Japanese project management reflects the Japanese culture of “honour.” A reputation for high quality buildings is present throughout the industry. The Japanese have developed mass production, standardisation and simplification. There are six main contractors in Japan, who each have over 1,000 employees.

These contractors have created very close relationships with their suppliers, client’s, contractors and specialist sub-contractors to create a “family.” They all have a lot of trust in each other and support each other. Where a part of the “family” does not perform as required it is regarded as a great disgrace on them. Emphasis is placed on training and gaining skills in Japan. The company employs new graduates and trains them in their methods so that they can join their “family”. This often leads to a job for life. All staff in the company are encouraged to voice their opinions and suggest ways to improve their work practices. As was seen in America, Japanese buildings lack the flair and originality seen in the UK industry.

The Japanese client will firstly choose their contractor. The design team of the contractor will do most of the design work. These design teams consider every aspect of the project to ensure maximum efficiency and safety. Designs are based on standard specifications and components that are published in the Japan Architecture Standard Specification. As with America, specialist contractors, who are trusted by the contractor, are allocated appropriate tasks. Total integration of the processes is included from the design stage. Any possibly dangerous activities or areas are identified at the start, which allows them to be monitored. This creates a much safer site.

The work day in Japan starts at 8.00am, with exercise and a ten minute briefing of the tasks for the day. There are then meetings between each individual team to discuss their activities in detail. A chalk or white board is used to record the agreed tasks, which is regarded as a personal contract for the day. Workers will ensure that, where practicably possible, these tasks are completed before they leave the site for the day. In the United Kingdom this rarely happens as workers like to leave at their set time.

Work on sites in Japan is allocated in two week packages. These packages have an element of float built in which allows for each unit of work to be completed on time. Contractors are worried about “losing face” and so will employ extra labour if the project starts to fall behind its schedule. At 3.00pm employees are called back to the board to discuss the day’s work. Any improvement to work methods is recorded for everyone to use the next day. Tasks for tomorrow are then put up on the board ready for the 8.00am meeting the following day.

In Japan excellence is achieved through quality, and therefore contractors strive to provide the highest quality for their client. Contractors invest highly in research, $ 50million in 1990, in the search for quality. They work with the belief that it is more cost effective to get it right the first time. They also have high expectations for their time and cost estimating. They conduct so much planning, together with their relationship with suppliers that their projects mostly complete on time and at the estimated cost. Often the case is that a sub-contractor is told how much he will be paid, which they accept as it is seen as being work offered to them by their “family”.

In Japan there is almost no competitive tendering process. This along with low inflation means that cost control is not really required. As the parties involved are knowledgeable of the building costs, accepted rates are applied to projects. The price of a major project is negotiated between the client and the main contractor, and if problems arise in the project that the contractor rectifies at no extra cost the client often pays them extra on their next mutual project. Payment for the project is made as each major stage is completed, but it is delayed by a set period of time.

The project management industry in Japan needs to become more creative with its designs. As they strive for quality and conduct a lot of research their construction costs are 20% higher than in the United Kingdom.