Abstract: This study conducted a survey on Human Resource Management in Indian Manufacturing Firms in the first half of 2021 to examine the extent to which Japanese-style management practices have been transferred to Japanese manufacturing subsidiaries operating in India. The survey findings indicate that Japanese firms have transferred certain elements of Japanese-style management to their Indian operations. Regression analysis was employed to investigate the relationship between the degree of adoption of Japanese management practices and firm productivity. The results reveal that Japanese-style employment practices aimed at multi-skilling blue-collar workers are positively correlated with productivity. In contrast, Japanese-style production methods—such as building quality into the production line through sophisticated equipment and processes—are found to be negatively correlated with productivity.
About the speakers: Takahiro Sato is Professor and Deputy Director at the Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University. He earned his PhD in Economics from Osaka City University in 2002, and holds BA and MA degrees in Commerce from Doshisha University. His research focuses on industrial development, productivity dynamics, and foreign direct investment, with a particular emphasis on India’s manufacturing sector. Sato has published extensively in international journals such as The Developing Economies, Pacific Economic Review, and Economic and Political Weekly. His work bridges empirical economic analysis with policy-relevant insights on technology diffusion, supply chains, and economic transformation in Asia.