1. How does HRM in the United States differ from HRM in Japan?
Because the Japanese traditionally honor lifetime employment, they go to greater lengths than
in the US to hire the perfect employee for any given position, be it management or blue collar. In order
to accomplish this, the Japanese firm form partnerships with local schools to begin vocational training
as early as possible for students who do not intend to a&end university. This type of grooming is not
necessarily possible in other countries, and thus Japanese companies must make adjustments when
hiring HCNs. In the United States, it appears these adjustments are at the expense of the job candidate.
As noted in the case study, $13,000 on average is spent to assess every employee before they are even
hired. The process can take up to 2 years from application to starting work with countless hours in
between spent on the many rounds of assessment, trials and interviews. All told, only one in a hundred
applicants ever receives a position.
