Springer Science and Business Media LLC Acta Medica Okayama 1472-4782 22 4 2023 Unraveling the stagnation of employee pay in Japanese firms: the impact of profit creation, employee productivity, and employee share 1743 1772 EN Yuanyuan Gong Discovery Program for Global Learners, Okayama University Shige Makino Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University Aqi Liu Industrial Development Department, China Merchants Group Limited Huanchen Liu Department of Business Administration, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Jingyi Wang UNSW Business School, University of New South Wales This study investigated the causes of stagnant employee pay in Japanese firms. By analyzing agency theory and Japanese governance structure, we argue that pay levels are affected by profit creation, employee productivity, and employee share. Dysfunctional processes in these areas can result in pay stagnation. Our findings demonstrate that employee productivity and profit creation have equally significant impacts on pay levels, whereas employee share affects pay only with high employee productivity. These results suggest that the main reason for stagnant employee pay in Japan is not a failure of profit sharing but rather a failure to link corporate and employee capabilities to a firmfs earning power. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Springer Science and Business Media LLC Acta Medica Okayama 0217-4561 39 4 2021 Foreign investment or divestment as a near-term solution to performance shortfalls? The moderating role of vicarious learning 1481 1509 EN Kent Ngan-Cheung Hui School of Management, Xiamen University Yuanyuan Gong Discovery Program for Global Learners, Okayama University Qi Cui Department of Organization and Human Resources, Renmin University Naipeng Jiang Tourism Department, Fudan University Most studies on problemistic search do not pay sufficient attention to how below-aspiration organizations decide what types of strategic actions to use to cope with performance shortfalls. In this study, we examine the preferences of multinational corporations (MNCs) for selecting foreign investment or divestment as a near-term solution to performance shortfalls. We first argue that foreign divestment is generally a more preferred performance solution. Drawing on the literature on vicarious learning, we further argue that MNCs are more likely to engage in foreign investment or foreign divestment to combat large performance shortfalls if peers recently and actively undertook the same type of strategic action. Moreover, they are less likely to undertake the other type of strategic action simultaneously because they adopt the satisficing principle and time constraints deter them from implementing multiple types of strategic action substantially. The analysis of the data about Japanese manufacturing MNCs reveals that vicarious learning influences MNCsf selection preferences in certain conditions, thereby extending the literature on problemistic search. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.