Interest in Japanese management techniques continues to grow. Quality circles, just-in-time production and supply, single union deals and a range of other practices are having an increasingly profound impact on British Corporate culture. This new book explores the experiences of both Japanese companies in Britain and those western companies emulating their practices. The wide survey material demonstrates the breadth of change, and detailed case study and interview evidence reveals the depth of changes in individual companies. Both the successes and the failures are analysed, allowing an understanding of the nature of the changes, and the obstacles that companies must overcome. The implications for the British economy and for public policy are fully discussed, with particular emphasis on the problems of management control and industrial relations. The conclusion is plainly that British industrial culture is, despite entrenched practices in many fields, undergoing a major transformation. The authors have clearly shown how this is taking place and supplied new ways of understanding the real success of Japanese management methods. Managers, trade unionists, civil servants, policy makers and academics.
