Japanese Multinationals Abroad : Individual and Organizational Learning

This book brings together research on the spread of Japanese multinational firms around the world. The authors' research includes firms operating in the United States, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Italy, as well as countries in Southeast Asia. The continuing success of these firms provides a model for other countries and firms to understand and emulate.

The contributors in this book demonstrate how Japanese multinationals manage the people in their overseas operations, which has wide-ranging implications for multinational performance as well as the performance of the local economies in which they operate. For example, when Japanese managers find a cultural conflict with local workers, they must learn to find ways to overcome this conflict in order for the local affiliate to succeed. In these pages, the authors draw conclusions that can be applied to multinational firms in other countries that are expanding into different cultures.

Schon Beechler is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University and Director of the Columbia Senior Executive Program.
Allan Bird is Professor of International Management and head of the Global Strategy & Law Area in the College of Business at California Polytechnic State University