2018 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
A mixed-method examination of the impact of gender and cultural diversity on Japanese organizational practices and strategies
| Project/Area Number |
15K03598
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| Research Institution | Waseda University |
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Principal Investigator |
EDMAN Jesper 早稲田大学, 商学学術院, 准教授 (20615976)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | Diversity / Globalization / Foreign employees / Japanese companies / HR strategies |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
An analysis of interviews and secondary data from Japanese companies yielded the following insights:
1. Japanese firms display three general diversity motives: a) diversity as a way of gaining more workers, b) diversity as a means to increase global competitiveness, c) diversity for the sake of equality. Most companies are in the first or second group, only a very few are in the last group. One danger this raises is that if the results of diversity are not clearly evident (for example in the form of innovation or performance), then companies in the first two groups may be less inclined to promote diversity.
2. Japanese companies' diversity strategies have evolved. Initially, many of the strategies were aimed at making it easier for women to avoid work requirements. Such policies, however, effectively made it difficult for women to gain higher positions. More recently, company policies have become more pro-work, i.e. they make it easier for women to engage in work at an equal level with men. Such policies are more likely to lead to promotion and also change the organization's working culture.
3. Japanese firms struggle to retain foreign workers because of cultural differences. While many companies want to employ foreigners to leverage their different experiences and languages, they also want the foreigners to adapt. This has the drawback that those foreigners who are truly different often leave, while those that can adapt end up staying. This latter group, however, often "goes local" resulting in the benefits of the foreigner's international experience being lost.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
After some setbacks last year the project is moving forward. The analysis has been completed and I have presented initial findings at conferences during the year. I am currently in the process of developing a survey that will be administered to employees with the goal of evaluating some of the initial ideas identified in the explorative phase of the research.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
My current focus is on disseminating the questionnaire, which should be done by mid-June. At the same time I am also developing a paper that highlights results from the explorative qualitative research. I am also starting to analyze the quantitative data collected.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The money was to be used for a survey but this has been postponed until this year.
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