THE TRANSFER OF JAPANESE MANAGEMENT STYLES IN 2 US TRANSPLANT INDUSTRIES - AUTOS AND ELECTRONICS

Japanese industry is characterized by a unique set of industrial relat ions and management styles. The ability to transfer these relations ov erseas has been the object of much scholarly and popular debate. This paper examines this transfer to the United States in the automobile an d electronics industries. It was found that Japanese automobile manufa cturers had been able to transfer most of the central features of the system with some adaptation. The most successful firms were using team s, quality control activities, rotation and quite egalitarian manageme nt styles. On the other hand, most of the electronics transplants exam ined had not transferred Japanese style industrial relations. The elec tronics firms seemed to be content to accept many of the prevailing US practices. It is concluded that the transfer of Japanese style relati ons is possible, but that this occurs only where Japanese managers mak e a considered and sustained effort to implant their system. In many e lectronics operations it appears as though Japanese managers never ser iously attempted to implement the Japanese system. Thus, the record of transfer is mixed at the moment.