ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1 we aim to do two things: outline our approach to understanding the diffusion of the Japanese ‘model’ which has followed in the wake of the rapid growth in Japanese FDI outlined in the Introduction, and examine the nature of the labour process in Japan. We suggest that concepts like ‘Japanization’ and the Japanese ‘model’ require deconstructing as they not only imply a greater degree of homogeneity than actually exists in the labour process in Japan, but more importantly they set up a fixed benchmark which both obscures variations in the standard and content of Japanese FDI and also ignores diversity in the patterns of adoption and emulation by non-Japanese companies. We demonstrate that Japanese innovations in work organization and employment have themselves been the evolving and varied products of the interaction between earlier dominant (especially American) models, specific
institutional ensembles embodying national class compromises and industrialization strategies, and the efforts of Japanese enterprises to cope with particular sectoral and temporal contingencies. Relatedly, the exportation and diffusion of innovations labelled ‘Japanese’ have to be analysed in terms of a dialogue between the broader corporate strategies of both Japanese and other transnational corporations (TNCs), the interventions of propagandists and mediators who manage the processes of codification and dissemination of specific packages of techniques, and the distinctive national, regional and sectoral conditions and social relations which structure the reception and adaptation of these techniques. We suggest a methodology for further research in the area, which goes beyond prescription and hype, acknowledges the importance of putting the sector political economy of Japanese investment in the frame, and recognizes the continuing need to be flexible in interpreting both the deepening of Japanese investment and foreign company adaptation of innovations associated with the Japanese model.
