Vantaggi
Teams come together to solve problems and emergencies like nowhere else I have seen. When a customer has an urgent need, people put politics and blaming aside, and figure out a way to provide high-quality, top-notch customer service. They take pride in providing employment stability. Layoffs of full-time staff are unheard of.
Svantaggi
Upper management does not reward the extra effort with commensurate acknowledgement, congratulations, etc. When a team comes together to save the day, management's immediate reaction is "how did that happen and how can we prevent it the next time?" instead of acknowledging that great effort put forth by many to accomplish something important. This mindset is compounded by the Japanese "never enough" mentality. Engineering/professional staff frequently have before/after-hours meetings with Japan multiple times per week.