A review of Japanese labour

management relations system:

some lessons for Bangladesh

Chapter 6
Group Members

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Introduction
 Japan haschieved the status of one of the most advance countries of the world in
terms of per capita income and GDP.
 Japan started to achieve success after the World War II
 Inspite of the pressure from the western countries Japan is still the most advanced
country.
 Superior Human resource management is the key factor in Japan’s success.
 They have succeeded in cordial and harmonious labour management relation.
 They have high level of worker productivity and faster state of economic growth.
In Bangladesh-

 There is no cordial and harmonious labour management relation

 Workers and managers do not trust each other and employees and not viewed
as an unlimited creative potential.
 Managers are not sincere in its dealings with workers and play favoritism and
partiality.
 The government of Bangladesh, as an important factor of the labour
management relations, is not always neutral and fair.
 Government tends to interfere in internal affairs of trade unions. It has led to
inter-union rivalries.
 So there’s not much economic achievement after the independence war.
Enterprise Unionism
 Most Japanese unions in the private sector are enterprises unions.
 The idea of enterprise Union is based on groupism.
 It effects the lifestyle and social value of its people.
 An enterprise Union Union organised on the basis of individual enterprise off
 Love does not prevent employees from forming more than one Union
 Union membership is limited to regular employees of a single company regardless
of whether they are blue collar or white collar employees (Okubayashi, 1989).
Worker participation in industrial and
national levels
The main forms of participation in Japanese industrial system are
-collective bargaining,
-the joint consultation system or suggestion system and
-small group activity such as quality circles.

Representatives exchange opinion on

-general industrial policies, business trends, and employment security within their own industries,
-safety,
-work hours and minimum wages.

These meetings do not have the authority to conclude industry wide collective agreements concerning
industrial policies but they are very effective mechanism for the exchange of perceptions about industrial
situations.
1. The structure of collective bargaining

Collective bargaining is decentralized in Japan employee and collective bargaining

agent (CBA) set wages and other financial benefits by taking into consideration the
paying capacity of the enterprise. Collective bargaining is based on negotiation
between an enterprise Union and its employer. The contents include-

a. Wages
b. Annual wage increases
c. Benefits working hours
d. Criteria for dismissal time stamping at the beginning and end of work
e. The conduct of union activities during working hours
f. Union membership as a condition of continued employment
2. Joint consultation system
Joint consultation is an integral arrangement within an establishment for enabling
the opinions and views of employees to be made known to the management. This
system in addition to collective ginning plays a very important role in promoting
industrial democracy in Japanese industrial relations.

-About 70% of companies with more than 1000 employees have adopted such a
system (Cascio, 1995).
-It is a two way communication system that helps in decision making
-This mechanism helps in avoiding severe conflicts or strikes
-Employee representatives are Union officials
3. Consensus decision making
Japanese managers view people as most valued asset of the company and treat
people with respect and dignity. So they create a climate of interdependence and
make decision on consensus. Under this practice subordinates are empowered to
examine the-

-nature of the problem

-check the alternatives
-select their own alternatives
-draft a decision and
-present it for approval to the manager.
4. Quality circles
A quality circle is a self-governing group of worker with or without their supervisor
who voluntarily meet on a regular basis to identify analyse and solve problem in
their work field.

-Circle members are trained in a variety of skills

-It is a popular approach for managing employee participation in Japan
-Circle members are rewarded collectively for innovation and suggestion for
improvement
5. Providing lifetime employment
 In Japan, there is a lifetime employment policy within the company combined
with the system of promotion and pay based on seniority, which in turn, provide
the employee a feeling of security (Drucker 1972).
 This makes a positive contribution to the development of sound labour
management relations in Japanese organisations.
6. Careful Selection of Employees

As employees are hired for lifetime basis, companies are very cautious and
careful in selecting people. Employees are hired for the company, not for a
specific job. Japanese select employees whose values and skills match the firms
ideology.
7. Continuous Training and
Education of Workers
 Lifetime employment may stagnate employees unless they are are continuously
given training to acquire skill for coping with new situation.
 A fresh employed is trained up almost all aspects of total jon which make him
multi – skilled generalist.
 The average Japanese coming into an organization receives 500 days of training in
the first ten years.
8. Encouraging Employees to Acquire a
Variety of Skills
 Employees are given special allowance for learning every new skill and encourage
them to acquire a variety of skills.
 The Japanese make considerable investment in training for human resource
development.
 As mentioned earlier, life- term job security ; inspires the employers to lavishly
spend for employee training.
9. Sharing of Information
 Information sharing is an essential component of high performance work system.
 This sharing of information encourages managers to build two-way
communication.
 Japanese manager trust their people and provide them all relevant information.
 They believe that secrecy inhibits cooperation.
10. Providing Extensive Two-Way
communication

 Effective managers in Japan always try to deal with subordinates in the way
that leads to superior performance.
 Management in Japan stress, “do not be afraid to make mistake” and
subordinates speak out about their mistakes,determining to correct them.
 Japanese manager love to hear crazy idea.
 Face to face communication is the most critical means to solve the
misunderstanding.
11. Group Rewards
 The entire group is reward for group performance. It is group success or group
failure.
 The idea of rewarding members of the group collectively helps avoid intragroup
conflict.
12. Reductions of Status difference
 In order to help make, organizational members feel important and committed,
most of the Japanese firms attempt to reduce the status distinction that reduce
seperate individuals and groups and cause some to feel less valued.
 Few Japanese companies have introduced a stock ownership plant. Each employee
owned stock in the company. That is, every employee is made mini –employer.
13. Seniority –Based Pay System
 In Japan, Pay system rests mainly on two factors: age and education.
 Wage rise gradually untill the time of retirements.
 Employees are provided with extensive welfare – benefits.
14. Unique Social and Culture Values

 The uniqueness of the Japanese labour –management relations system was

deeply –rooted in its culture and tradition.
 Cultural and social norms such as harmony, groupism, consensus decision
making etc. are deeply rooted in the Japanese level in general and employees
behaviour in particular.
15. Creating a sense of community
 Management and worker consider their enterprise as a family and they are active
members of the family.
 Individuals rights are subsidiary to social requirements.
 They are encouraged to assume responsibility.
 Communal work provides an opportunity for joint effort, with all members, as far
as possible, performing all task for equal rewards.
Limitations of Japanese Labor
Management Relations System:
It is not beyond criticisms that Japanese labor management systems are not as good as
are claimed. It has some hidden weakness. These are :

1. They attack the effectiveness of the seniority based pay system in a changing global
world.
2. Young workers with higher educational backgrounds are less satisfied with their job.
3. Consensus/Collective decision making practice has also come under attack.
- It takes much time.
- Sharing of decision making power.
4. Enterprise based trade unionism is also subject to criticism.
5. Lifetime employment is a myth, not a reality
Basic issues or features of Labor Management
Relation Systems in Bangladesh
Industrial relations in Bangladesh’s firms are usually obtained to be hostile and
unfriendly. Some features are:

1. Politicization of trade union

Most of the trade union in Bangladesh are affected with the political parties.
Every political party has its own labor front.

2. Job based and Industry wise unions.

3. Inclusion of outsides in the union membership

Moreover outsides are allowed to be members of union in our country.
Outsides are the potential troubles makers and often initiate labor
4. Ineffective enforcement of labor laws
The Government of Bangladesh has established requisite machinery
To deal with various issues relating to labor-management relations,
But unfortunately, every, few of them appears to have been functioning
properly. No time frame is Prescribed in the law for settlement of a labor
dispute. This causes frustration among the parties. The existing
enforcement and implementation machinery has been proved to be
ineffective to ensure proper enforcement of the various labor laws
contributing largely to the development of unhealthy labor-management
relations.
5. Lack of democratic administration
Bangladeshi managers tend to be independent and dominant. They think only
they are intelligent, skilled, ethical, honest etc. So, they do not think to discuss
with subordinates to make decisions. On the other hand, Japanese managers
have down to earth attitude. They are less hierarchical. Which facilitate free
flow of information. They discuss with subordinate while making decisions.
6. Poor academic and professional background of workers and union leaders.
Many managers and workers do not have proper technical skill. They do not
have managerial functioned backgrounds. Many workers are less educated. So
they do not have proper knowledge about many things. Many Bangladeshi
managers think training is unnecessary and waste of money. On the other
hand, Japanese managers are more aware about these matters. They send their
employees to various trainings.
7. The Gap between the Two Systems.

Japanese industrial relations seem more cordial. While the situation of

Bangladesh is opposite. Japanese trade unions are enterprise based not
professional based. Outsiders are not allowed to be a member of union.
The political affiliation of a trade union is not legally allowed.
 The unions in Bangladesh are not enterprise based rather job-based and
industry wised. Here outsiders are allowed. Union leaders are politically
biased.
Lessons for Bangladesh
After analysing it can be said that the dominant management and organizational
practices in Bangladesh are bureaucracies and based on theory X assumptions.
Japanese labor management relations system originated from its centuries old
tradition and culture. This makes it incompatible to transplant to other countries like
Bangladesh.
 Some of the aspects of Japanese labor-management system may be transplantable,
but a total transplant of the concept without change to adapt to different cultural
beliefs is not possible.
Conclusion
Characterized by globalisation and stiff foreign competition the importance of
sound labour management relation in the present changing world is more than it was
in the past. A cordial labour management relation is critical to improving
productivity and industrial progress.
Japanese firms in encourage productivity through the development, involvement
and recognition of its people. They have a robust economic growth and performance
with lowest number of industrial unrest.
Important factors which play a vital role in establishing a highly cordial
relationship are-

Enterprise based unionism

• Life-term employment or very adequate employment security
• Seniority based pay system
• Development of human resources within the enterprise
• High concern for employee welfare
• Consensus decision making system
• Quality circles
• Homogeneous workforce
• Two way communication
• Group reward and
• Joint consultation mechanism
 Labour management relation in Bangladesh by contrast is not cordial and
friendly rather hostile.
 In Bangladesh positive change in the system of management, specially in the
area of labour-management relations practices should be made.
 The political affiliation of trade union must be banned legally in the greater
interest of the country.
 In Japan political parties do not use workers as a tool to gain power or to
remain in power.
 Japanese human resources management system is very much interdependent
and compact that helps it to achieve progress economically.