Daniel Roos
I'm very optimistic. I'm optimistic for several reasons. Reason number one is we still have a technological advantage, and technology is extremely important. Optimistic because this is an international culture in this country. We come from many nationalities and many races and religions, and that's going to be absolutely key in the future in terms of people working with one another. That's a big problem in Japan. It's a culture that has not had this diversity. We raise that question in the book. This is not a book that just says Japan is good. There are some serious problems that Japan is going to have to figure out in terms of the future.
00:54:58
Brian Lamb
As a matter of fact, I wanted to ask you about that. What other problems besides the fact that we are a very diverse culture and they're very homogeneous? Are there other problems about the way they do business?
00:55:07
Daniel Roos
Well, they're a culture going through transition. All of the customs of the past which have influenced how the Japanese society operates -- for example, living at the company -- are being questioned at this point in time. Japan has to go through a fundamental re-examination of its role as a society and as a world citizen.
00:55:34
Brian Lamb
You also say that in the seniority system, if you're 23 and 45 and doing the same job, the 45 year old makes significantly more than the 23 year old?
00:55:43
Daniel Roos
Yes, that's correct.
00:55:43
Brian Lamb
And if you leave that job and go to another company, you go back to the bottom of the heap.
00:55:47
Daniel Roos
That's correct.
00:55:48
Brian Lamb
Is that good or bad?
00:55:49
Daniel Roos
There are good and bad points to it. I think that the idea of continuity within the organization and everybody working for the organization is extremely important, and that's part of it.
00:56:02
Brian Lamb
We're out of time. This is what the book looks like, "The Machine That Changed the World." It's a joint project coming out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Dr. Daniel Roos has been our guest. Thank you for joining us.
00:56:16
Daniel Roos
Well, thank you. I enjoyed it very much.