managers can perhaps learn more from the process of creation in Japan and the organizational structures that support innovation," say the editors in their introduction, "than from the particular approaches, tools, and technologies created." A running theme throughout the book is that Japanese managers and engineers tend to think in terms of systems, focusing not just on the parts but on the connections between them. Engineered in Japan is must reading for technology managers and engineers, along with anyone interested in Japanese business, engineering, and management.