The Culturalist Perspective on the Japanese Management System

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

There are two approaches in interpreting the rise of the Japanese management system. One is the culturalist approach and the other is the convergence approach. This paper discusses how Japanese culture has been interwoven with the Japanese management system and argues that, since the culturalists have misunderstood the real nature of Japanese culture. some of the important characteristics attributable to the rise of the Japanese management system are, in most cases, the features that East Asian cultures share in common. In order to grasp the clear picture of Japanese culture, the culturalists should rather have raised such a question: "why could Japanese have been industrialized ahead of Korea and China, which had been using the same Chinese characters, having similar religions like Confucianism. Buddhism, and Taoism, and speaking similar branches of languages?" As the uniqueness of Japanese culture could be found in their dichotomous perception of'uchi" and "otaku”, its adaptability to the changing environment, and an emblem culture, the Japanese management system may be associated with those three distinctive aspects of Japanese culture rather than those features which the westerners regarded as "Japanese."

목차 (Table of Contents)

• I.Introduction
• II.Culture and Management SYSTEM
• III.Japanese Culture and Management SYSTEM
• 1.Frame vs. Attribute and Uchi vs. Otaku
• 2.Emblems(紋章 Monsho) vs. Family-Tree Booke (族譜)
• 3.Adaptability
• IV.Summary