Japanese team spirit

THE EIGHT CORE VALUES OF THE JAPANESE BUSINESSMAN - Toward An Understanding of Japanese Management: Yasutaka Sai; Jaico Publishing House, 121, M. G. Road, Mumbai - 400023.

Rs. 595.

THE ORIGIN of Japanese emphasis on team work can be attributed to many factors. Initially Japan depended mainly on agriculture for its livelihood. It felt that constant interdependence and cooperation are generally needed among the farming community.

The frequent occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and droughts forced the people of Japan to be united to face the vagaries of nature. The fear of attack from neighbouring countries must have also been one more reason for the strong bonding of the Japanese.

Japanese parents teach their children from their childhood to play together with other children. Kindergarden teachers guide their students to suppress individual desire in favour of the rules of the particular group. The above are some of the factors mentioned by the author of the book under review for the group relationship among the people of Japan.

While introducing, Japanese business persons describe themselves first as members of a particular group, then mention their names and departments in the company where they are working.

The following example illustrates the above concept. ``I am from Hitachi, my name is Sato. I am with the Human Resource Department.'' Most offices in Japan reflect an open office type. Tables in the departments are arranged in clusters in a large room with a few or no partitions.

Japanese feel comfortable working in a crowded and noisy environment. Further they say ``This is good for communication and team work. If someone has a heart attack at his or her table, it will be noticed immediately.''

Most of the Japanese labour unions are ``company unions.'' They do not consider themselves as ``trade unions.'' Union members by and large are quite cooperative with the management. If a company decides to adopt robotics for some operations, the union members will be among the first to consider implementing it in all seriousness. The idea of opposing such proposition on the grounds of a possible threat to job security would never occur to them.

Both the union and the company are more interested in achieving the objective set by the company. Trade unions do not indulge in non-productive activities such as walk-out or strikes.

Akio Morita, Chairman of Sony, once mentioned how the benefit of the company is often integrated into the individual's thoughts even after office hours.

He gives an example of an employee of NEC's Kumatoto factory who was waiting at the railway crossing near her factory when a train was passing. As the train passed before her, she felt ``strong pulsating vibrations seemed to pass right through her feet.''

She began to wonder whether the same vibrations might be having adverse effects on the products being made in the factory.

She recalled how her factory, for some unknown reasons, always had a higher defect rate than other NEC factories. She, along with her co-workers, kept trying to reduce the defect rating.

In spite of their efforts they could not achieve their objective. Everyday all employees along with the plant manager had a meeting to discuss the problems.

Although she knew that she was personally unaware of any vibrations present in the factory, she began to wonder whether such vibrations might nevertheless be affecting the factory's sensitive manufacturing equipments.

That morning she mentioned this to her foreman who in turn reported this to the plant manager. The plant manager acted immediately and dug a long deep trench with water. After this the defect rate reduced. This has been achieved because of the observations of an 18-year-old employee.

Japanese businessmen are without exception aggressive information managers. It is said that they may be even suffering from ``information thirst syndrome''. This must be one more reason for open-office culture. Discussions and telephonic conversations can be heard freely in this environment. They also exchange information as a daily routine whenever time permits.

Sennishiyama, who has rich experience in business, in his essay, compares the work culture differences between the United States and Japan. In this context he gives an example of the experience of an American who worked in a Japanese company.

Initially the employer was happy with his performance and the American was also satisfied with his work. He was successful as long as he happened to discuss his ideas with Japanese colleagues. In turn they circulated his ideas among the relevant individuals within the organisation.

Whenever he attempted to act on his ideas without a discussion with the Japanese colleagues then things did not go well. The American used to feel frustrated because of this.

The statistical quality control (SQC) technique was first introduced in Japan in 1949 by Dr. W. E. Deming. Japanese workers initially were opposed to the SQC because of its reliance on statistics.

However, once they discovered that the SQC offered them new opportunities for participation, their attitude towards it became positive. Eventually the emphasis on statistics was shelved and this marked the beginning of Japan's ``quality control circle'' movement.

The younger generation in Japan too want a change in the work culture in their country. ``The Japanese media has labelled the modern young Japanese as ``new breed'' and it is often referred to as being fond of three Ks - ``Kankyo (environmental influence) ``Kaiteki'' (comfortable condition) and ``Kyuka'' (vacations).

The general impression and consensus among Japanese business managers is that once young people become members of a large organisation and are involved in their work, they will learn to appreciate the traditional values of their elders and imbibe the hard working, loyal and tradition - bound culture of the older generation.

The author, a management consultant in Japan, has explained clearly the business values, tradition, culture, management style and the modern younger generation's views.

This book must be read by everyone to know about the Japanese management style and its benefits in business.

N. RAGHAVENDRA RAO

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