New Organizational Forms, Human Resource Management and Structural Convergence? A Study of Japanese Organizations

Abstract

The prolonged, 10-year, economic downturn in Japan has had far-reaching implications for structure and human resource management (HRM) practices in Japanese organizations. In particular, the demise of hierarchical and group structures has been predicted, together with the end of distinctive HRM features such as lifetime employment and seniority-based pay. Using interview-based empirical data with a variety of Japanese organizations, this paper argues that such organizations are indeed moving towards flatter, less hierarchical structures. Moreover, there are marked shifts in HRM practices. In particular, the seniority-based pay system has been subject to reform. However, other practices have proved considerably more robust than the popular literature would suggest. For example, the lifetime employment system, although under significant pressure, remains largely intact. Indeed, we will argue that certain other key practices are being sacrificed to maintain job security.

Factors Associated with Occupational Stress and Their Effects on Organizational Performance in a Sudanese University

“…Research has shown that organizational change, such as downsizing, implementation of new equipment or plant and restructuring, can and often does lead to stress and increases in injury/illness (Savery & Luks, 2001;Morris et al, 2006). In a study conducted by Sharpley and co-workers (1997) on university staff, the most commonly reported sources of job stress were (in order of frequency): "lack of regular feedback about how well I am doing my job"; "lack of promotion opportunities"; "uncertainty about how amalgamations will influence me"; "overwork"; "being expected to do too much in too little time"; "lack of necessary equipment and/or infrastructure support".…”

“…Role ambiguity refers to the uncertainty, on the part of employees, about key requirements of their jobs, and about how they are expected to behave in those jobs (Nhundu, 1999;Conley & Woosley, 2000;Koustelios et al, 2004). Role conflict occurs when different groups or persons with whom an individual must interact hold conflicting expectations about that individual's behaviour and can result from inconsistent information (Koustelios et al, 2004;Johnson et al, 2005;Nwadiani, 2006;Chang & Lu, 2007).Research has shown that organizational change, such as downsizing, implementation of new equipment or plant and restructuring, can and often does lead to stress and increases in injury/illness (Savery & Luks, 2001;Morris et al, 2006). In a study conducted by Sharpley and co-workers (1997) on university staff, the most commonly reported sources of job stress were (in order of frequency): "lack of regular feedback about how well I am doing my job"; "lack of promotion opportunities"; "uncertainty about how amalgamations will influence me"; "overwork"; "being expected to do too much in too little time"; "lack of necessary equipment and/or infrastructure support".…”

Cross Cultural Management Research

“…collectivism in Japan and South Korea). A second example is the significant change in South Korea (Choi, 2004) and in Japan (Jung and Cheon, 2006;Morris et al, 2006;Pudelko and Mendenhall, 2007) away from seniority-based pay toward pay for (individual) performance, which may seem inconsistent with collectivistic and/or high uncertainty avoidance national cultures. As a third example, consider the use of so-called high performance work systems in the United States.…”

Characteristics of organizational structure relating to hybrid competitive strategy: Implications for performance

“…Some studies point out that external pressure and competition force organizations to abandon mechanistic organizational forms and to design more flexible structures (GullØv, 2006;Morris et al, 2006;Schilling and Steensma, 2001), but a central and important question is whether these organic, flexible forms are appropriate for the development of hybrid competitive strategies. Thus, a need is apparent for research on the attributes of organizational structures that relate to hybrid competitive strategies.…”