Japan: Rethinking Lifetime Employment
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The Democratic Party of Japan rode to victory in a landmark election on Aug. 30 by advancing an ambitious agenda, which includes reassessing Tokyo's relationship with Washington and playing a greater role in international climate talks. But there is one particular plank in its platform that managers—and not just those in Japan—would be wise to reflect upon, just as Peter Drucker did.
Among the DPJ's aims is banning the hiring of temporary workers on factory floors—a nod to the unease that many people in Japan are feeling as the country's decades-old model of "lifetime employment" continues to dissolve (and its labor practices look more and more like those of the U.S.).