1992 Reports

The best of both worlds? An exploratory study of human resource management practices in U.S.-based Japanese affiliates

Beechler, Schon; Bird, Allan

Japanese management practices have received considerable attention and notoriety over the past fifteen years as Westerners have searched for an understanding of Japan's meteoric economic success. As Japan's foreign direct investments have skyrocketed in the last few years attention has shifted from what the Japanese are doing at home to what they are doing overseas. In spite of this, however, relatively little empirical research has actually been conducted on the management of foreign affiliates of Japanese firms. This chapter reports the results of an exploratory study examining the characteristics of human resource management practices and policies in 49 Japanese manufacturing and service affiliates located in the United States. It describes the policies and practices of personnel selection, compensation, appraisal, and development in terms of three archetypal strategies for managing human resources. This chapter also examines the extent to which policies and practices conform to predications for the three HRM strategy types, as well as the degree of consistency found between stated organizational policies and actual practice.