Conflict and Change: Foreign Ownership and the Japanese Firm

Date: 10 December 2009
Venue: Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 13 - 14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP

Tel: 020 7486 4348
Email: events@dajf.org.uk
Web: http://www.dajf.org.uk
Organiser: The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

What happens to the traditional work practices of Japanese firms when they are taken over by European and American firms?

How do the employees react?

What lessons can be learned from examples of successful and unsuccessful acquisitions?

Ten years ago, such questions would never have been asked, simply because the incidence of take-overs of Japanese firms by foreign companies was virtually non-existent. However, in the past decade, a number of major Japanese companies have come under the control of foreign firms. Conflict and Change focuses on five Japanese companies acquired by foreign firms in the last ten years (including Nissan, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Shinsei Bank) to show how take-overs by foreign companies have changed HR and organisational practices traditionally associated with Japanese firms.