This book discusses management philosophy based on case studies in companies in Japan, Korea and China. In an era of increasing globalization and the internet society, it is time for companies to re-examine their mission and existence. Repeated corporate scandals and global environmental issues have revealed the need for CSR (corporate social responsibility) and business ethics. At the same time, cross-cultural conflicts in the workplace highlight the necessity for management to integrate multiple values. In other words, the importance of value in a company has to be reconsidered. This timely book re-evaluates the issue of management philosophy in the context of the global society. It approaches the issue of management philosophy from the perspective of keiei-jinruigaku, the anthropology of business administration, presenting interdisciplinary research consisting of fields such as management studies, anthropology, religious studies and sociology. By focusing on the phenomena of transmission of management philosophy to other areas by cultural translation, the book reveals the dynamic process of the global transmission of management philosophy.

In this book, the functions and dynamics of enterprises are explained with the use of anthropological methods. The chapters are based on anthropological research that has continued mainly as an inter-university research project, which is named Keiei Jinruigaku, of the National Museum of Ethnology (Japan) since 1993. These studies have a twofold aim: to clarify that enterprises are not only actors in economic activity but also actors that create culture and civilization; and to find the raison d'etre of enterprises in a global society. Business anthropology is an approach to the investigation of various phenomena in enterprises and management using anthropological methodology (e.g., participant observations and interviews). Historically, its origin goes back to the 1920s-30s. In the Hawthorne experiments, the research group organized by Elton Mayo recruited an anthropologist, Lloyd W. Warner, and conducted research on human relations in the workplace by observation of participants. Since then, similar studies have been carried out in the United States and the United Kingdom. In Japan, however, such research is quite rare. Now, in addition to anthropological methods, the authors have employed multidisciplinary methods drawn from management, economics, and sociology. The research contained here can be characterized in these ways: (1) Research methods adopt interpretative approaches such as hermeneutic and/or narrative approaches rather than causal and functional explanations such as "cause-consequence" relationships. (2) Multidisciplinary approaches including qualitative research techniques are employed to investigate the total entity of enterprises, with their own cosmology. In this book, the totality of activities by enterprises are shown, including the relationship between religion and enterprise, corporate funerals, corporate museums, and the sacred space and/or mythology of enterprises. Part I provides introductions to Keiei Jinruigaku and Part II explains the theoretical characteristics of Keiei Jinruigaku. In addition, research topics and cases of Keiei Jinruigaku are presented in Part III.

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.

This book expands anthropological studies of business enterprise to include comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives. A number of books on business anthropology have been published, but most of them are written by anthropologists alone. By contrast, this book engages interdisciplinary studies, e.g., not only by anthropologists but also management scholars and other social scientists. It is the second volume of studies forwarding anthropological approaches to business administration, Keiei Jinruigaku. This volume focusses on the cultural dimensions of enterprise. Here enterprise is viewed as a medium carrying culture, rather than solely an entity of production and management, as is typical in mainstream studies. The approach is based on Tadao Umesao's definition of culture as a projection of instruments/devices and institutions into the mental/spiritual dimensions of life. Therefore, in our view production and management are among the projections of the cultural aspects of enterprise. This perspective, we believe, constitutes a new frontier in the study of business administration. This book consists of three parts, the first being "religiosity and spirituality", the second "exhibitions, performance and inducement," and the third "history and story." In Part I, Quaker Codes, ex-votos, and spiritual leadership are discussed in relation to management and behavior, and miracles and pilgrimage. Part II describes exhibitions justifying nuclear power industry within power plants in both Japan and England, the exhibition by English families of their porcelain collections, and the performance skills of orchestral maestros. All of these examples indicate that, through the use of narratives and myths, exhibits and performances overtly and covertly induce visitors or audiences to certain viewpoints and emotions. Part III offers examples of histories and stories of enterprise articulated through the branding and consumption of industrial products, and their display in enterprise museums where the essence of culture and heritage is cherished and emphasized, by and for the wider community and the enterprise itself. Conjoined as an interdisciplinary team of Western and Japanese researchers, we apply an anthropological approach to the cultural history of enterprise in both Britain and Japan.

This book discusses management philosophy based on case studies in companies in Japan, Korea and China. In an era of increasing globalization and the internet society, it is time for companies to re-examine their mission and existence. Repeated corporate scandals and global environmental issues have revealed the need for CSR (corporate social responsibility) and business ethics. At the same time, cross-cultural conflicts in the workplace highlight the necessity for management to integrate multiple values. In other words, the importance of value in a company has to be reconsidered. This timely book re-evaluates the issue of management philosophy in the context of the global society. It approaches the issue of management philosophy from the perspective of keiei-jinruigaku, the anthropology of business administration, presenting interdisciplinary research consisting of fields such as management studies, anthropology, religious studies and sociology. By focusing on the phenomena of transmission of management philosophy to other areas by cultural translation, the book reveals the dynamic process of the global transmission of management philosophy.

In this book, the functions and dynamics of enterprises are explained with the use of anthropological methods. The chapters are based on anthropological research that has continued mainly as an inter-university research project, which is named Keiei Jinruigaku, of the National Museum of Ethnology (Japan) since 1993. These studies have a twofold aim: to clarify that enterprises are not only actors in economic activity but also actors that create culture and civilization; and to find the raison d'etre of enterprises in a global society. Business anthropology is an approach to the investigation of various phenomena in enterprises and management using anthropological methodology (e.g., participant observations and interviews). Historically, its origin goes back to the 1920s-30s. In the Hawthorne experiments, the research group organized by Elton Mayo recruited an anthropologist, Lloyd W. Warner, and conducted research on human relations in the workplace by observation of participants. Since then, similar studies have been carried out in the United States and the United Kingdom. In Japan, however, such research is quite rare. Now, in addition to anthropological methods, the authors have employed multidisciplinary methods drawn from management, economics, and sociology. The research contained here can be characterized in these ways: (1) Research methods adopt interpretative approaches such as hermeneutic and/or narrative approaches rather than causal and functional explanations such as "cause-consequence" relationships. (2) Multidisciplinary approaches including qualitative research techniques are employed to investigate the total entity of enterprises, with their own cosmology. In this book, the totality of activities by enterprises are shown, including the relationship between religion and enterprise, corporate funerals, corporate museums, and the sacred space and/or mythology of enterprises. Part I provides introductions to Keiei Jinruigaku and Part II explains the theoretical characteristics of Keiei Jinruigaku. In addition, research topics and cases of Keiei Jinruigaku are presented in Part III.