Employment Discrimination By Japanese Owned Companies In The United States

Standard works on the employment systems of Japanese companies deal almost exclusively with men. Women, however, constitute the vast majority of the low wage, highly flexible "non-core" employees. This book breaks new ground in examining the role of Japanese women in industry. It assesses the extent to which growing pressure for equal opportunities between the sexes has caused Japanese companies to adapt their employment and personnel management practices in recent years. The author puts the argument in an historical perspective, covering the employment of Japanese women from the start of Japan's industrialisation up to the turning point of the 1986 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Law. She examines the background and execution of the legislation and she looks at the response of the business community. In her case study of the Seibu department store, which takes up the final part of the book, Lam concludes that the EEO Law has not had the desired effect.

The number of women in positions of power and authority in Japanese companies has remained small despite the increase in the number of educated women and the passage of legislation on gender equality. In Too Few Women at the Top, Kumiko Nemoto draws on theoretical insights regarding Japan's coordinated capitalism and institutional stasis to challenge claims that the surge in women’s education and employment will logically lead to the decline of gender inequality and eventually improve women’s status in the Japanese workplace.Nemoto’s interviews with diverse groups of workers at three Japanese financial companies and two cosmetics companies in Tokyo reveal the persistence of vertical sex segregation as a cost-saving measure by Japanese companies. Women’s advancement is impeded by customs including seniority pay and promotion, track-based hiring of women, long working hours, and the absence of women leaders. Nemoto contends that an improvement in gender equality in the corporate system will require that Japan fundamentally depart from its postwar methods of business management. Only when the static labor market is revitalized through adoption of new systems of cost savings, employee hiring, and rewards will Japanese women advance in their chosen professions. Comparison with the situation in the United States makes the author’s analysis of the Japanese case relevant for understanding the dynamics of the glass ceiling in U.S. workplaces as well.

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

If you are one in the growing ranks of Americans working for or doing business with the nearly 10,000 Japanese-owned companies operating in the United States, here is frank and timely guidance. How to Succeed in a Japanese Company explains the nuances and intricacies of topics such as Japanese history and psychology, the protocol of gift-giving and dining, sexual discrimination in the workplace, saving face in awkward situations, avoiding dead-end jobs, climbing the corporate ladder, and much more. The author's expert advice culminates with her Seven Strategies for Success, basic rules you can follow in almost any culture-clashing business situation.

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