Applicability of Japanese Management and Production System in Africa: Using “Hybrid Evaluation Model” in Comparison with Other Developing Regions

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the overall features of the Japanese management and production systems transferred into the industries in Africa, in order to examine its possibility of contribution to economic development in Africa. The most remarkable finding is that the African culture and social environment would be more or less compatible to Japanese style HRM. “Worksite–oriented” Japanese style management has been realized in various work practices not only at the local plants of Japanese firms but also of African firms under some institutional restrictions, i.e. strong labor unions and European type rigid social frameworks. For Japanese companies that are thinking of the investment in Africa, we could clarify the environment of Africa might be familiar to the Japanese management and production systems. Simultaneously, for the governments of the countries in Africa, this paper suggests that the JMPS could be one of the effective methods to develop the economy of their countries. This is the first time research approach to the transferability of the Japanese management and production systems based on the field research in Africa.