roductivity of the Japanese is very high compared to that of Arabs, which explains the rise of Asian countries in the 1960s and 1970s, the same period when Arab countries embarked on their economic and social development, but lagged behind as far as the advancements of many Asian countries, such as Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and later China, are considered.
So what are the reasons behind this underdevelopment despite the availability of all the components needed by Arab countries? What is even more baffling is that Arabs have far more human and physical resources than their Asian counterparts, especially energy, such as oil, gas and other minerals exported from the Arab region to Asia annually.
This article will focus on Japan, a country that has achieved peak productivity, creativity, quality and industrial intelligence in many vital areas for humankind. There are several reasons behind the progress witnessed in Japan, including the fact that despite juggling many tasks, families in Japan are concerned with two main things in their daily lives — continuous productivity and education process at all levels.
It is a well-known fact that work is the engine and internal motivator for a Japanese worker, and perhaps one of the strongest driving forces of high productivity in this country over the past decades. Life in Japan is very organised and characterised by intensive work and high achievement in every discipline, which is the same practice in many other industrial Asian countries that followed the Japanese way of life and work from the onset.
The goal of all this is to provide comfort to their citizens, while keeping pace with development. With a population of 130 million, Japan has provided all means of transportation for its citizens to reach their workplaces in a timely manner.
What also sets the Japanese apart is that they work long hours, sometimes up to 60 hours per week, exceeding the legal limit by 10 to 20 hours a week (the number of official working hours in Japan is 40 hours per week in addition to a two-day weekend). This has caused many Japanese to suffer from fatigue at work, prompting intervention of the government by specifying daily office hours and providing incentives for those who leave their work on time. This has led Japan to reach advanced levels in production, processing and development in all economic sectors.
In Japan, managers focus on cooperation among themselves and creating the principle of harmony on which the management is based. They do not give orders to employees and workers in the lower grades or act condescendingly around them. This helps everyone to come up with creative ideas and increase productivity in daily work without embarrassing employees. Moreover, the bottom-up decision of institutions leads to the achievement of positive results with socioeconomic effects on workers.
Job rotation in Japan is very low due to the loyalty of Japanese to their organisations the moment they join, where they stay until retirement. On the other hand, the organisations provide them with job security they need for the rest of their lives. This is why Japan has the highest individual productivity, putting it in the league of countries that achieved success in multiple disciplines. Although productivity elements in Japan are numerous, the human element comes first. Japanese citizens managed to excel by virtue of good education, fluency in native language, good practice of governance and management, fight against corruption and instilling the culture of hard work.
Japan has a strict system in the application of laws and labour regulations and the stimulation of creativity and innovation, which are the main factors that have led to increased productivity of the individual. This is what we miss in the public and private institutions of Arab countries, especially when it comes to productivity, refusing dependency, taking responsibility, conducting scientific research, fighting corruption and choosing the right man for the right job.
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