Japan as an Industrial Relations Model

Abstract

This paper discusses criteria by which one country might assess the transferability of another country's industrial relations model. After surveying earlier country models, the paper focuses upon Japan as a recent industrial relations model. Some of Japan's cultural characteristics, including its emphasis upon the group as opposed to individualism in the West, support the view that parts of the Japanese industrial relations system may have some model value for countries in Asia. Because their labour-management institutions are so firmly implanted, however, it is unlikely that Western countries can borrow much from Japan. However, Japan's great economic achievement and its unique blend of cultural traits and economic policies, as well as some of its managerial practices, are likely to be studied for years to come.