What are institutions?
Social structures that have attained a high degree of resilience (weerstand) and are composed of cultural-cognitive, normative, and regulative elements. Together with associated activities and resources, provide stability and meaning to social life.
Wat zijn kenmerken van instituties?
- Different countries have different institutions
- Influence management styles & organizational approaches
- Part of the social order
- Change only slowly
3 types of institutions
- Regulative (formal rules and regulations)
- Normative (Informal norms, values, taboos)
- Cultural-cognitive (shared beliefs, understanding of reality)
2 ways of measuring institutions
- Rankings (from good to bad)
- Distance scores (not good or bad but they differ in a number of specified dimensions)
Waarin verschilt cultuur van instituties?
- Cultuur ontstaat uit interactie met de omgeving en het was niet per se de intentie om deze cultuur te creeren.
- Institutions can be intentionally created
Kenmerken Japanese lifetime employment system
- Core employees recruited directly from school/ university
- Emphasis on internal training
- Expected to work for the company until retirement
- No contractual obligation from either side
- Firing your staff is the “worst thing of an employer”
Loyalty, Collectivism, Social Harmony
Kenemerken Japans compensation system
- Pay-for-performance
- Sometimes symbolic promotions rather than substantive
- Promotion by little step (Dienstjaren)
Japanese management system: employment adjustment system
- Overwork as a precaution to overcapacity
- “Voluntary” early retirement
- Hiring freeze
- Using “non-regular workers”
- Transfers in the “Keiretsu”
Keiretsu
Japanese business structure comprised of a network of different companies, such as banks, manufacturers & supply chain partners.
Wat is het Japanse consensus decision making?
- Co-orientation of individuals in a group towards a given issue
- Bottom-up and top-down decision making with large role of middle management
Nemawashi
Informal one-on-one discussions to prepare the ground for a decision. Checking with everyone who counts before formal decision.
Ringiseido
New initiative moves up each level of the organization for a review approval/disapproval (“Hanko”). Approval must be gained by all departments affected by the change.
Etic view on Japanese management system. Which dimensions play a role in cause of lifetime employment?
- Strong uncertainty avoidance
- Masculinity
- Medium to strong collectivism
- Long term orientation
Japanese management system in context: Regulative institutions
- Legally labor contracts can be terminated with two weeks notice
- Jurisprudence had evolved to offer more protection
- Firing lifetime employee requires “reasonable grounds” based on “common sense of society”
- Dismissal should be a business necessity, a last resort, objective and reasonable, and fully consultative
- Legal/political system not conducive (bevorderlijk) to strong centralization of union power
Japanese management system in context: Normative institutions
- Loyalty, trust, commitment to work and company
- Strong social norms of social obligation and self-sacrifice
Japanese management system in context: Cultural-cognitive institutions
- Lifetime employment based on expectations rather than formal rules
–> System of expectations (and social norms) prevents rise of external labor market
Japanese management system in context: Culture
- Strong uncertainty avoidance
- Medium-to-strong collectivism and long-term orientation
-Very strong masculinity
Gaman
Het ondraaglijke dragen in zelfopoffering voor de groep
