Japanese enterprises are undergoing change as they confront the new competitive pressures created by globalization and the economic restructuring of the 1990s. This paper examines the nature and extent of the changes to human resource management in four Japanese multinational firms. The research found that all companies are undergoing change, although only one could be considered to be in a period of transformation. The research also showed that lifetime employment and seniority-based wages and promotion were under considerable pressure. The final configuration of HRM is difficult to predict but it is likely that a more performance-based system of compensation and promotion is the most likely outcome.
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