Skill Attainment and Employee Orientations to Work Group:

Japanese Journal of Administrative Behavior Volume 10, No. 2, 1996, 67 - 78. mwrfnn^mom^2^9 1996, 67-78.

m

Skill Attainment and Employee Orientations to Work Group: A Japan-U.S. Gender Comparison* Tetsushi Fujimoto (Nanzan University)

This study explores how on-the-job training (OJT) and quality control (QC) circles affect work group orientations among Japanese and American factory employees. By contrasting Koike's skill formation theory (1988) and Nagano's multi-effect hypothesis of job training (1984), it investigates whether the impacts of OJT and QC on group attitudes are conditioned by individual expectations for promotions. The results, based on samples of 2241 Japanese and 3583 American manufacturing workers, suggest that the combination of QC participation and promotion, but not that of OJT and promotion, enhances employees' work group orientations. The provision of promotion opportunities was particularly important to encourage Japanese QC members to become group-oriented. Surprisingly, having promotion expectations reduced the effect of QC on group attitude for women employees. The mechanisms of group work activities in the Japanese workplace, and their implications for maximizing worker effective ness are discussed.

agement is its attempt to harness tacit job skills

Introduction

and latent talents of workers, while aiming to

Since the Japanese management model captured

expand overall knowledge of the organization

(Wood, 1989).

the attention of Western audience in early 1980s,

Koike (1988; Koike and Inoki, 1990) has recently

group processes of work have been a key to under

standing

Japanese

organizations.

Recently,

elaborated on the mechanisms of skill formation

scholars have started to give importance to the

through on-the-job training (OJT) in large Japa

understanding of worker acquisition of skills

nese organizations. While OJT is one of the skill

through group activities on the shop floor. They

attainment apparatuses that have been widely

stress that the striking feature of Japanese man-

the 1994 annual meetings of the American Socio

discussed in organizational research (e.g., Doeringer and Piore, 1971; Althauser and Kalleberg, 1981), researchers have seldom treated it as a group process of work, while acknowledg

logical Association, Los Angeles, CA.

ing co-worker training as an integral part of

* Earlier version of this paper was presented at

This

research was partially assisted by a grant from

on-the-job training. Although Koike himself does

the Joint Committee on Japan Studies of the

not explicitly claim that OJT in Japanese firms is

Social Science Research Council and the Ameri

a group process of work, his analysis suggests

can Council of Learned Societies with funds

that group structures evolve from the process of

provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

OJT.

The author- gratefully acknowledges James

Another group apparatus of skill attainment is

Lincoln for his generous permission to use his

quality-control (QC) circles. In principle, a QC

Special thanks go to

circle is a spontaneously formed, autonomous

Jennifer Glass for her helpful comments and

dataset for this study.

study group, which aims to solve job-related

suggestions.

problems in their work site by using tools of

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m.wamn^%im%2-

sophisticated statistical analysis. The circle mem

Koike and Inoki (1990, p.11), the pattern of OJT in

bers are strongly encouraged to take part in

Japanese factories is described as follows:

Kaizen, or work improvements, which makes

(1) An instructor performs a job, showing the

every worker think like an industrial engineer

trainee how to do it. (2) The trainee performs

(Wood, 1989). QC circles focus on development of

the job under the supervision of the instructor.

leadership skills, improvement of worker morale

(3) The trainee performs the job without the

and motivation, and stimulation of team work (cf. •

instructor's supervision and brings the finished •

Cole, 1979). The assumption is that employees

work to the instructor for comments. (4) The

work in cooperative teams and that their jobs are

trainee performs the job virtually independ

never totally individualized (Wood, 1989).

ently, seeking the instructor's assistance only

While OJT and QC circles are seemingly cultur

when questions arise. (5) The trainee moves on

ally neutral apparatus of workers' skill acquisi

to a slightly more difficult job that is closely

tion, it is possible that management in different

related to the earlier one.

countries structure them quite differently. By the same reasoning, OJT and QC may be structured

'one basis.

quite differently for men and women. Therefore,

women's experiences of OJT and QC may be quite different from men's experiences.

The interaction be

tween the trainer and the trainee is on a one-to-

As described above, although worker training in

As a result,

a specific job area takes place on a person-to-

gender/national differences may emerge in the

person basis, worker rotations between different

ways OJT and QC affect workers.

jobs make the multi-skill learning a group proc

Thus, a systematic examination of the impacts

of OJT and QC on the work attitudes of factory

ess. Koike argues that though workers are gener ally reluctant to moves to other positions or

men and women in the U.S. and Japan elucidates

workshops, in order to reduce this worker reluc

the effectiveness of implementing skill formation

tance, Japanese management "encourages moves

strategies in different socio-cultural settings. The

by promoting to sub-foreman or foreman those

major question addressed here is whether OJT and

who have experienced the most positions in one

QC enhance Japanese and American attitudes

workshop or similar workshop." Thus, prospects

towards work groups. A work group here means

for

a group that is implemented by management in

towards mobility and eagerness to learn a variety

the workplace, such as production line teams. To

of skills.

promotion enhance workers'

willingness

Although Koike's theory is explicitly designed

the extent that OJT and QC involve group proc esses of work, the aim is to assess whether these

to explain skill formation in Japanese factories

job activities similarly

individual

from the human capital perspective, and how the

group orientations in Japan and the United States.

skill acquisition relates to the workers' high

maximize

morale, the theory implicitly contains expecta

Conceptual Framework

tions about the formation of group-oriented atti

This study is guided by two theories that provide

tudes. Clarifying this point requires social psy

potential explanations for how skill attainment

chological assessment of workers' OJT experi

influences a

worker's

attitudes

towards

work

ences and performance evaluations.

First, con

group: Koike's theory of skill acquisition, and

sider the OJT dimension. The three pillars of OJT

Nagano's multi-effect hypothesis of job training.

and their social psychological consequences are:

These theories are briefly reviewed below.

(1) a senior worker assists a novice worker in

Koike's Theory of Skill Acquisition

learning a new skill, through which close interper

Koike (1987) claims that the integration of

sonal relations develop between them. (2) In OJT,

on-the-job training with wide-range moves is the

a worker moves in and between workshops,

source of the workers' high morale. According to

through which the workers' -68-

social networks

Skill Attainment and Employee Orientations to Work Group: A Japan-U.S. Gender Comparison expand. (3) OJT deepens the knowledge of prod

interpersonal job interactions, and b) increased

ucts and production mechanisms on the shop

opportunities for

floor, which causes personal familiarity with the

cover-ups of higher level jobs.

products/production process, and this familiar ity leads to the workers' psychological attachment

strated in his study of Japanese workers that the

to the workplace. Next, consider the evaluation

ity and on non-recipients, was stronger than the

and promotion process dimension. In Japanese

direct effect on the recipient's productivity. Thus,

workplaces, the workers who have experienced

Nagano suggests that at least in Japanese firms

informal training through Nagano demon

effect of job training on organizational productiv

most positions on the shop floor tend to be pro

job training improves not only individual abilities

moted. This suggests two things. First, promo

to perform the job, but also increases organiza

tions presume not only skill mastery but also

tional effectiveness and cohesiveness.

familiarity with other workers.

Second, the

One intriguing implication of the multi-effect

workers who expect promotions tend to exhibit

arguments of job training is that the multiplicity

willingness to acquire wide-range skill areas,

of training effects may not only be in the nature of

thereby their attachment to the workshop in

the effects, but also in their relative magnitude. In

creases.

the case of Nagano's hypothesis, the magnitude of

Thus, Koike's theory implies that skill acquisi

the three training effects may be different for

tion and promotion prospects may be the key

individuals. Therefore, it is

source of Japanese workers' group orientations.

smaller magnitude of one effect may be offset by a

plausible that a

Then, how would workers who experience little

larger magnitude of another. For example, even

OJT/rotations form their attitudes? A logical

when it is unrealistic for a person to expect pro

answer is that such workers are less likely to

motions as an outcome of training, still the per

exhibit group orientation and that their work

son's work morale may be maintained high due to

morale tends to be low.

the shared information in the organization and

Thus, if women exhibit

low morale in their jobs and work groups, for

good human relations at work, for example.

example as many managers argue, this may be

This multi-effect hypothesis of job training

caused by the lack of systematic training like OJT

complements what remains unclear in Koike's

for them.

theory of skill formation. While Koike suggests

The Multi-Effect Hypothesis of Job Training

that the existence of vertical career span encour

The human capital approach to worker training almost exclusively assumes that training maxi

ages employees to attain multiple job skills through training, he fails to acknowledge the case

productivity.

in which one has no prospect for promotions, like

Nagano (1984), however, questions whether job

in the case of women in dead-end jobs. According

mizes

individual

abilities

and

training only affects the recipient of the training.

to Koike's logic, job training does no good for

He proposes three potential effects of in-company

such individuals. If multi-effect hypothesis holds,

job training: 1) the direct effect on the recipient's

however, the net effect of job training may be the

productivity, 2) the effect on organizational pro

same for workers who have different levels of

ductivity, and 3) the effect on non-recipient's

promotional prospects.

productivity. The effect on organizational produc

Summary

tivity, according to Nagano, has three compo

We have seen two conceptual models that pro

nents: a) increased levels of information sharing in the organization, b) enhancement of worker

might affect workers' group attitudes.

commitment to the organization, and c) smooth

skill formation theory implies two things: group

ing of human relations in the organization. The

orientation could be stronger among the workers

vide potential explanations for how job training Koike's

effects on non-recipient of training is constituted

(1) whose jobs require OJT, and (2) who expect

by a) spillover of training contents through

promotions. Koike, however, fails to discuss how

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mwnmn^miomm2workers who are out of the promotion track, and to work. A key implication that flows from his

communications). While promotion expectations would boost the positive effect of QC on group orientations, even if the member does not expect

reasoning is that American workers involved in

promotions, QC membership itself should en

intellectual skill formation processes like OJT,

hance his or her work group orientations.

those with a job that requires little OJT, may react

with proper promotional incentives, should ex

hibit work motivation and group consciousness as strong as those of their Japanese counterparts. By

Methodology Data

the same reasoning, women workers under OJT

with promotion prospects should be

group-

oriented to the same extent as their men counter

The data used in this study come from the U.S.

Japan comparative research conducted by James

Lincoln and Arne Kalleberg between 1981-1983 (for

details, see Lincoln and Kalleberg, 1990). The

parts.

In contrast, the multi-effect hypothesis of job

effective sample size was 4,567 in the U.S. and 3,735

training suggests that job training has multiple

in Japan. Sixteen percent of the total population

facets, and that they exert different influences on

in the Japanese sample was female (N = 594) and

workers. Furthermore, the magnitude of the

26% fell into this category in the American sample

effects of different training facets may vary across

(N = 1,194). The manufacturing plants they stud

individuals. The multi-effect hypothesis implicitly

ied were located in central Indiana (mostly the

suggests that promotion may not necessarily be

Indianapolis metropolitan area) and in the Atsugi

the only catalyst for effective OJT, and that the

area of Kanagawa prefecture.

absence of promotional prospects may be offset by

have a similar industry distribution and they are

the presence of other potential benefits obtained

comparable in degrees of urbanization, proximity

from OJT Thus drawing on the multi-effect hy

to major cities, etc.

pothesis, one could argue that promotion expecta

These two areas

One weakness of the data is that information

tions increase the positive effect of OJT on work

comes exclusively from manufacturing workers in

group attitudes. Yet, even when one has slight

restricted areas of the United States and Japan.

promotional prospects, having a sense of accom

While OJT and QC are introduced not only in

plishment and learning new things in one's job,

manufacturing but also in service industries, for

for example, may increase the positive effect of

example, it is possible that the structural arrange

OJT.

ments of these

Thus, if Koike's argument holds true, experi

work

industrial sectors.

activities

differ

between

Therefore, one ought to be

ences of OJT would increase employees' work

cautious that the effects of OJT and QC for manu

group orientations only when they expect promo

facturing workers may be different from those for

tions. On the other hand, if the multi-effect argu

workers from other industries.

ment holds true, while promotion expectations

weakness is not trivial, I do not believe it seriously

would increase the positive OJT effect, OJT by

impairs the positive contribution this data can

itself should also have a positive impact on work

make to our cross-national/gender understand

group orientations. This logic would apply not

ing of the occupational psychological process.

only to OJT but also to QC participation. Koike

Measures

would argue that employees instrumentally view

Dependent Variables

Although this

Work Group Orientations Work group orienta

QC, and therefore the provision of promotion opportunities is necessary to encourage QC mem

tions were measured by two separate items: (1)

bers to become group-oriented. In contrast, one

Group work preference: "When I have a choice, I

could claim based on the multi-effect model that

being a QC member has its own merit (e.g., sense

try to work in a group instead of by myself." (2) Group priority: "I try to do my best for my work

of belongingness,

group even if it costs me." (Both items are coded

opportunities

for

informal

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Skill Attainment and Employee Orientations to Work Group: A Japan-U.S. Gender Comparison as 1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree)

variable measuring respondent's yearly earnings. In constructing the proxy, the original earnings

Independent Variables i ) Job-related Characteristics:

were regressed on the respondents' firm identifica

Perceived Importance of OJT measures

the

tion number, job rank, age, marital status, educa

importance of OJT experience as a source of job

tion, and tenure.

skills (0 = never had, 1 = not at all important, ... 5 = very important).

separately performed for each gender/national

This multiple regression was

ity combination. The variance in the dependent

QC Circle Participation was measured by the

variable explained by these predictors was .64 for

following dummy code: 1 = worker participates,

Japanese men, .47 for Japanese women, .49 for

0 = worker does not participate, or there is no QC

American men, and .42 for American women

program in the factory.

sample. Based on the coefficients obtained from

Promotion Expectations was measured by the

following binary code: 1 = expect promotion, 0 =

these regressions, proxy income was computed for

each gender/nationality group.

do not expect promotion.

Means, standard deviations, and the minimum-

Team Work Requirement was tapped by a single

maximum ranges of the variables used in the

item: "I must work closely with others to do my

analysis are presented in Appendix 1.

job well." (1 = strongly disagree, ... 5 = strongly agree)

Statistical Procedure

Tenure was measured by the number of years

The basic re

gression model to be estimated for each gender/

employed at the present firm. Job Rank and functional

The statistical data analysis consisted of a

sequence of multiple regressions.

department

were

measured by the following dummy codes: 1 =

nationality combination employed two separate measures of work group orientation as the de

manager or supervisor, 0 = worker; 1 = line or

pendent variable: group work preference and

technical production, 0 = other

group priority.

ii) Organizational Characteristics:

A regression model was esti

mated for a pooled sample of men and women in

Firm Size was tapped by the number of employ

each country.

Work group orientations were

regressed on OJT importance and QC participa

ees in the plant. Vertical Differentiation was measured by a

tion, promotional expectations, along with a

count of the number of authority levels from the

vector of controls including gender. Similarly, a

chief executive to the employees working on the

regression model was estimated for a pooled

shopfloor.

sample of each gender pooled from the two coun

Unionization was measured by the following

tries. To jointly test the Koike's and the multi-

dummy code: 1 = union contract in effect, 0 = no

effect arguments, the analysis focused on 1) the

unions,

main effect of OJT, and 2) the two-way interaction

in) Demographic Characteristics:

effects of OJT/QC and promotion expectations.

Gender, nationality, and marital status were

In order to examine the universality of these two

measured according to the following dichotomous

contrasting arguments, the three-way interactions

codes: 1 = female, 0 = male; 1 = Japanese, 0 =

of OJT/QC, promotion, and gender/nationality

American; 1 = married, 0 = unmarried.

were tested.

Education was tapped by a 6-point scale, where

1 = elementary, 2 = some high school, 3 = high school graduate, 4 = some college, 5 = college

Results

Results of Group Work Preference

The results for models of group work preference

graduate, 6 = more than B.A. Income was measured by a proxy variable. A

for Japanese and American employees are pre

proxy of income had to be used because of a

sented in Table 1. For American employees, QC

serious missing cases problem in the original

exhibited a positive main effect (b = .16, p < .001),

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Table 1

Unstandardized Coefficients (Standard Errors) Obtained from Multiple Regression of Group Work Preference for Japanese and American Employees: Testing Koike's Model and the Multi-Effect Hypothesis Group Work Preference

Japanese (N = 2241) (1) Gender

Job Rank

Tenure

*Vertical Differentiation

Unions

.09f

.09f

(.08)

(.08)

(.08)

(.05)

(.05)

(.05)

.04

.04

.04

(.07)

(.07)

(.07)

.01

.01

.01

(.00)

(.00)

(.00)

QC Participation

(.07)

.05

.05

(.04)

(.04)

.24***

(.07) -.01

(.00) .23**

(.08) .08***

(.02)

.24***

(.07) -.01

(.00) .23**

(.08) .08***

(.02)

(.00) .23**

(.08) .08***

(.02)

.01

.01

.00

.00

.00

(.02)

(.02)

(.02)

(.02)

(.02)

.09

.09

.09

.00

.00

.00

(.07)

(.07)

(.07)

(.05)

(.05)

(.05)

.14 ~

.14***

(.02)

(.02)

.10*

-.15

(.06)

(.16)

(.06)

.01

.00

.00

(.02)

(.02)

(.02) -.09

-.15*

(.07)

(.06)

.19***

(.02) -.03

(.04) .03f

(.02) .14***

(.04)

—

—

-.11

(.17) .03

(.02) .16***

(.05)

—

—

(.05)

(.05) .24f (.13)

—

.19***

(.02)

.03

(.05) .03f

(.02) .16***

(.04) —

—

(.09) .03

—

—

—

(.03)

(.20)

-.36*

.00 —

-.03

-.06

.10 —

.19***

(.02)

.03

-.03

.

-.01

.01

—

OJT * Promotion * Gender

.24***

(.07)

(.02)

(.06)

QC * Promotion

R2

-.08

(.07)

.05

-.09

OJT * Promotion

QC * Promotion * Gender

-.08

(.04)

.llf

OJT Importance

(3)

.09f

(.02)

Promotion Expectations

(2)

.17*

.14 ***

Team Work Requirement

(1)

.17*

(.07)

Fim Size/1000

American (N == 3583) (3)

.17*

-.08

Production

(2)

—

—

—

(.90)

.03

.03

.07

. .07

(.18) .07

NOTE: Equations control for employees' education, marital status, and income,

t p < .10 ;

* p < .05 ;

** p < .01 ;

*** p < .001

but the interaction effect was not significant. Note

interaction effect of QC and promotion was .24 and

that the three-way interaction of QC, promotion,

significant at the .10 level (Model 2). This means

and gender was negative and statistically signifi

that while being a member of a QC circle by itself

cant for Americans (b = —.36, p