Suggestion rates and sociotechnical systems in Japanese versus American factories: beyond quality circles

Available information for two samples of factory organizations on the US and Japan are compared. Japanese factories are found to differ systematically from those in America in terms of several characteristics. These include marketing outputs, input of materials, machine automation, methods of production, human resource development, motivating incentives, and willingness to work. Moreover, available data suggest that the Japanese plants are outperforming those in the American sample. It is proposed that one reason is the higher rate of suggestions by employees in Japan. Causes and consequences of suggestion rates in the two nations are studied