TUJ's Stefan Lippert on Japanese corporate performance

Zombies — barely profitable companies propped up by cheap bank loans — stalk Japan's corporate landscape. These "old-Japan" firms generally retain a promotion and wage structure based on tenure rather than performance. However, a cohort of high performing "new-Japan" companies succeed by resisting old practices. "The defy the traditional rules of Japanese business culture," explains Stefan Lippert of Temple University, Japan Campus, who studies Japan's "hidden champions."
Feb. 12-18, 2011 | The Economist