Some of the qualities that have earned Japanese manufacturing a global reputation are now gradually pushing it towards a downfall, said Yang Yang, secretary general of the Kansai branch of the All-Japan Federation of Overseas Chinese Professionals, writing for
Guancha.cn, a Shanghai-based online news and comments aggregator.
The growing financial burden of the practice of lifetime employment has encouraged many Japanese companies to hire temporary workers, according to Yang. They are dispatched by a labor service provider to work at different companies, who are paid 30 percent less and have no career prospects.
While lifetime employers tend to treat their companies as a home and stay fully dedicated to their job, Yang said, dispatched workers are less likely to “strive to provide the best results.”
The lack of an entrepreneurial spirit has caused many second and third generation business owners to opt for conservative management, Zhang said. Maintaining the status quo and avoiding financial deficit is for many the most important business goal. Japan has also lost its technological edge to the growing manufacturing industries in China and other Asian countries.
The excessive pursuit of Monozukuri, Japanese manufacturers’ much praised spirit of extreme craftsmanship, is producing products that struggle to adapt to mainstream market needs, Zhang argued. Office politics in large Japanese companies is also causing internal frictions and costing them the motivation needed for growth, he said.
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