Japanese Management Techniques

Japan is a country that has a mysterious aura around it, and experts from various fields from all over the world have been trying to demystify it. Management experts too, have been trying to understand the secrets behind the high productivity of Japanese employees, and the reasons behind their motivation to be productive at work.

One of the most important techniques that the Japanese use is the ‘Z Theory’. Z Theory is a way of management that focuses on building employee loyalty. This technique ensures that employees are always loyal to the organisation, and out of such loyalty, they are very productive. Z Theory is concerned about holistic welfare of the employees in every possible way, and it achieves this through a few methods.

The most popular aspect of Z Theory is life-long employment that companies offer. The employees can retire whenever they wish to but there will be no compulsory retirement at a certain age. This is done not only to give sustainable employment to the worker, but also to make sure that his or her family is well looked after. Thus, it is a holistic approach for not only the employees but also their families. This method is called ‘Shushinkuyo’. They don’t fire employees unless it is a case of misconduct. The promotions are slow; it usually takes around seven years for employees to be promoted, but they are offered important and challenging jobs. Z Theory also ensures that employees have freedom to do things their way, and the organisation trusts the judgement of its employees.

Another interesting management technique that the Japanese use to ensure high productivity is providing quality work life. Few issues that employees face are: stress, bad environment, unsatisfactory work, binding work, inability to pay attention to personal life, among many others. The Japanese recognize these issues, and work to make things better for the employees. For example, they have self-managed project groups, headed by a supervisor who allows them freedom to work the way they want. Employees are recognized as humans instead of just employees, and are given various benefits, both social and monetary. There are also special arrangements made for babies of the female employees, so that the mothers can visit their babies whenever they wish to. These steps have helped increase the quality of work life at Japanese organisations.

Z Theory could possibly be the inception for innovation in management styles and increase organisational productivity and harmony.

Shruti Choudhary