일본기업의 소유 및 조직관리와 성장전략

Continuous innovation has always been characteristic of successful Japanese companies, and it is often believed that this capability came from unique combination of managerial mechanisms such as Keiretsu system, export-oriented growth strategy, lifetime employment, flexible and consensual team-oriented organizational structure. However, as Japanese companies lost their competitive edges since the early 1990s, these mechanisms are now widely being regarded as something that must be drastically changed, if not completely discarded. This study is an attempt to empirically evaluate the tenability of such claims, that is, whether or not Japanese companies have really altered their way of doing business during the last decade. For this purpose, this study extensively collected data from many diverse sources: academic journals, magazines, newspapers, archives and directories, and finally our own survey of 136 Japanese firms. In general, the data indicated that despite some important adjustments the key elements of long-standing Japanese management systems may be still intact. Although in a weakened form, communitarian ownership and governance structure still remain as the backbone of the Japanese economy, and managerial practices are quite strongly geared to mutual trust, flexible organization, and employment security. This study concludes by discussing a few prospects of the future Japanese management system and its limitations and potentials.