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The purpose of the present study is to make clear the severity of interpersonal career competition in companies somewhat smaller than are usually counted as 'large corporations'. It uses as its data-set the micro-data of three medium-sized manufacturing firms (with a little over 1000 employees each). These are companies which use the Ability-Based Grade System common in Japanese personnel management. The study analyses at two points in time, both the dispersion in basic salaries and changes in the ranking of individuals within those dispersions. My findings are: (i) at the beginning and in the early stages of a career, competition focuses on the effort not to become a drop-out; (ii) individuals differ in the career point at which they become sub-section chiefs (shunin); (iii) in mid-career the competition focuses on gaining early promotion to the rank of section chief (kacho); and (iv) competition continues through into the later stages of careers when changes in individuals' rank order can still occur. These results may be considered to demonstrate that what is commonly described as a nenko system of pay and promotion in Japanese enterprises nevertheless involves fierce competition.

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