The adoption and diffusion of high-performance management: lessons from Japanese multinationals in the West

This paper draws on surveys and case studies of management practices in Japanese transplants in the US, the UK and France to study possible impediments to introducing high-performance work practices. It shows significant national differences in the adoption of specific practices and in their clustering. While the exercise of power by labour and management and public policy result in nationally specific hybrid arrangements, the results demonstrate a common pattern in types of traditional practices that survive and of Japanese practices transferred. The most commonly adopted practices (such as teamwork and quality circles) relate directly to management interests in productive efficiency, while the retained traditional practices most often relate to worker compensation and internal labour market structures. National industrial relations systems appear to be important in the balancing of efficiency gains for managers and economic benefits for workers. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.