5 ms·

The core of the article is buried 60% down: > you have a firm that has lots of lifetime employees who can’t be fired, and whose skills are tailored to what you

The core of the article is buried 60% down: > you have a firm that has lots of lifetime employees who can’t be fired, and whose skills are tailored to what your firm needs rather than to a particular occupational category transferable to any employer > the system only makes sense if the company is also insulated from outside pressure > the J-firm [Japan-style company], run by its employees and largely indifferent to the interests of shareholders, exists simply to continue existing > And that basic impulse toward survival is why Japanese companies are so insistent on diversification. If you’ve made a commitment to keep people employed for life, then you need to create jobs for them if their current jobs stop making sense > If you’re not very worried about profitability, and have lots of well-trained generalist employees, then it makes perfect sense to reinvest your company’s earnings by expanding into new industries

reedf1 4mo ago
The writing is a joy and the context is useful. Hardly buried.
- programjames 4mo ago
  I clicked on the article to learn, "why Japanese companies do so many different things," and then got hit with pages of low-bitrate context, such that my eyes started glazing over and it was difficult to find the answer to the question. So I appreciate their compression, or at least pointing to where the answer is found.
  - thrawa8387336 4mo ago
    Yeah not everyone is a reader these days
    - programjames 4mo ago
      Not only is that implication rude, it's just not true. I am at least in the 95th percentile of amount of reading. I just think the article is poorly written. Not everyone is a good writer these days (or any days).
      - i_am_a_peasant 4mo ago
        the article is pure garbage. most articles are. i love reading but your average article writer is just not a good writer. it’s 90% fluff
  - SubiculumCode 4mo ago
    The answer is much more deep than those bullet points provide. Hard disagree.
  - jimbokun 4mo ago
    TikTok attention span at work.
tyre 4mo ago
Yes, thank you for compressing it. They start their answer with: > Here is the answer I want to suggest: Japanese companies excel in lots of very different domains because it’s inherent in how they’re structured. Which is then backed by some economists saying something similar (generally), but all of which completely ignores Japan’s specific history. As a better example Of examining Japan, here’s a look at Japan’s monopolies, how they were broken up, and partly how that effected the future of their industry: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5_-Ac68FKG4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5_-Ac68FKG4
griffinkelly 4mo ago
One other interesting fact about Japanese companies is that their CEOs get paid far far less than Western companies. Checkout this article that talks about it: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/2010/07/5-lessons-of-japan-s-rock-bottom-ceo-salaries/344948/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/2010/07/5-lessons-of-ja... edit: added article.
- pstuart 4mo ago
  As it should be. The pay gap from CEO to bottom tier worker is now obscene (21 times in 1965 and ~285 today). It's the foxes looking after the henhouses.
  - Aunche 4mo ago
    Not sure why the left cares so much about CEO to work pay ratio these days, especially when Marx himself recognized that ownership was the true source inequality. A CEO is just a really well paid worker. Even CEOs who become billionaires do so from capital appreciation more than compensation.
    - marcosdumay 4mo ago
      Because Marx theories do not hold up to reality, and most people can plainly see it. How is it working for the US to have every company mostly owned by the general public's retirement funds?
      - derektank 4mo ago
        >How is it working for the US to have every company mostly owned by the general public's retirement funds? It’s working quite well for retirees.
      - Aunche 4mo ago
        > Because Marx theories do not hold up to reality Sure, but ownership being the root of inequality was the one thing that he was actually correct about. CEO to worker pay ratio is something that is completely irrelevant. Companies spend orders of magnitude more money on its shareholders (dividends, buybacks, and reinvestment) than executive compensation.

reedf1 4mo ago

The writing is a joy and the context is useful. Hardly buried.

programjames 4mo ago
I clicked on the article to learn, "why Japanese companies do so many different things," and then got hit with pages of low-bitrate context, such that my eyes started glazing over and it was difficult to find the answer to the question. So I appreciate their compression, or at least pointing to where the answer is found.
- thrawa8387336 4mo ago
  Yeah not everyone is a reader these days
  - programjames 4mo ago
    Not only is that implication rude, it's just not true. I am at least in the 95th percentile of amount of reading. I just think the article is poorly written. Not everyone is a good writer these days (or any days).
    - i_am_a_peasant 4mo ago
      the article is pure garbage. most articles are. i love reading but your average article writer is just not a good writer. it’s 90% fluff
- SubiculumCode 4mo ago
  The answer is much more deep than those bullet points provide. Hard disagree.
- jimbokun 4mo ago
  TikTok attention span at work.

tyre 4mo ago

Yes, thank you for compressing it. They start their answer with: > Here is the answer I want to suggest: Japanese companies excel in lots of very different domains because it’s inherent in how they’re structured. Which is then backed by some economists saying something similar (generally), but all of which completely ignores Japan’s specific history. As a better example Of examining Japan, here’s a look at Japan’s monopolies, how they were broken up, and partly how that effected the future of their industry: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5_-Ac68FKG4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5_-Ac68FKG4

griffinkelly 4mo ago

One other interesting fact about Japanese companies is that their CEOs get paid far far less than Western companies. Checkout this article that talks about it: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/2010/07/5-lessons-of-japan-s-rock-bottom-ceo-salaries/344948/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/2010/07/5-lessons-of-ja... edit: added article.

pstuart 4mo ago
As it should be. The pay gap from CEO to bottom tier worker is now obscene (21 times in 1965 and ~285 today). It's the foxes looking after the henhouses.
- Aunche 4mo ago
  Not sure why the left cares so much about CEO to work pay ratio these days, especially when Marx himself recognized that ownership was the true source inequality. A CEO is just a really well paid worker. Even CEOs who become billionaires do so from capital appreciation more than compensation.
  - marcosdumay 4mo ago
    Because Marx theories do not hold up to reality, and most people can plainly see it. How is it working for the US to have every company mostly owned by the general public's retirement funds?
    - derektank 4mo ago
      >How is it working for the US to have every company mostly owned by the general public's retirement funds? It’s working quite well for retirees.
    - Aunche 4mo ago
      > Because Marx theories do not hold up to reality Sure, but ownership being the root of inequality was the one thing that he was actually correct about. CEO to worker pay ratio is something that is completely irrelevant. Companies spend orders of magnitude more money on its shareholders (dividends, buybacks, and reinvestment) than executive compensation.