Standard works on the employment systems of Japanese companies deal almost exclusively with men. Women, however, constitute the vast majority of the low wage, highly flexible "non-core" employees. This book breaks new ground in examining the role of Japanese women in industry. It assesses the extent to which growing pressure for equal opportunities between the sexes has caused Japanese companies to adapt their employment and personnel management practices in recent years. The author puts the argument in an historical perspective, covering the employment of Japanese women from the start of Japan's industrialisation up to the turning point of the 1986 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Law. She examines the background and execution of the legislation and she looks at the response of the business community. In her case study of the Seibu department store, which takes up the final part of the book, Lam concludes that the EEO Law has not had the desired effect.

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.

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.

Japanese Management and Labour in Transition explores the changing face of Japanese industrial relations. Part one of the work outlines recent trends in Japanese labour markets, labour law and corporate strategy, and explores the responses of both management and labour to pressure posed by these trends. Part two analyses the interaction between the state, management and labour, considering both the macro and the micro levels. This compilation of up-to-date research by leading Japanese scholars challenges the traditional view of 'lifetime' employment and focuses on the growing economic pressures that Japanese management and labour currently face.

This book examines the influence of culture and tradition on organizational and management practices and how these affect the progress of women in management in Asian economies. It explores which organizational and management practices are universal, and which are culture specific, and how these in turn affect the advancement / representation of women in the Asian region.

Japanese Management in Evolution illustrates the significant changes that have been taking place in Japanese business by focusing on "emerging industries" in the relatively neglected service and "creative" sectors as well as other key industries, and to put those changes in historical perspective by providing an overview of business development since World War II. By employing state-of-the-art research techniques and unconventional innovative approaches in analysing Japanese management – including network and discourse analysis, ethnographic explorations, and more – the book reveals historical developments and in-depth analyses of established and emerging composition of sectors and industries where cultural capital matters. Throughout the book, the common theme conveyed to readers is a consistently strong message that the change is ongoing and the evolution of management style is real in the Japanese context. The book would be of great interest to researchers, academics and practitioners in fields of global management, international management, and Asian capitalism.

According to a recent study by the ILO (2001), women’s share of the labour force is increasing worldwide. Today, women’s participation rate in the labour force is over 40 per cent of the global workforce. Higher educational levels and falling fertility rates have contributed to this increased participation. There is also some evidence that women in some Asian countries may be less marginalised in their advancement into top managerial positions than their counterparts elsewhere. As women become more educated and qualified for managerial positions, the number of Asian women managers and executives is predicted to rise over the next decade. This book examines the opportunities and barriers for women managers in Asia and presents an update on their progress in management. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Asian Pacific Business Review.

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.

Japan's economy and businesses are entering this century with new management systems but their values unchanged. Drawing on the author's analysis of the 1950s, financial systems, personnel management methods, role of the corporation and R&D capabilities are re-assessed to provide a comprehensive analysis of Japan's financial and industrial changes.

Since Japan’s economic recession began in the 1990s, the female workforce has experienced revolutionary changes as greater numbers of women have sought to establish careers. Employment trends indicate that increasingly white-collar professional women are succeeding in breaking through the "glass ceiling", as digital technologies blur and redefine work in spatial, gendered, and ideological terms. This book examines what motivates Japanese women to pursue professional careers in the contemporary neoliberal economy, and how they reconfigure notions of selfhood while doing so. It analyses how professional women contest conventional notions of femininity in contemporary Japan and in turn, negotiate new gender roles and cultural assumptions about women, whilst reorganizing the Japanese workplace and wider socio-economic relationships. Further, the book explores how professional women create new social identities through the mutual conditioning of structure and self, and asks how women come to understand their experiences; how their actions change the gendering of the workforce; and how their lives shape the economic, political, social, and cultural landscapes of this post-industrial nation. Based on extensive fieldwork, Career Women in Contemporary Japan will have broad appeal across a range of disciplines including Japanese culture and society, gender and family studies, women’s studies, anthropology, ethnology and sociology.