The history of Japanese business in the United States and United Kingdom shows that
Japanese companies have been more successful with bluecollar workers than with white-collar
and professional people (Florida and Kenney, 1992; Lincoln, 1990; White and Trevor, 1983).
The Japanese workplace traditions of shop-floor participation and long-term employment are
often welcomed by blue-collar workers who find in these policies a sense of security and
partnership in the operations of the firm. The problems of white-collar employees in adapting to
the Japanese-managed company have been noted: barriers to communication, decision making,
and promotion that impede participation on an equal footing