Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 2,0, University of Tampere, course: Advanced Studies for Doing Business in Asia, language: English, abstract: Japan is known for its successful companies. One might only think about the automobile manufacturer Toyota. To perform successful, a company has to maximise profit. In contrast to Western companies, in Japanese companies, profit is maximised by increasing sales and maximising volume by increasing productivity and efficiency. The question that arises is how could the Japanese increase productivity that much? One possible answer is the Japanese management approach. For some time now, the characteristics of Japanese management style have been a popular issue, mainly in Europe and in the United States. Have the qualities and values of society and of individual been a reason for Japanese success? Such issues as the business group, the seniority wage system, the lifetime employment system and the periodic recruitment of new graduates have been examined in diverse ways. A look at the actual operations of Japanese enterprises in Europe and the United States indicates that, there are changes going on concerning Japanese management practices. Japan is an island with almost total ethnic homogeneity, having been unaffected by Western influences for long time. Modern management practices are said to be rooted in the cultural and geographical traditions of the country. Emphasis in recent analysis has been put on how the Japanese management style has arisen and evolved historically, rather than on its typological characteristics. This paper makes the attempt to examine Japanese management characteristics with regard to historical influences, Japanese culture, Japanese social system as well as possible future needs. Cultural and historical heritage will be presented first followed by a summary of Japanese values on which society is based. After that, management practices with regard to traditional and modern approaches are presented. Meanwhile, changes in management practices are examined.