Translating and Incorporating American Management Thought Into Japan: Impacts on Academics and Practices of Business Administration

This book focuses on the establishment process of the Japanese style of management (JSM). Traditionally, it has been widely believed that the JSM is native to Japan and consists of three pillars: lifetime employment, a seniority-based wage system, and company unions. This book opposes these traditional views on the JSM and argues that it has been shaped by the influence of management theories and ideas of other countries. The JSM has not only adopted the ideas and concepts of other countries, but also has refined, translated, and customized them to make such ideas and concepts acceptable in Japan. The hypothesis presented here is that in the postwar period of rapid growth, the JSM was a hybrid set of management theories and techniques greatly influenced by American ideas about management.

This book concentrates on the impact of American management theories and ideas on the JSM. Taking the historical point of view, it clarifies that impact not only for academics but also for business people. The hypothesis propounded here is that some of those theories and ideas have been accepted whereas some of them have been rejected and eventually made irrelevant. The following issues are discussed: scientific management, the human relations school, Barnard’s organizational theory, Drucker’s management thoughts, strategic management, human resource management, and corporate culture.

Prof. Izumi Mitsui is Professor of Business Administration in the Faculty of Business Administration, Sonoda Women’s University. Prior to joining SWU, she was in Nihon University, Tezukayama University, and Fukushima University. Her research interests include management philosophy, history of management thought, and anthropological approaches to business administration. She is author of Shakaiteki Networking-ron no Genryū MP Follett no Shisou [An Origin of Social Networking Theory: The Thought of MP Follett] (in Japanese) (2009), editor of Asia-kigyō no Keieirinen: Seisei Denpa Keishō no Dynamism [Management Philosophy of Asian Companies: Dynamism of Creation, Diffusion and Succession] (in Japanese) (2013), and coeditor of Enterprise as an Instrument of Civilization: An Anthropological Approach to Business Administration (2016), Enterprise as a Carrier of Culture: An Anthropological Approach to Business Administration (2019), and Cultural Translation of Management Philosophy in Asian Companies: Its Emergence, Transmission, and Diffusion in the Global Era (2020).

Prof. Kazuhito Isomura is Professor of Organizational Behavior in the School of Science and Engineering, Chuo University. Prior to joining Chuo University, he was with Fukushima University, School of Economics as an associate professor. He was a professor in the MBA program at Chuo Graduate School of International Accounting before transferring to the School of Science and Engineering. He earned a BA, an MA, and a Ph.D. in economics at Kyoto University. He is a leading researcher on Chester Barnard’s management thought. His areas of research are leadership development, corporate strategy, knowledge management, and management history. He is the author of Soshiki to Ken-i [Organization and Authority] (in Japanese) (2000), Senryaku Model wo Design suru [Designing Strategic Models] (in Japanese) (2018), Organization Theory by Chester Barnard: An Introduction (2020), and Management Theory by Chester Barnard: An Introduction (2021).

Prof. Yoshiyuki Takeuchi is Associate Professor of Applied Statistics and Econometrics in the Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University. His research interests focus on data science including statistics. In addition, he has been working on the history of statistical thought, in particular the migration of the mathematical statistics into Japan, and the anthropology of business administration. He is author of ＂On a Statistical Method to Detect discontinuity in the Distribution Function of Reported Earnings＂ (Mathematics and Computers in Simulation 64(1), 2004) and is co-editor of Enterprise as an Instrument of Civilization (2016) and of Tekisuto Keiei Jinruigaku [Textbook: Anthropology of Business Administration] (in Japanese) (2019).