Structural Changes and Employment System in Japan towards the 21st Century
Japanese Employment Systems of White-collar and Professionals in the 21st Century
2002 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 2-10
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2002 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 2-10
In this article I discuss the employment systems of professionals such as R&D engineers and financial experts and specialists in Japanese companies based on empirical data, and explain what changes should be introduced in the employment systems of professionals to enhance their creative performances.
Career development paths of Japanese financial experts and specialists are primarily "internalized" and their inter-firm mobility is not so high as foreign counterparts. Their professional skills are fairly broad, but not so much profound.
Comparative questionnaire surveys data of Japanese and foreign R&D engineers pointed out the traits of Japanese human resource management of R&D professionals. Their external mobility is extremely low, but internal mobility is rather high. Age-limit consciousness of Japanese R&D professionals is very strong and the reasons for it are more organization culture-related than ability-related reasons such as decrease in creativity and technological obsolescence.
As to work environment of R&D professionals, low level of external information exchanges and professionals' strong dissatisfaction with performance evaluation systems are critical flaws in Japanese R&D management. The latter is primarily due to obscure criteria and lack of feedbacks. High performers among R&D professionals certainly want to receive higher salary and bonus, but they desire even more strongly for better work environments such as more freedom at work, more important projects, more research fund, better research-support staff, etc.
To enhance innovative performances of professionals, following changes in organizational and human resource management practices should be introduced : age-free "dual career systems" for specialists and managers, redesigning information systems to encourage external as well as internal information flows, more autonomy at work and less control of professionals under clear-cut goal-setting, and more competitive work environments under stable long-term employment systems.
