Comparison of Human Resource Management between the Pharmaceutical and Electrical Industries in Japan

Toshiko Suda

This research compares human resource management (HRM) in the pharmaceutical and electrical industries in Japan and finds differences between the two industries. In the pharmaceutical industry, both Japanese-owned and foreign-owned firms are moving toward a western type of HRM. In the electrical industry, foreign-owned firms apply a western type of HRM, but Japanese-owned firms continue to use a Japanese type of HRM. The research then analyzed these differences based on institutional entrepreneurship. In the pharmaceutical industry, western-owned large pharmaceutical firms, as the main actors in the global market, act as institutional entrepreneurs. In the electrical industry, whereas western-owned firms introduced a western type of HRM, Japanese-owned firms maintain a Japanese type of HRM; both western- and Japanese-owned firms are the main actors in this global market. These different HRM approaches reflect the competitive power balance in the global market of the two industries.

DOI : https://doi.org/10.21102/wjm.2017.03.81.13