Japan in 19th century (organizational theory)

In 1897 there were seventy-four cotton spinning companies in Japan. But from the 1890s through the First World War plant sizes and capital requirements increased rapidly and after passing through a cartel phase (the 1906 export cartel) five huge firms dominated the cotton industry at the end of the First World War. The Japanese industry largely depended on imported (mainly British) textile machines and the high cost of foreign imports led to an emphasis on full utilisation of capital based on continuous running and twelve hour shifts. The 1916 Factory Law enforced eight hour shifts, and this change in work practices, combined with the development of large corporations, stimulated an interest in Taylorism. Management sought more direct control over work standards and 'stretch-outs' (increasing the ratio of machines per worker) were common. 

Additionally, job analysis, standardised procedures, and time and motion studies were applied to the young girl textile workers. What this implies is that in an industry where the work was seen as simple and requiring little skill and in which there was a high turnover of workers, with a consequent low attachment to the employing organisation, Taylorite techniques were seen as a potential strategy and were used in Japan. However this is still only half the picture and in order to complete the story we need to turn to the second wave of labour rationalisation in Japan. 
The second wave of rationalisation in Japan, from the mid-1920s to the end of the 1930s, was associated with a serious recession and the main ideas stemmed from the German Rationalitzierung movement. The main innovations at this time included more automatic machinery, assembly line production, and the standardisation of products. In cotton textiles the movement resulted in the establishment of standardised job classifications, promotion hierarchies, and systematic training which became linked to the widespread development of welfare measures such as improved work conditions, health care, housing, better education facilities and so on in order to stabilise the labour force. In other words, even in cotton textiles, with a labour force consisting of 90 per cent young females, high turnover rates, a low educational level of recruits and low skills, labour rationalisation and efficiency engineering were linked to paternalism. But this linkage was not simply a matter of ideas and ideology. There had been efforts towards cutting down labour turnover and increasing commitment based on paternalistic measures in cotton textiles before the First World War, but they were short-lived and foundered in the face of the wartime economic boom which resulted in intense competition for labour, especially older female workers. It was not until the 1920s and the active encouragement and regulation of the Government that the competitive barriers to setting up welfarism, which involved initial increased labour costs for long-term benefits, were broken. Seek resume editing service? Editing-services.org provides individual resume editing services at low prices. Our editors are responsible and available 24/7! Overall, Japanese industry did absorb some Taylorite ideas, but Taylorism was adapted and diluted to fit in with existing work practices and values and with the increased diffusion of paternalism and internal labour markets as an employer strategy.