ABSTRACT
In this book I examined the transferability of Japanese organizational practices to Japanese-owned transplants in the U.S. in terms of the eight salient characteristics of Japanese practices outlined by Murakami and Rohlen (1992). Although there are some exceptions, my findings on transferability generally do not conform to previous studies that have argued that some Japanese organizational forms and practices, such as the team-based work processes and extensive benefits systems, have been successfully transferred to transplants in the U.S. (Hatvany and Pucik 1980; Ito 1987; Johnson and Ouchi 1974; Starr and Bloom 1985; Starr and Hall 1987; Wakabayashi and Graen 1991; Womack, et al. 1990; Kenney and Florida 1993). Instead, my findings agree with Abo’s study (1994) that organizational practices of the Japanese transplants have resulted in practices that significantly differ from those of both home plants in Japan and their American counterparts. For example, I showed that the transplants in my study utilized various forms of work teams, but that they were not precisely the same as those in home plants in Japan.
