| NOTA |
(★)(How do Japanese work? Are they unique in the way they work? Can Japanese methods of working be transferred to other countries? These are among the most important of the questions Professor Koike explores in what he describes as his ´analysis of Japan´s labor economy and human resource management.´In answering them, he shatters many popular conceptions about Japan. The author´s focus is on work --´the way,´he says,´work is done and the formation of work ability.´His purpose is chiefly twofold : to demonstrate that Japan has a lot more in common with other industrialized nations than commonly thought and to explain the few differences that place Japan in the forefront among industrialized nations. At the heart of his analysis is skill. Specifically, he discusses what he terms intellectual skill,´the source,´he maintains,´of Japan´s competitiveness.´Intellectual skills --the ability to deal effectively with ever-present problems and changes-- underlie what the author calls white collarization. Japan´s blue´collar workers possess intellectual skills and are thus treated to the same terms of compensation, employment, and dismissal as white-collar workers worldwide. White collarization, he argues, is a distinctively Japanese feature. Professor Koike points out, however, that intellectual skills can be transferred abroad. This, he says, depends on how well they and their process of on-the-job formation are understood and whether the necessary conditions of long-term competition and incentives are present. As well documented and statistically substantiated as this work is, its appeal is in what the author refers to as his reliance on ´old-fashioned methods´of observation. Interviews with workers and comparisons of workplace practices worldwide lead to a better understanding of the economics of work, in Japan and elsewhere.) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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