University of Tokyo

Abstract
Survey Number 0077
Survey Title Survey on Management among Small and Medium-sized Enterprises under the Global Economy (Manufacturing Industry, Non-manufacturing Industry), 1997
Depositor JTUC Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards
(Former Name:Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards)
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Summary The environment surrounding medium- and small-sized companies is becoming severer as Japan's industrial structure changes and restructuring proceeds. This survey was conducted in order to capture (1) the extent of globalization as indicated, for example, by parent companies' overseas operation, (2) the effects of globalization on wages and working conditions as well as on training and transmission of skills (a factor which has supported the manufacturing industry), and (4) problems of globalization. As such, this survey is in line with the series of management surveys we have conducted on business relations and working hours, high skills at small and midsize manufacturers, and wage determination at small and midsize companies.
Data Type quantitative research
quantitative research: micro data
Universe Small and midsize companies in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries.
Unit of Observation Organization
Sample Size [Manufacturers' Questionnaire]
4,104 companies sampled; 642 responses (rate: 15.9%)
[Non-Manufacturers' Questionnaire]
3,600 companies sampled; 310 responses (rate: 8.6%)
Date of Collection 1997-07 ~ 1997-08
[Manufacturers' Questionnaire] July, 1997
[Non-Manufacturers' Questionnaire] August, 1997
Time Period 1997 ~ 1997
Spatial Unit iwate
gunma
tokyo
kanagawa
niigata
nagano
shizuoka
osaka
okayama
For the manufacturing industry, we chose the following areas in which smaller companies are concentrated: Kitakami City in Iwate Prefecture; Ota City in Gunma Prefecture; Ohta Ward in Tokyo; Kawasaki City in Kanagawa Prefecture; Nagaoka City in Niigata Prefecture; Ina City, Suwa City, Okaya City, and Sakaki-machi in Nagano Prefecture; Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture; Higashi-Osaka City and Yao City in Osaka; and Okayama City in Okayama Prefecture.
Sampling Procedure The Manufacturers' Questionnaire was directed to a total of 4,041 companies (the 95 firms which had responded to the Survey of Skill Formation at Small and Midsize Manufacturers in May, 1994, and 3,086 others which JTUC-RIALS had picked out from the manufacturers with more than 10 but less than 300 employees in the concentrated areas listed above. The Non-Manufacturers' Questionnaire was directed to a total of 3,600 companies which hire less than 100 employees.
Mode of Data Collection Questionnaires were distributed and collected (by mail) by JTUC and JTUC-RIALS.
Investigator Japanese Trade Union Confederation and JTUC (Rengo) Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards
DOI 10.34500/SSJDA.0077
Sponsors (Funds)
Related Publications (by the Investigator) JTUC (May 15, 1998) Rengo 107.
Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis)
Documentation [Chosa-hyo]
Major Survey Items [Manufacturers' Questionnaire]
Basic items:
Environment of major establishment (population under local government, local characteristics, local industrial concentration); industry; capital; year business began; number of employees 5 years ago and at present, sense of sufficiency; with or without a parent company; customers and operations; major product's outlet and competitors; with or without a union.
Questionnaire items:
[Business trends] Changes in output/shipment values (as compared to 3 years
ago); management issues at stake; business outlook 5 years from now; changes in progress of globalization (as compared to 5 years ago); effects of globalization on domestic employment; corporate characteristics R is proud of, and corporate characteristics likely to be important in the future.
[Skills] Required duties for skilled workers?; (if yes) duties; condition of skilled work force (age groups, number of years required, share in total regular work force, sufficiency); methods of transmitting, cultivating, and training skills; obstacles to skill transmission, cultivation, and training; future outlook of skills; future measures for shortage of skilled workers; ratio of R&D expenses.
[Wages] Wage raise for this year (as compared with general standards, as compared to last year, as related to business performance and payment capacity, influencing factors, general review); availability of wage tables; availability of a periodic pay raise system; ability to provide the level for 35-year-old regular male workers with high school diploma; initial hourly wages for regular male employees with high school diploma and part-time workers; average wage level as compared with large firms; (if lower) reasons; future trends; possible revision of R's current wage system; (if yes) worker's qualities emphasized.
[Working hours] Obstacles to shorter hours; requests for improvement in business relations for promoting shorter hours; orders with temporal difficulties; effects of such orders on hours; fixed hours.
[Employment] Employment adjustment measures (implemented in past year, to be implemented for next year); securing human resources (types of human resources under use and to become important in the future); R's ideas about employment.
Date of Release 1999/09/20
Topics in CESSDA Click here for details

Working conditions
Business/industrial management and organisation
Topics in SSJDA Economy/Industry/Management
Employment/Labor
Version 1 : 1999-09-20
Notes for Users Data Sets are written in Japanese.