Publisher's Synopsis
Can Japanese management methods work in the West? Are cultural, historical and economic differences too great? This book shows how a Japanese-owned company, started from scratch in South Wales in 1981, has been competing successfully with British, European, and even other Japanese firms. This company made a monthly profit after only one year, repaid all losses after two and all loans after three. It has gained a Queen?s Award for Export and achieved a dominant position in the European market. New methods were used for adapting Japanese management techniques into a Western manufacturing setting. These new methods are described from the perspective of the Japanese Managing Director, who takes the reader through the process from defining personnel policies to implementation and maintenance of the systems. Individual chapters detail how to control the change-over from common current personnel practices to the new order, including individual employee development, promotion, bonuses and other rewards, selection, interviewing and training. Others deal with such subjects as quality, both of individual employee work experience and of output, internal communications, and how to maintain and even further improve resulting improved standards. Management style, including such pitfalls as discipline, fairness - actual and perceived - and relationships with suppliers are also covered. Readers here have a first-hand account of the techniques and policies, perhaps novel to many, which demonstrably have worked.
