Homework/ Analysis - Case Study Example

Topic: Panasonic Matsushita now know as Panasonic is a one of the large Japan companies that put a large focus on traditional Japanese values adopting human resource values that provided security to their employees from cradle to death. Over the years and through a hard economic time the company has found a great need to restructure and make themselves more competitive with the changing time. It has adopted a new human resource structure that has been fueled by the changing cultures in Japan. The Company has embarked o downsizing and making the human resource more competitive.

During the 1990’s Japan experience a great deal change in culture from traditional Japanese values to modern western adopted cultures. Various factors played there role in the shift of the culture. One of the factors that played a big role in the shift in culture was the great economic slump in Japan (Hill, Charles W.L 2012). Another factor that contributed to the culture change is the generation. The generation that was born after 1964 lacked commitment to the traditional Japanese cultures.

Cultural change has over the years affected the traditional Japanese values in several ways. This ways include drastic changes in business ways such as layoff of workers, abandonment of lifetime employments, and reduced loyalty to companies by its employees. The Japanese change in culture will greatly affect the way the business operate from the traditional values to more western like values such as performance based pay systems, company downsizing to increase efficiency, diversification of business portfolios, abolishment of lifetime employments.

The Japanese economy will ultimately be affected by this change in business activities. Some of the ways that its set to affected include increased levels of unemployment especially for individuals who are in the older bracket, increase average pay due to the new and highly competitive salaries, increased economic growth due to highly efficient businesses. The traditional culture benefited Panasonic in the 1950s–1980s as the company enjoyed employee loyalty and a good image amongst the people of Japan (Hill, Charles W.L 2012). The company also enjoyed a considerable share of fame and low employees turn over during the period.

The traditional value over the years became more and more of a liability than an asset when the company in the 1990’s and early 2000,s as the company had to foot large human resource bill to a less efficient workforce during a hard economic period. Panasonic it is trying it’s to increase on its labor efficiency this can be seen by it closing down shop in less productive line and laying off workers. It also wants to increase on the productivity of the labor by abolishing payment by seniority and introducing pay by performance.

It also wants to reduce on its labor cost by doing away with life time employment structures (Merkle, Judith A). Some of the impediments that Panasonic has faced in its quest to change the human resource structure include rigidity of its staff to new structures, traditional values the company had adopted and economic dynamics of the Japanese economy. If the changes were adopted quickly the company would suffer bad taste from it employees but on the other hand build and establish a strong and efficient workforce saving a lot of money on the way.

If the adoption was taken slow and the company may change the views of the employees towards the change and cushion its image but may loose on a lot of money on the way (Hill, Charles W.L 2012). The lessons learnt from the case study are that Social culture plays an important role in the working structure of an organization. Due care should however be considered in the adaption of social cultural values in order to ensure proper adoption of values that will not impair success but nature it. In addition there is a price to pay in any adoption of social cultural values and proper and just consider ration should be made before any adoption References Hill, Charles W.L..

Global Business Today, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill Learning Solutions, 2012. Merkle, Judith A.. Management and Ideology. University of California Press