Changing career attitudes and corporate governance in Japan

ISSN： 1754-243X

Source： International Journal of Law and Management, Vol.51, Iss.2, 2009-03, pp. : 91-104

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Abstract

Purpose ‐ Japan is well known for having a strong stakeholder environment. However, a more than ten-year recession and globalization pressures have put a strain on many aspects of the country's approach to corporate governance. The main goal of this paper is to investigate institutional change by examining the perceptions and expectations of an important stakeholder in the Japanese corporate governance arena. Design/methodology/approach ‐ In this bottom-up approach to corporate governance analysis, surveys were collected on employees' perceptions of national and firm level developments in order to verify to what extent their views had an impact on their career management attitudes. Factor analysis and multiple regression techniques were used to test a number of research propositions. Findings ‐ The results showed that although there is still strong support for a within-company success orientation (stakeholder view) in Japan, there are a growing number of employees who prefer a personal career success orientation (shareholder view) in Japan. Research limitations/implications ‐ Since this is a cross-sectional study of the career management orientation of Japanese employees, future research should examine these developments over time to confirm the long-term direction of change in the business practices. Practical implications ‐ Human resource managers, recruiters, and firms in general need to reevaluate their views of the future career management attitudes of Japanese employees. Originality/value ‐ This paper contributes to the global convergence-divergence debate in corporate governance practices. It can also be considered as an important examination of the process of de-institutionalization of local business practices.