New organizational forms, Human resource management and structural convergence? A study of Japanese organizations

Jonathan Morris; John Hassard; Leo McCann

doi:10.1177/0170840606067513

New organizational forms, Human resource management and structural convergence? A study of Japanese organizations

Jonathan Morris^*, John Hassard, Leo McCann

^*Corresponding author for this work

The York Management School

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1485-1511
Number of pages	27
Journal	Organization Studies
Volume	27
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840606067513
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2006

Keywords

Japanese organizations
Lifetime employment
Senioritybased pay
Structural reforms

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New organizational forms, Human resource management and structural convergence? A study of Japanese organizations

Abstract

Keywords

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