Product Description

This book examines employment structure, working practice and recruitment strategies in Japanese retail in the 1990s through a case-study of one large chain store.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2848659 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

From the Back Cover
The 1990s saw dramatic change in the Japanese corporate sector, as the bubble economy ended and Japan moved into recession. The employment practices of many companies are changing as they struggle to restructure and avoid bankruptcy. This book examines shifts in employment structure, working practice and recruitment strategies in Japanese retail, through a case study of one major chain store, Nagasakiya. It reviews the company's attempts to cope with the challenges of deregulation, intensifying competition and falling consumption, which have combined to create a climate in which some major Japanese retail companies may fail to survive.
Issues discussed in the book include gender in the workplace; changing notions of corporate community; and the impact of Japan's recent recession. Through the unique insight gained during fieldwork as an employee of Nagasakiya, Matsunaga explores the impact of these changes on recruitment and training processes, as well as on company-employee and inter-employee relations. In particular, the research presented here focuses on the increasing numbers of part-time female staff in Japanese retail. It challenges the conventional view of such staff, who have often outlasted their senior male colleagues, as peripheral to the workforce, and asks whether a re-think of `the Japanese employment system' is now overdue.
The Changing Face of Japanese Retail provides a fascinating insight into changing employment practices in Japanese retail. It is a valuable and accessible resource for students and academics in Japanese Studies, Anthropology, Business Studies and Women's Studies.