The Japanese labor system is changing from an internal labor market to an internal-external eclectic labor market. Under the internal labor market system in Japan, Japanese companies have had the strong management prerogative over human resources and control their labor force through “the right person in the right place policy”. Meanwhile, employees have been seeking job security as compensation for accepting the management prerogative to human resources.

In line with the change in the Japanese labor market, the concept of a right to career has been suggested. This right emphasizes a career itself rather than job security. The core concept of the right to career is learning rights; therefore, it is believed that the right to career develops the general skills of employees.

The present study interviewed 25 white-collar employees with career satisfaction and 10 career advisors who work for employment agencies. The major findings were as follows.

(1)The combined effect of the management prerogative over human resources and the right to career contributes to the development of specialized skills for employees. With regard to new employees, the effect of the management prerogative to human resources is greater than that of the right to career. After employees have developed specialized skills, the effect of the management prerogative over human resources decreases and that of the right to career increases.

(2)Employees recognize their area of specialization as a core element of employability. Therefore, it can be assumed that employees consider their area of specialization to be skills they have acquired by developing their general skills. However, in reality, their specialized skills are a combination of both company-specific skills and general skills.

(3)It is suggested that employees cannot develop their careers in an effective manner without the combined effect of the management prerogative over human resources and the right to career.

The implications of the present study are as follows:

(1)Employees should recognize the combined effect of the management prerogative over human resources and the right to career and avoid underinvestment in skills through the management prerogative to human resources.

(2)On the whole, the right to career appears to be compatible with the management prerogative over human resources. At the same time, companies should seek a balance between the two. Specifically, companies should focus on the exercise of the management prerogative to human resources in the case of new employees. After employees have developed specialized skills, companies should turn their attention to the exercise of the right to career.

The aim of this paper is to redefine “competency” in HRM of Japanese companies, by reviewing the previous papers concerning the competency in Japan. In addition, the influence that the competency has brought to HRM of Japanese companies after 2000 is discussed. There are two meanings to redefine the competency. First, it would be possible to unite a definition by reviewing many definitions of the competency. Second, it would be possible to do another new definition limited to HRM of Japanese companies. It is said that a Japanese original concept of the competency has been composed since ten years or more passed after it was imported from the United States in Japan.

The definitions are confused in the point that what the components of competencies are, as the concept has spread after the paper of McClelland (1973) came to be paid attention by the business field of the United States. In addition, the competency in Japan is confused in the point of whether competencies are abilities or behaviors before discussing their components. It makes more confusion in the Iceberg Model of the competency. The original iceberg model of the competency by Spencer & Spencer (1993) indicates the surface knowledge and skills are relatively easy to develop, but core motive and trait competencies are at the base of the personality and are more difficult to assess, and so they are more important as competencies. However, some iceberg models of competency in Japan show that potential abilities are below the surface and competency is above the surface, which means completely opposite interpretation of original iceberg model.

The competency confusion in Japan has been caused from the extreme exclusion of the potential abilities, which were paid much attention in the skill grade system (Sanshu no Jingi) and led the system to a critical situation after the Bubble Burst. However, in recruiting, the competency interview values the personality such as motive and traits that is paid much attention in the traditional concept of competency in the United States. Therefore, it is insisted that the definition of the competency in Japan distinguish between the concept of the competency used in recruiting and the competency model used in other HRM.

Then, the concept of competency is defined as “it is an underlying characteristic of an individual such as motives, traits, self-concept, knowledge and skills analyzed by behaviors which are causally related to effective and/or superior performance in a job”. The competency model is defined as “it is a model of behaviors that are causally related to criterion-referenced effective and/or superior performance in a job. However, the components of competencies differ from each company since they reflect its sense of values and its strategies”.

It could be concluded that the influence that the competency has brought to HRM of Japanese companies is a behavior revolution. The existence of the companies is paid more attention to, since they have introduced the competency concept and the competency model into HRM without using the term of competency. It could be said that competency is not a temporary boom but is accepted essentially. HRM of Japanese companies is/was based on three kinds of sacred treasures (Sanshu no Jingi) of the Japanese employment practices and since 1970s on skill grade system. By the introduction of the competency concept and the competency model, the outcomes of the behavioral science finally appear in HRM of Japanese companies.

This study examines the relationship between competencies required for successful overseas assignments and Japanese expatriates’job performance. Data from 404 expatriate managers working in 19 Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) in mainland China were analyzed. Principal component factor analysis identified four clusters of competencies: Management Talent (MT), Performance Maintenance Leadership (PML), Behavioral Flexibility (BF), and Local Culture Literacy (LCL). Hierarchical regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between these four clusters of competencies and self-reported job performance, controlling for the influence of age, previous overseas experiences, and perceived reason for the assignment. The results of the analysis suggested that in the Chinese context, three of these four competency clusters: Management Talent, Performance Maintenance Leadership, and Local Cultural Literacy are significantly related to individual job performance (IJP) of Japanese managers. For the sub-sample of top level Japanese expatriates just one of these clusters, Management Talent has a significant relationship with performance. For senior managers Management Talent and Performance Maintenance Leadership have a significant relationship. This study extends the expatriate literature by providing empirical evidence for the relationship between competencies and effective job performance, suggesting that competencies for successful overseas assignment are contingent on the host-country context and the managerial rank of the assignee. In addition, by sampling expatriates from Japanese MNCs, this study complements existing research that has been conducted mainly with U.S. and North-Western European MNCs. The findings provide practical implications for the selection, training, and career planning policies and practices that Japanese MNCs need to design in order to increase the success of their expatriates in China.

In this thesis, the function of employee voice systems (labour union and employee organization) in small- and medium-sized enterprises was multilaterally examined by using the questionnaire survey. In particular, each effect of employee voice systems was analysed while paying attention to the difference in employee voice systems. The results of the analysis are as follows.

(1) The number of years of independent experience in the advanced skill formation index confirmed a positive correlation with the establishment of the labour union. However, a clear relation was not found with the employee organization. From this analysis result, it can be interpreted that the labour union can be established easily in companies where advanced skill formation occurs with the technology and the work characteristics of the company.

(2) The characteristics of the chief executive officer (CEO) influence the formation of employee voice systems, especially the labour union. In enterprises where the CEO is the founder, it is difficult to form the labour union. Moreover, it is easy to establish the employee organization in companies where the CEO was previously employed in the same company. It can be interpreted that the founder does not understand the labour union well. Although the difference in CEOs did not influence wage growth, the difference influenced the turnover rate and the interaction between the management and the labour union. The founder can improve the turnover rate. In addition, it was confirmed that internally promoted CEOs had a positive effect when disclosing management information and that the founder had a positive effect on the employee’s voice absorption.

(3) The labour union has a clear effect on wage growth, and the labour union and the employee organization that makes remarks have a substantial effect on the turnover rate decrease. Moreover, it was confirmed that the employee organization that makes remarks had a greater effect than the labour union did. However, the employee organization that cultivated friendship was ineffectual also than the wage growth and the turnover rate.

(4) The employee organization that makes remarks has a more intense effect on the disclosure of management information and on employee’s opinion absorption than the labour union does. In other words, it can be interpreted that the cost according to leaving from the enterprise has been decreased by the system that the employee is made to participate in management.

In this analysis, the difference in the employee organizations, which influenced the interaction between the labour union and the management, and in the labour unions, which influenced the negotiation of working conditions, was clarified. In particular, advanced skill formation is considered as a factor in creating this difference.