Human Resource Management

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Human Resource Management

• Keiichiro HAMAGUCHI

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CONTENTS OF LECTURE ON HUMAN RESOUCE MANAGEMENT
(WINTER 2007 HAMAGUCHI)

• Chapter 1 Japanese Employment System 2007/04/02
  1320
• Chapter 2 Historical Development of Japanese
  Employment System
• Section 1 Long-Term Employment
  Practice 2007/04/09 1320
• Section 2 Seniority System 2007/04/16 1320
• Section 3 Industrial Relations 2007/04/23
  1320
• Chapter 3 Legal Aspects of Japanese Employment
  System
• Section 1 Employment Contract and Work
  Rules 2007/05/07 1320
• Section 2 Recruiting and Hiring 2007/05/14
  1320
• Section 3 Retirement and Dismissals 2007/05/21
  1320
• Section 4 Assignment, Transfers and
  Disciplinary Action 2007/05/28 1320
• Section 5 Wage System and Working
  Hours 2007/06/04 1320
• Section 6 Trade Union and Labor-Management
  Consultation 2007/06/11 1320
• Section 7 Regular Workers and Non-Regular
  workers 2007/06/18 1320
• Section 8 Male Workers and Female
  Workers 2007/06/25 1320
• Chapter 4 Considerations on Japanese Employment
  System 2007/07/02 1320
• Examination 2007/07/09 1320

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Chapter 1Japanese Employment System
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1 The Essence of Japanese Employment SystemThe
Nature of Employment Contract
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Employment Contract without Job

• The 3 imperial treasures of Japanese employment
  system are said to be
• -Long-term employment practice,
• -Seniority-based wage system and
• -Enterprise-based trade unions.
• But the essence of it lies in the nature of
  employment contract.

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• Generally, job should be defined clearly in the
  employment contract.
• In Japan, job is not specified in the employment
  contract. It is up to the order by the employer.
• Employment contract is a blank slate in which
  particular jobs should be wrote each time.
• Employment in Japan is not job but
  membership.

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(2) Characteristics of the Japanese Employment
System

• In the job-based society, if the job is lost, the
  workers can be dismissed.
• In Japan, the employer must transfer the workers
  to other jobs to avoid dismissals.
• Top priority is the maintenance of membership.
• In the job-based society, wages should be
  determined with the job (equal pay for equal work
  principle).

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• In Japan, wages are generally determined with
  length of service and age (apart from job).
• But actual wage levels are determined with
  performance evaluation which covers most workers.
• In the job-based society, collective bargaining
  is carried out at sectoral level.
• In Japan, bargaining should be carried out at
  company level because wages are determined at the
  level.

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2 Aspects of Japanese Human Resource Management
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(1) Employment Management

• At the entry stage, companies hire new graduates
  simultaneously on 1st April (new graduate regular
  hiring system).
• The authority to hire lies not with line manages
  but with personnel department.
• At the exit stage, workers are excluded from the
  company based on their age (mandatory retirement
  system).
• Between them, workers are transferred to another
  job periodically (job rotation system). They
  acquire skills via OJT.

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(2) Remuneration Management

• A sort of monthly salary system applies to both
  blue-collar and white-collar workers.
• Seniority-based wages are generated by regular
  pay increase system.
• Even blue-collar workers undergo performance
  evaluation, mainly on subjective factors.
• Promotion in status is also remuneration.
• Bonuses and retirement allowances are also based
  on seniority.

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(3) Industrial Relations

• Japanese trade unions are organizations
  representing all employees in the company.
• Their main function is labor-management
  consultation.
• Japanese collective bargaining focuses on raising
  the amount of pay increase.

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(4) New Challenges

• This system is applied to only regular workers.
• HRM for non-regular workers is completely
  opposite to that for regular workers.
• They are hired and dismissed occasionally by line
  managers, not transferred, not trained in-house,
  paid hourly based on labor market, not promoted,
  excluded from bonus and retirement allowance,
  denied membership of unions. In a word, they are
  not members of the company.
• With the increase of young non-regular workers,
  these differences becomes social problems.