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Focuses on research in the field of labour studies. Published four times a year, it contains information on Japanese labour issues. Articles are selected, edited, and published by an editorial board of the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training. Aimed at the broad range of readers outside of Japan. Show less

The Employment Measure Act, which was enacted in 1966 and proclaimed the general principles of Japan's labor market policies, was revised in 2007. This paper sheds light on the meaning and effect of Article 10, to which much attention was paid as Japan's first anti-age discrimination regulation. Article 10 stipulates that firms must provide equal opportunities to workers in relation to recruitment and hiring irrespective of age, thereby making a former 'duty to endeavor' into a 'legal duty'. As a result, job offers with age limits may be rejected by employment placement organizations and discriminated workers may claim damages in tort suits. However, there are some doubts as to the effectiveness of Article 10 due to its broad exemptions, including hiring only 'new graduates'. Therefore, in view of its constitutional basis and policy objectives as well as limited outreach, this paper observes that anti-age discrimination regulations in Japan still indicate the nature of the employment policy approach rather than the human rights approach. Regulations on age-based treatment appear to be merely a patchwork rather than a conclusive anti-age discrimination law. Apart from the anti-age discrimination provision, in order to improve the employment management of youth and foreigners, the 2007 revision added an obligation of employers to report to Public Employment Security Offices in the event of the employment and separation of foreign workers. It also adopted 'duty to endeavor' provisions and guidelines, both of which recommended employers to take various measures, such as the introduction of a recruitment process for old graduates, employment of youth as regular workers, support of foreign workers in claiming for workers' compensation benefits, and so forth. This paper provides an analysis that though these measures based on 'duty to endeavor' have only weak legal effects, they seem an appropriate means to attain their policy objectives while not giving rise to the issues of reverse discrimination or intrusion into freedom of contracts.

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Globalisation has had a major impact on the engineering industry as Pacific Rim countries undercut manufacturing costs and provide a more cost-effective location for many businesses. Engineering in Northern Ireland has mostly declined owing to increased competition from these countries. Engineering companies are now forced to streamline their production processes and employ cost-reducing practices in order to meet customer demands at reduced prices. This article aims to analyse the effects of one such streamlining endeavour which was first introduced after World War II in Japan - 'lean manufacturing'. 'Lean manufacturing' aims to reduce all wasteful activities within the production process in order to improve productivity, while reducing manufacturing costs. The work-based project under consideration was concerned with the impact 'lean manufacturing' may have on health and safety performance and education within an engineering company. The focus of the project was to determine through work-based research, and quantitative analysis, the employee perception on health and safety: has it changed (either positively or negatively), as a consequence of implementing 'lean manufacturing'.

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In many OECD countries, tertiary education systems have experienced rapid growth over the last decade. With tertiary education increasingly seen as a fundamental pillar for economic growth, these systems must now address the pressures of a globalising economy and labour market. Within governance frameworks that encourage institutions, individually and collectively, to fulfil multiple missions, tertiary education systems must aim for the broad objectives of growth, full employment and social cohesion. In this context, the OECD launched a major review of tertiary education with the participation of 24 nations. The principal objective of the review is to assist countries in understanding how the organisation, management and delivery of tertiary education can help them achieve their economic and social goals. Japan is one of 14 countries which opted to host a country review, in which a team of external reviewers carried out an in-depth analysis of tertiary education policies. This report includes: an overview of Japan’s tertiary education system; an account of trends and developments in tertiary education in Japan; an analysis of the strengths and challenges in tertiary education in Japan; and recommendations for future policy development.

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This chapter is based on results from a 2003-2004 UNESCO survey of member states on the implementation of a recommendation from the 1999 Seoul Congress. The survey gathered information on the extent of policy and programme reforms since the congress. The survey focused on four topics, each with their own issues: (1) policy, planning and management of [technical and vocational education and training] TVET; (2) access to TVET; (3) relevance and quality of TVET systems; and (4) monitoring progress. The results of the survey were used to generate a profile of TVET in the Asia and Pacific region, which is presented in this chapter.

The book from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 100.51. Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 100.52 to TD/TNC 100.244. Show less

This paper introduces and evaluates the five employment promotion programs for single mothers enacted from 2003 in Japan. These programs are designed to grant job training to mothers (programs one and two), to help job-seekers to find a good job match more quickly (program three), to meet comprehensive needs (program four), or to motivate employers through subsidies (program five). Through this research, I found that program four excelled in terms of the coverage rate and number of job placements. Program one (grants for highly-skilled job training), however, is the only program that proved to be effective in promoting secure and well-paid jobs. Despite this, the degree of awareness and the utilization rate of the programs are quite low. The estimation results show that the probability of not knowing about the programs is especially high among mothers who work part-time, the less-educated and non-working mothers. The probability of utilizing the programs is relatively low among older mothers, the less-educated, newly single mothers and those with young children.

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As Japan enters the new century, pending workforce shortages - a function of low birth rates and an aging population - increase the need to address gender issues in organizations. Throughout the past four decades, the number of female workers in Japan has been growing, although full-time female participation in the Japanese workforce remains below the levels of some other industrialized nations. Despite the growing importance that the Japanese female labor force is expected to play, relatively little is known about women's attitudes toward work motivation in Japan. Using a two-factor, Herzberg intrinsic/extrinsic approach to motivation, we examine the applicability of such a model in Japan, and compare the attitudes of female and male workers, as well as management and non-management. Our findings include: (1) support for the applicability of a Herzberg, two-factor model in Japan; (2) Japanese men in the workforce tending to value intrinsic motivators more than extrinsic factors; (3) female workers in Japan rating extrinsic factors higher than their male counterparts; and (4) managers' opinions of what motivates employees not constituting a refined match to those of female employees, especially with respect to extrinsic motivation. In multi-gender Japanese organizations, management will potentially benefit from a better understanding and functional integration of important gender nuances into their motivation strategies.

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In this paper, I discuss the fact that a gradual change may be occurring in the way in which labor policy is formulated in Japan. The Labour Policy Council, a tripartite body established by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), has played a central role in the formation of labor policy in Japan. However, reading through the minutes of 2005-2006 meetings of the Council's Work Conditions Subcommittee has led me to the conclusion that there is a possibility the Council's function might be weakening from the inside. The survey conducted revealed four developments at these meetings: an expressed concern about the establishment of a Study Group consisting of experts, shelving of the Study Group's report, opposition expressed by both union and employer group representatives to a draft of a Response made by the MHLW, and the Response with objections from both groups. It seems that these developments show that both unions and employers lose faith in the experts, and moreover do not engage in serious and substantive debate with each other. As a result, both groups may have come to down-grade the importance of the Policy Council and up-grade that of parliamentary lobbying.

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Purpose - While knowledge management has been shown to be a strategic source of competitive advantage, processes designed to enhance the productivity of knowledge do not, however, equally contribute to the organization's capabilities. Consequently, this research aims to focus on the relationship between each mode of the knowledge management process and multiple sources of competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach - This research, using questionnaire data collected from the entire population of a pharmaceutical company's head office in Japan, investigates how different perceptions and behaviors related to knowledge management affect the perceived contribution of certain types of organizational knowledge acting as sources of competitive advantage. Findings - The study finds that the perceived importance of knowledge management activities, especially combination, appears as an important source of competitive advantage related to technical knowledge, and more time spent on knowledge management tasks, in particular socialization, contributes to a competitive advantage related to affective knowledge. Further analysis involves a taxonomy of employees based on their perceived importance of, and the time they spend on, knowledge management activities. Research limitations/implications - This paper focuses on the entire population of a single firm, and for that reason, further research with other companies in different industries is necessary. Practical implications - There is evidence suggesting that knowledge management strategies should be tailored to fit the discriminate beliefs and actions of each group of workers, identified based on their level of congruence between their espoused theories and theories-in-use related to knowledge management. Originality/value - The taxonomy of workers introduced in the paper emphasizes the fact that the workforce is not a uniform body and therefore that intrinsic differences need to be taken into account to maximize the efficiency of knowledge management.

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Using a unique internet survey of standard and non-standard workers in Japan, the author studied the determinants of their perceived wage equity and job satisfaction by employment category. The primary finding was that distinctions of employment category and workers' career concerns are more influential in determining perceived wage equity than wages and job contents per se. Secondly, the determinants of job satisfaction are rather common in each employment category, although a notable difference exists in the components of wage satisfaction. Satisfaction with wages, job security, training and working hours are all important in determining overall job satisfaction, which in turn contributes to organizational performance, Thirdly, measurements of capability show somewhat disadvantageous positions for non-standard workers, particularly those of contractual/temp-agency workers.

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