Implimentasi budaya kerja Jepun dalam organisasi di Malaysia (The implementation of the Japanese work ethics in a Malaysian organization)

Abstract

Dasar Pandang ke Timur telah diperkenalkan pada tahun 1982 bertujuan untuk mencontohi pembangunan pesat negara-negara di timur seperti Jepun dan Korea. Kaizen merupakan budaya kerja orang Jepun yang diterapkan dalam sesebuah organisasi dan sangat penting untuk meningkatkan mutu kerja, penciptaan inovasi, pengurusan kerja yang efektif dan menghadapi pesaing. Kajian ini menilai sejauhmanakah kaizen diterapkan dalam syarikat Jepun di Malaysia dengan menggunakan kaedah temubual mendalam untuk mendapatkan maklumat dengan bekas pegawai kerajaan yang pernah berkhidmat di Jepun, bekas alumni serta pekerja kilang Sony di Pulau Pinang. Hasil temubual mendalam dengan 15 informan utama mendapati bahawa sebahagian prinsip kaizen telah berjaya diterapkan oleh pekerja dan organisai Malaysia seperti dalam hal memastikan kualiti dan produktiviti mencapai sasaran, pengurusan masa, mengaplikasikan sistem 5S (Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu dan Shitsuke), pengurusan aduan yang sistematik, dan konsep rin-gi. Bagaimanapun, terdapat tanggapan bahawa pekerja akan mendapat lebih imbuhan jika ketua mereka adalah sebangsa. Malah wujud tanggapan bahawa pangkat atasan adalah untuk orang Jepun sahaja walaupun pekerja tempatan mahir berbahasa Jepun. Kesimpulannya, selepas percubaan selama lebih tiga dekad, aplikasi budaya kerja Jepun tidak sepenuhnya berlaku dalam organisasi di negara masyarakat majmuk seperti Malaysia.

Katakunci: Dasar Pandang ke Timur, inovasi, Kaizen, masyarakat majmuk, pengurusan organisasi, produktiviti

Look East Policy was introduced in 1982 aims to emulate the rapid development of Eastern countries such as Japan and Korea. Kaizen is the Japanese working culture that is applied within an organization and it is very important to improve the quality of work, innovation, and efficient management of work, competitors, and energy. This study evaluates the extent to which Kaizen was applied in Japanese companies located in Malaysia, through the method of in-depth interviews with 15 strategic informants comprising former government officials who had served in Japan, alumni, and former Sony factory workers in Penang. Findings of the study revealed that a great proportion of the kaizen principles had been successfully implemented in the Malaysia-based organization such as those pertaining to the achievement of productivity and quality targets, time management, the application of the 5S (Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu dan Shitsuke) and the rin-gi, and the systematic management of complaints. However, there were the perceptions among workers that they would avail themselves of greater advantages if their leader was of the same ethnic or race, just as Japanese personnels had a greater advantage in securing promotion to higher echelons than non-Japanese even if the non-Japanese were proficient in Japanese. In conclusion, after more than three decades of experimentation, the organisational application of the Japanese work ethics was only partial a multi-racial society like Malaysia.

Keywords: Look East Policy, innovation, Kaizen, organizational management, multi-racial society, productivity