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(2) When and why (due to what motivation) were efforts to improve work-life balance
introduced, and what process was involved?
(3) What kinds of systems or mechanisms have been introduced as concrete efforts to
promote work-life balance? What departments (such as the Human Resources
Department) undertake concrete efforts to promote work-life balance, and what kinds of
measures are being taken?
(4) Outcome of efforts: What results were achieved by the concrete efforts in (3)? Were
there any impediments to this process or any problems that arose? What points does the
company regard as being issues for the future?
Table 1 Case Examples of Efforts by Companies to Promote Work-life Balance (WLB)
Company A (Manufacturer)
Company B (Manufacturer)
Interpretation
of WLB
● WLB that responds to the needs of
management, society, and individuals
Company A’s thinking is to support
WLB for a diverse range of human
resources while responding to three
needs of management, society, and
individuals: (1) management’s need
to utilize a diversity of human
resources; (2) individuals’ need to
realize a way of working that is in
balance with their personal lives; and
(3) society’s need, as the birthrate
continues to decline, to promote an
environment that makes it easier to
bear and raise children.
● Action aimed for by the labor union as
leverage against the company:
Establish the personal identity of
each individual worker by improving
and enhancing the balance between
their personal lives and social lives.
● WLB linked to a performance-based
system
Company B has a performance-based
way of thinking according to which
individuals gain a sense of their own
growth and purpose as they work. The
company is undertaking WLB measures
that lead to a diversity of work styles
aimed at the self-realization of individual
workers. To ensure that all workers can
work enthusiastically, the company aims
to create a workplace in which
employees can work in a range of
working styles and with a sense of
security. This way of thinking respects
individuals’ autonomy and independence,
and aims at self-realization through work
and continuous engagement with work
for the medium-to-long term. Here, WLB
is linked to a performance-based system
in which individuals’ approach their work
with a sense of purpose in their life and
work generates even higher results.