The Management Challenge

What works for the Japanese? As our nation's balance of trade with Japan dips Eastward, American managers ask how Japan's economy has outperformed ours during the past 30 years. Some of the answers may be found in the original contributions in this book which are unique in presenting Japanese management as the Japanese see it. They provide American managers with insights into practices that may spark new solutions to old economic problems. Chapters cover motivation and productivity, the impact of Japanese culture on management, perceptions and reality of Japanese industrial relations, the firm and the market, the Japanese financial system, product diversification, strategy for overseas markets, competition and cooperation among Japanese corporations, industrial policy, economic planning, and the Japanese economy. Thurow's introduction provides a unifying framework and his comments on each chapter point up the implications that each contribution raises for the reblending of the American economic mixture.