The following research project is a comparative analysis of management practices from Japanese subsidiaries developing their business in the European environment. Preliminary literature on the Japanese organizational model define itself as a “jungle underlying under a projection for the employee towards a long-term career, a lifetime commitment to his company, and a collective responsibility naturally internalized by the group and its members”.

Our objectives wished to exploit the relationship of Japan and European Union as a bridge to understand the contribution of transnational firms into the local/regional economy, and the behaviors constructed during the subsidiary and its parent company. Main research questions asked are the possibility for a unit to apply strategies and practices coming from Japanese HQ into numerous organizational fields, not only European but also local, that apply rules, norms and regulations based from their national & regional culture.

Based on the research question and with theories applied on international management field, mainly subsidiary development theory, intercultural management and inter-regionalism context, methodology consists on reviewing both European and Japanese business systems, their direct actors, and the contribution of Japanese transnational companies on European development and Investment policies.

Research tools used in the project are mainly exploratory data from intermediary institutions in charge of external trade; transnational headquarters cases study – Rakuten Europe & Toyota Motor Europe - applied to executive managers with semi-direct interviews, company strategy with secondary data analysis and anonymous surveys for employees.