Subtextual gendering processes : a study of Japanese retail firms in Hong Kong

This study examines equal opportunities for women employees in two Japanese-owned (Tairo and Okadaya) retail companies in Hong Kong. This paper initially discusses the various explanations for gender inequality put forward by scholars. Since the equal opportunity legislation - specifically Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO) - was introduced in Hong Kong in 1996, little research can explain as to why gender inequality persists. The issue can altematively be understood by examining the subtextual gendering processes. Concealed gendering processes (re)produce gender inequality based on hegemonic power, through structural, cultural, interaction and identity arrangements. Accounts of female staff at various hierarchies reveal that they are subject to these organizational and individual arrangements at various extent under the cover of SDO which was claimed to be implemented in the companies

The motives of Hong Kong-Japanese international joint ventures

This paper attempts to study Hong Kong-Japanese joint ventures from the perspectives of firm-specific advantages provided by both partners. The analysis focuses on the local partner\u27s perspective of establishing international joint ventures (IJVs) with a Japanese multinational retailer. First, the background of the local partner, especially the company’s organizational restructuring immediately before the formation of the IJVs is examined. Second, the development and consolidation of the IJVs between the two partners by a series of IJV activities in Hong Kong, Asia, and China is described. Third, the motives behind both partners to establish the IJVs are examined. Finally, an evaluation of the IJVs of whether the IJVs have fulfilled the local partner’s motives is conducted. It is found that the IJVs have provided an opportunity for the local partner to overcome the increasing Japanese competition in the Hong Kong retail sector since the mid-1980s. Nevertheless, the local partner needs to overcome many management problems resu1ted from the IJVs partnership which may have hindered the local partner to achieve its objectives in the IJVs

A study of employment system of Japanese multinational retailers in Hong Kong

This study examines the employment system of Japanese multinational retailing corporations in Hong Kong through two case companies - Morioka and Okadaya. The human resource management (HRM) practices – recruitment and selection, remuneration, and training and development - of the companies are studied. The different HRM practices applied to different groups of employees within each case company are compared using an employment systems model. The employment system is structured and mu1ti-layered. The development of the structured employment system is then analysed in relation to the cultural and sectoral factors. It is shown that the cultural characteristics of the Japanese parent companies can only explain the ethnocentric management approach used in which Japanese personnel are employed in the internal labour marker (ILM) and local employees are employed outside the ILM. Economic and labour market conditions in both parent and host countries and sectoral characteristics have also contributed to the stratification of the employment system among the local employees. The implications of this study are that the long-term development of Japanese multinational retailers will be weakened if the structured employment system persist

Employment strategy : comparing Japanese and British retail companies in Hong Kong

This study examines and compares the employment strategy used by Japanese and British retail companies in Hong Kong. Hendry\u27s (1995) structured employment systems model is adopted as the theoretical framework for this research. Three case companies - Morioka and Okadaya (Japanese-owned) and Supercom (British-owned) - are studied regarding what employment strategies they have adopted to expand in the Hong Kong, and to adjust to the changing consumer market. The evidence shows that the Japanese companies adopt more structured employment systems employing more employee groups than the British company. Both Japanese companies vary employment practices to different employee groups on the basis of national origins, hierarchy, employment status and gender. Furthermore, skills/profession is also used in Okadaya to differentiate employment practices. Supercom mainly varies employment practices on hierarchy and employment status. Therefore, five to six groups of employees are identified in the Japanese companies, while two to three employee groups are identified in Supercom

Collective myopia as the blocking mechanism to organizational learning

This study aims to identify the blocking n1echanisms for Japanese expatriate managers to acquire double-loop organizational learning in their international assignments. Two Japanese multinational department stores - Morioka and Chubuya - were studied in Japan to illustrate how the Japanese expatriate managers were trapped by the collective myopia. The major blocking mechanisms identified are common Japanese practices which include parent company community spirit, dozoku inhabitants, parent company\u27s translators, and desire for normality. The modes or frames of mind and thinking of these Japanese practices prevent the Japanese expatriates from moving up the organizational learning to achieve the corporate objective of internationalization

Organisational learning through international assignment in Japanese overseas companies

Existing literature on expatriate managers tends to focus on their adjustment from the point of view of individual well-being. This paper, in pointing out that international assignments are an opportunity to internationalise the company through a learning process, has a different emphasis. Japanese companies tend to employ many Japanese expatriate managers in overseas locations. The development of cross-cultural adaptation among expatriate Japanese managers in two retail subsidiary companies in Hong Kong was studied. In both companies, the expatriates learned reactively rather than proactively, involving either zero or single-loop organisational learning ensued for the parent company. The reactive learning approach stemmed from expatriates perceiving their career prospects related more to events back at the parent company than to the success or failure of the local subsidiary, and that it might be harmful to their career if they internationalise themselves during the overseas assignment

A study on employees retraining programmes in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has experienced an economic transformation from a manufacturing-based to a service-based economy which has impacted on the demand for manual labour. In 1992, Employee Retraining Board was set up to provide employees retraining programmes to the unemployed manual workers. This study focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of the programmes in helping the unemployed manual workers to acquire and develop knowledge, skills and abilities so that they can re-enter the labour market. The evaluation is based on assessment of training needs, course design in terms of programme structure and content, course evaluation, and follow-up services conducted by the selected training bodies. It is found that the overall effectiveness of the overall programme is low. The official indicators - participation rate and job placement rate - used by the training bodies tend to provide rnisleading evaluation results

Employee casualisation in department stores in Hong Kong

This study examines the pattern of employee casualisation in two Japanese and a British department stores in Hong Kong. A number of employee categories can be identified in these companies according to the model of the ‘flexible firm’. These companies employed four major casualisation strategies which reflected their culture and business strategies. During the economic good times, the Japanese companies tended to casualise more local staff due to the fact that they preferred to use ethnocentric management overseas. However, during the economic downturn, all companies used casualisation for cost-minimisation as a major business strategy for survival. This study implies that casualisation strategies have enabled retailers to increase flexibility. Furthermore, as there are more unemployed workers with the necessary skills are available in the labour market during economic downturn, it is more possible for firms to adopt casualisation. Thus, the condition of the labour market can also influence firms\u27 employment strategies

The strategy in the use of contingent workers in Hong Kong : case studies in retail firms

The research studies the strategy in the use of contingent employment in four retail firms - three Japanese and one British - in Hong Kong under different economic conditions, and the purposes of the use of contingent employment. From the data of in-depth qualitative case studies, it is found that the four case firms had different organisational responses to the economic conditions from the increase of sales before the Asian financial crisis and the shrinkage of sales after the crisis, notwithstanding these firms face similar contextual environment of Hong Kong. One of such responses is the companies \u27 employment policies especially in their use of contingent workers. Some companies tend to have an ad hoc opportunistic response in the use of contingent workers, whilst some tend to be more strategic and had a long-term planning in their labour utilization strategy. Implications are drawn to relate the company’s responses in the use of contingent employment to the changes in the contextual environment regarding the company\u27s long-term developn1ent

Gender inequities after the implementation of equal opportunities legislation : a study of Japanese retail firms in Hong Kong

This study examines equal opportunities for women employees in two four retail companies in Hong Kong; two of the companies Japanese-owned (Tairo and Okadaya). Research conducted in Hong Kong shows that gender inequality persists in the workplace. This paper initially examines various explanations for gender inequality put forward by scholars. Since EO legislation - the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO) - was introduced in Hong Kong in 1996, little research has done to explain why gender inequality persists after SDO has been implemented. It can be understood though by examining the gendering processes experienced by individual employees. Concealed gendering processes (re)producing gender segregation and inequality based on hegemonic power, institutional, structural, interaction and identity -arrangements are identified. Several gendering processes - \u27sticky floor\u27 and glass ceiling, token positions in top management, passive adherence to equal employment opportunities legislation, a dominant perception of gender equality, and gendered career paths - are identified in the case organisations