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PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT DIFFERENCES BETWEENTHE JAPANESE AND AMERICAN AUTOMOBILEMANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

Differences in the approach to production management are among the most significant of the factors to be considered in any proposal by American and Japanese automobile manufacturers to cooperate in joint venture operations. These differences are examined with respect to management techniques generally, quality control, and hightech manufacturing processes.

American interest in Japanese management techniques developed as a consequence of the success of Japanese firms in the domestic markets of the United States, and in other markets around the world; an interest which was heightened by the fact that Japanese successes often occurred primarily at the expense of American industrial firms. As a consequence of such developments, many American firms have experimented with Japanese management techniques.

Not all management and organizational theorists and analysts in the United States are convinced that American management techniques are inferior to those of the Japanese. Even

when the merit of Japanese management techniques is recognized in the United States, there is often opposition to an emulation by American firms of Japanese management techniques. In some instances, opposition is based on a contention that the specific management techniques employed by the Japanese are not at the root of the problems faced by American industrial firms. In other instances, opposition is based on a contention that, as a result of cultural differences between Japan and the United States, techniques which are successful in Japan will not be successful in the United States. This opposition, however, has not stopped many American firms from adopting Japanese management techniques.

A broad comparative summary of Japanese and American management techniques is presented in Exhibit 1, which may be found on the f...