Japanese Business: Cultural Perspectives

by Subhash Durlabhji (Editor), Norton E. Marks (Editor)

Overview

This book brings together the best writing on Japanese business in a comprehensive reader, illustrating the impact of Japanese culture and lifeways on all facets of business behavior. The authors examine not only Japanese management, but also production, accounting, marketing, distribution, law, and interpersonal relationships. Essays include analyses by businessmen, management scholars, anthropologists, and lawyers, all in one accessible volume for those concerned with Japanese business performance, the international business climate, and cooperative ventures between cultures and corporations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791412527
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	01/14/1993
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	388
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Subhash Durlabhji is Associate Professor of Business at Northwestern State University. Norton E. Marks is Professor of Marketing at California State University, San Bernadino.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Michael A. Cusumano

Acknowledgments


Introduction

SECTION I: THE CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF JAPANESE BUSINESS

1. The Source of Japanese Management
Kunio Odaka


2. Japan's Matrix of Nature, Culture, and Technology
Tobioka Ken


3. Confucianism and Japanese Modernization: A Study of Shibusawa Eiichi
Kuo-hui Tai


4. The Influence of Confucianism and Zen on the Japanese Organization
Subhash Durlabhji

SECTION II: COMMUNICATION AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN JAPAN

5. Public and Private Self in Communicating with Japan
Dean C. Barnlund


6. The Vocabulary of Human Relationaships in Japan
Edward T. Hall and Mildred R. Hall


7. Gift-Giving in a Modernizing Japan
Harumi Befu


8. An Ethnography of Dinner Entertainment in Japan
Harumi Befu

SECTION III: THE INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF JAPANESE BUSINESS

9. The Institutional Foundations of Japanese Industrial Policy
Chalmers Johnson


10. Work Rules in Japan
Toshiaki Ohta


11. Learning and Working in Japan
Merry I. White


12. "Spiritual Education" in a Japanese Bank
Thomas P. Rohlen

SECTION IV: MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING IN JAPAN

13. A Guide to Japanese Business Practices
Mayumi Otsubo


14. Strategic Planning in Japan
Milton C. Lauenstein


15. Hiring Women Managers in Japan: An Alternative for Foreign Employers
Paul Lansing and Kathryn Ready


16. Continuity and Change in Japanese Management
Tomasz Mroczkowski and Masao Hanaoka


17. Market Research the Japanese Way
Johny K. Johansson and Ikujiro Nonaka


18. Distribution in Japan: Problems and Changes
Michael R. Czinkota

SECTION V: MANUFACTURING: THE JAPANESE APPROACH

19. Manufacturing Innovation: Lessons from the Japanese Auto Industry
Michael A. Cusumano


20. The Myth of the Cooperative Single Source
John Ramsay


21. Another Hidden Edge—Japanese Management Accounting
Toshiro Hiromoto

Notes


Glossary and Index of Japanese Words and Phrases


Contributors


Index

Editorial Reviews

"Understanding Japan is obviously important, and the cultural approach, while not the only one, is essential. In my own experience of briefing American businesspersons assigned to Asia I have found a great deficiency in basic knowledge that a book such as this would go far to correct.

"This is an excellent volume on Japanese business, representing a variety of points of view within the broad context of a cultural approach. There is variety, balance, and enough explanation to guide and motivate the reader. The variety of disciplines presented—anthropology, sociology, management, economics—is also useful." — Steven I. Levine, Duke University

From the Publisher

This collection of readings is intended to serve as a foundation for those expecting to have commercial interaction with the Japanese. The selections--from sources not limited to mainstream business journals--address various aspects of the cultural environment of Japanese business and discuss communication and interpersonal relationships, the institutional and legal environment, management and marketing, and the Japanese approach to manufacturing. Some specific topics: the influence of Confucianism and Zen on the Japanese organization, gift-giving, the ethnography of dinner entertainment, spiritual education in a Japanese bank, women managers. Paper edition (unseen), $24.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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