Tag Archives: Japan

Call for Papers: Ageing Societies: Comparing HRM Responses to the Career Expectations of Older Employees in Germany and Japan

Special Issue
Ageing Societies: Comparing HRM Responses to the Career Expectations of Older Employees in Germany and Japan

Keith Jackson, SOAS, University of London and Doshisha University, Japan
Philippe Debroux, Soka University and Chuo University, Japan

The emerging demographic context for the research and practice of human resource management (HRM) is unprecedented. Demographic shift in the form of ‘ageing societies’ has become recognised among academics and policy-makers as a growing economic challenge to organisations globally and to those operating from within so-called ‘developed’ economies in particular. Whereas some emerging economies and, by extension, some nationally-defined labour markets such as Turkey and Indonesia are experiencing rapid population growth and lower average ages among their populations, others such as Germany and Japan are experiencing a sharp fall in indigenous birth rates and simultaneously a rapidly ageing working population. In short, demographic shift in the form of ageing societies has become a key challenge to HRM policy-makers and practitioners across organisational, sectoral, regional, and national boundaries.

In this Special Issue we focus attention on two leading global economies, each giving context to historically comparable HRM systems: Germany and Japan. Each nationally defined system is under pressure to maintain equilibrium by seeking alternative working conditions or end-of-career pathways for older employees. At the national level, the response in each case might translate into policies for targeted immigration, increasing employment and career opportunities for women, or the raising of retirement ages in certain sectors. At an organisational level, HRM responses might become manifest in the re-negotiation of company pension and other compensation and benefit systems or the re-designing of work conditions and / or career pathways for older employees.

The emerging situation is both dynamic and, as stated previously, unprecedented. Consequently, organisations in both Germany and Japan are under pressure to formulate and implement innovative HRM strategies in response to the opportunities and threats to productivity that current global demographic trends are creating.

Call for Contributions
In the broader demographic context of ‘ageing societies’, this Management Revue Special Issue represents an attempt to identify and compare patterns of responses among HRM practitioners and policy-makers in German and Japanese organisations operating and competing across a range of business sectors. For the purpose of continuity across contributions we interpret ‘ageing societies’ as segments of nationally defined labour markets comprising current or potential employees at the age of fifty and over. In the specific context of markets for employment and career development so defined in Germany and Japan, we are looking for contributions on the following themes:

  • Responding to the employment and career expectations of employees aged fifty and over in the German manufacturing sector
  • Responding to the employment and career expectations of employees aged fifty and over in the Japanese manufacturing sector
  • Responding to the employment and career expectations of employees aged fifty and over in German public sector organisations
  • Responding to the employment and career expectations of employees aged fifty and over in Japanese public sector organisations
  • Responding to the employment and career expectations of employees aged fifty and over in German service sector organisations
  • Responding to the employment and career expectations of employees aged fifty and over in Japanese service sector organisations

Notes:
The Editors also welcome expressions of interest from potential contributors offering to write on themes that connect generally with those specified above.

The Editors especially welcome contributions in the form of joint collaborations between German and Japanese HRM researchers and practitioners.

Final contributions will be around 5,000 words in length.

The Editors undertake to provide full editorial support to contributors who are relatively new to preparing contributions for publication in a quality management journal through the medium of international English: initial offers to contribute can be submitted in English, German or Japanese.

Regardless of each contributor’s language of preference, the Editors undertake to engage all contributors in a cross-national dialogue that should both strengthen the cohesion of the discussion across contributions and establish a global network of HRM scholars and practitioners that endures beyond the publication of this Special Issue.

Deadline
Full papers for this Special Edition of ‘Management Revue’ must be with the editors by February 28th, 2015. All submissions will be subject to a double blind review process. Please submit your papers electronically via the online submission system at http://www.management-revue.org/submission/ ‘SI Ageing Societies – HRM’ as article section.

Hoping to hear from you!

Keith Jackson, SOAS, University of London and Doshisha University, Japan
Philippe Debroux, Soka University and Chuo University, Japan

[wochenbericht] DIW Berlin: Sommergrundlinien 2013

Sommergrundlinien 2013
Ferdinand Fichtner, Simon Junker, Guido Baldi, Jacek Bednarz, Kerstin Bernoth, Franziska Bremus, Karl Brenke, Christian Dreger, Hella Engerer, Christoph Große Steffen, Hendrik Hagedorn, Pia John, Philipp König, Dirk Ulbricht, Kristina v. Deuverden

Die deutsche Wirtschaft wird wegen des schwachen Winterhalbjahres in diesem Jahr nur um 0,4 Prozent wachsen. Allerdings dürfte die Schwächephase wohl bereits überwunden sein; im kommenden Jahr wird das Wachstum mit 1,8 Prozent kräftig sein. Die Weltkonjunktur ist wieder auf einen Aufwärtstrend eingeschwenkt; die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in vielen Schwellenländern, aber auch in den USA und Japan hat zuletzt etwas Fahrt aufgenommen, vielerorts unterstützt durch eine expansive Wirtschaftspolitik. Darüber hinaus haben die zur Stabilisierung der Finanzmärkte im Euroraum geschaffenen Instrumente einen spürbaren Rückgang der Unsicherheit mit sich gebracht. Die Arbeitslosigkeit ist aber nach wie vor hoch und die Verschuldung – öffentlich wie auch privat – muss weiter deutlich zurückgeführt werden. Im Euroraum wird die Wirtschaft zunächst weiter schrumpfen, allerdings bei Weitem nicht mehr so stark. Vielerorts zeichnet sich eine Ausweitung der Exporte ab, die zum Teil auch auf eine Verbesserung der preislichen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit zurückzuführen ist. In vielen Krisenländern ist der Abbau von Überkapazitäten merklich vorangeschritten und damit verbundene dämpfende Effekte fallen nach und nach weg. Ab dem Jahreswechsel 2013/14 dürfte die Wirtschaft auch in den Krisenländern wachsen.

DIW Wochenbericht 80(2013) Heft 25 ; S. 3-44

Der Link zum Heft (pdf)

WASEDA Business School: Professor in Business Administration

Faculty Search
WASEDA Business School – Graduate School of Commerce
WASEDA University, Tokyo, Japan

WASEDA Business School (WBS) at WASEDA University in Tokyo, Japan is recruiting a fixed-term faculty member for a contract period of three years.

1. Number of positions and type: One position for a person who is competent to take charge of courses related to Business Administration). Rank (professor, associate professor or assistant professor) will be determined based on the successful candidate’s qualifications and experiences.

2. Commencement of the employment contract: April 1, 2014

3. Contract period: Three years.

4. Salary and benefits: In accordance with the salary scales used by WASEDA University.

5. Content of work:

(1) The standard teaching load is 4/4. (A course [or koma] meets once per week for 90-minutes. There are 15 weeks in a semester.):
a) Courses conducted in English in the MBA Program of WASEDA Business School. If the applicant is fluent in Japanese, then he/she may be requested to take charge of courses offered in Japanese, too.
b) Number of courses: in principle, four per semester.

(2) Participating in other educational and research activities at WBS.

(3) Participating in activities of the WASEDA Business School Research Center.

6. Required qualifications: He/she must be able to deliver courses in English. Additionally, the prospective applicant is required to meet either of the two qualifications indicated below.

(1) Has obtained a doctoral degree in business administration or related field at the time of application.

(2) Will obtain a doctoral degree in business administration or related field by the end of March 2014.

7. Documents to be submitted: (All required forms can be obtained here http://www.waseda.jp/wbs/en/news/130516.html)

(1) Application form (Use the official form provided by WASEDA University.)

(2) Curriculum vitae (Use the official form provided by WASEDA University, and attachphotograph and research achievement list.)

(3) Undergraduate diploma and graduate school certificate of completion

(4) Undergraduate and graduate school transcripts

(5) a) Those who qualify under eligibility 6-(1): Doctoral degree certificate/diploma b) Those who qualify under eligibility 6-(2): Formal letter from the candidate’s doctoral dissertation thesis advisor.

(6) A list of major publications (maximum 20) in academic journals and academic conference presentations with abstracts of about 400 words each. (Note: The doctoral dissertation may be included in the list of major publications.)

(7) Copies of publications (maximum five)

(8) Self-evaluation of Japanese language proficiency and Japanese cultural understanding.

(9) Research plan during the period of employment (Note: The applicant may be requested to submit documents other than those listed above as deemed necessary.)

8. Application deadline: The completed application including the above documents must reach WBS by August 29, 2013.

9. Method of selection: Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview and a mock class session (or a research presentation). Relevant dates will be announced in due course. Cost of travel to and from the interview and other expenses will be borne by the applicants.

10. Notification of results: End of November 2013 (planned)

11. Mailing address for submitting application package (by post or courier service only): Faculty Recruiting Office of WASEDA Business School, WASEDA University 1-6-1 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 169-8050 E-mail Working hours: 9:00 – 17:00 Monday to Saturday

The administrative office is closed on Sundays and Japanese national holidays a) Please write clearly ‘WASEDA Business School Faculty Position Application Forms Enclosed’ on the envelope in red ink. b) Application documents will not be returned. Applicants who wish to have their documents returned must give notice beforehand. c) When the office receives the documents, you will be notified. If you do not receive notice that the office has received your application documents by the end of August,
please contact the office.

12. Information about WASEDA Business School: