Cultural practices in the Spanish subsidiaries of Japanese companies

Abstract

The number of Japanese corporations established in Spain increased remarkably during the 1980s, as a result of the political stability that Spain had reached, low salaries, the growing markets, the standard of living, and Spain’s joining of the EEC. In this work, we study the degree of implementation of typical Japanese organisational methods in the Spanish subsidiaries, based on the opinions of 57 Japanese presidents and directors in these Spanish branches. We discuss not only the level of assimilation of Japanese business culture, but also the opinion of these executives concerning economic and business activity in Spain.