Perspective Index in Company X from 2004–2013

Abstract: The perspective index (Takahashi, 2014) was tested in a company that has been successful in the process of organizational reform, Company X. An exhaustive survey (Survey X) for all employees was conducted once a fiscal year from 2004 to 2013. According to Survey X, over 13,000 employees showed near-perfect linearity between perspective index and job satisfaction ratio/turnover candidate ratio. Each occupational and rank category also showed a near-straight line, although the values greatly varied per year before and after organizational reform. However, the incline and intercept points of the lines somewhat differed contingent on the occupational and rank category. This might explain the difference between data from Survey X and that of the JPC Survey conducted in Takahashi (2014). Keywords: leaning on future principle, perspective index, job satisfaction, turnover1. IntroductionAt present, many Japanese firms are enduring highly competitive environments to make profit and are tight fisted in terms of paying salaries and dividends. Even if they do not provide accountability, they unfailingly reserve profits internally for investments in further expansion (Takahashi, 2013). Takahashi (1996a, 1996b, 2013) states that this behavior follows the "leaning on future principle," a decision principle using which people choose a better future rather than act on present mercenary motives based on the past results.According to Takahashi (2013), even in the 1990s Japanese companies hardly applied the discount rate in investment decisions, whereas American companies rapidly adopted the discount rate method of valuation since the 1960s (Kim 8s Farragher, 1981; Klammer, 1972). This behavior of Japanese companies also holds for the leaning on future principle, because if Takahashi's (2013) future parameter1 w is any less than 1, even a large profit earned 10 or 20 years later will be almost nil after being multiplied by w10 or w20. Accordingly, even though the expectation values of "long-term profit" will definitely converge, it is similar to focusing on near-future profits and ignoring distant-future profits. If the future parameter w = 1, the divergence of the expected profit makes nonsense of discount rate methods, such as the use of net present value (NPV) when making investment decisions. This is the case of Japanese companies having a high future parameter w » 1. Under such circumstances, we witness "The Ant and the Grasshopper" (Aesop's Fable) phenomenon in everyday life.Abegglen's "lifetime commitment" between a company and an employee-the company will not discharge him even temporarily except in the most extreme circumstances. He will not quit the company for industrial employment elsewhere (Abegglen, 1958, p. 11)2-is an example of future parameter w » 1. In this situation, cooperation can easily occur even between mutual enemies (Axelrod, 1984). 3 This is seen in labor union cooperation between capital and labor in Japanese companies.The present paper uses the perspective index developed by Takahashi (1996a) to conduct Survey X, an annual survey conducted ten times at Company X, which has been successful in organizational reform. This paper also compares this data with that of the JPC Survey used in Takahashi (2014). 2. Change of Company XSurvey X is an exhaustive survey for all employees of Company X and conducted once a fiscal year. The questionnaires were distributed at the same time to all the employees and collected once filled (placement method). Like Takahashi, Ohkawa, and Inamizu (2014, in press), this paper uses data gathered over ten years, that is, from the fiscal years 2004-2013. The survey was conducted in October 2004, September 2005, and February from 2007 to 2013. Data from 13,230 out of 13,383 surveys distributed were collected during the ten-year period, which mean response rate is 98.9%. The most dramatic change during the ten-year duration of Survey X was the restructuring of the company between 2005 and 2006. …