Times Online – World — Maybe they do here too. Just look at the Dilbert cartoon for examples of the genre.
THE rapid spread of Western business practices in Japan has caused widespread mental illness and is responsible for a deepening demographic crisis, government officials say.
Statistics indicate that 60 per cent of workers suffer from “high anxiety” and that 65 per cent of companies report soaring levels of mental illness.
Meanwhile, the size of the Japanese population is shrinking, and for the first time the Government has acknowledged that the falling birth rate is linked to job-related factors. Directors of the Japanese Mental Health Institute blame the same factors for rising levels of depression among workers and the country’s suicide rate, which remains the highest among rich nations.
Merit-based pay and promotion are of particular concern because they are at odds with the traditional system, built on seniority
That’s the main reason I’m not too keen on living.
The major problem in Japan isn’t the western business practices themselves, it is the chronic overwork, long days, and long weeks that are commonplace in the country. On average the japanese work far longer in a given week than Americans do.
We do fail to balance our professional lives. Try doing business in Spain. They’ll set up a meeting in a restaurant, show up two hours late drunk, and insist on eating for two hours before even discussing business. It sets Americans nuts. Much of Europe is more laid back about business. The Germans love to get Americans in a room with 20 employees smoking those strong Turkish tobacco cigarettes. That’s the way it was a few years ago, I’m out the loop now thank God.
The Japanese are an intense lot, in a society still very much flavored by the Samurai mindset. Samurai warriors encounter difficulties adapting to the corporate world, and seppukku (sic?) is the traditional Japanese response to failure, either real or perceived.