The Plenum Press series, Monographs in Inorganic Chemistry, is intended to fill an obvious need for high-level surveys of recent research in that area, particularly in matters which go beyond the traditional or classical bound aries of the subject. The study of n-bonding of hydrocarbon groups (and their derivatives) to metals is exactly that kind of subject, for it provides a new way of understanding the behavior of metals (which constitute four-fifths of all the chemical elements). In addition, n-bonding has expanded the intriguing area of organometallic chemistry threefold, bringing in all the transition metals, the lanthanides, and the actinides. So much has been discovered and developed in the area of n-bonded "complexes" of the metals that important new industrial processes based on such substances have been developed. A truly comprehensive review of all n-bonded compounds of the metals would now result in an impossibly large and expensive volume, and would require monthly revision. Instead, the present authors have wisely decided to write a survey which outlines the general aspects of preparation, properties, structure, reactions, and uses of such compounds-a survey which can serve as a textbook, but which can also lead the more experienced practitioner to the most advanced literature on the subject. They have clarified and condensed the subject by means of good organization and a liberal use of diagrams-features which will please the general reader."

Japanese industry is the envy of the world for its efficient and humane management practices. Yet, as William Tsutsui argues, the origins and implications of "Japanese-style management" are poorly understood. Contrary to widespread belief, Japan's acclaimed strategies are not particularly novel or even especially Japanese.

Tsutsui traces the roots of these practices to Scientific Management, or Taylorism, an American concept that arrived in Japan at the turn of the century. During subsequent decades, this imported model was embraced--and ultimately transformed--in Japan's industrial workshops. Imitation gave rise to innovation as Japanese managers sought a "revised" Taylorism that combined mechanistic efficiency with respect for the humanity of labor.

Tsutsui's groundbreaking study charts Taylorism's Japanese incarnation, from the "efficiency movement" of the 1920s, through Depression-era "rationalization" and wartime mobilization, up to postwar "productivity" drives and quality-control campaigns. Taylorism became more than a management tool; its spread beyond the factory was a potent intellectual template in debates over economic growth, social policy, and political authority in modern Japan.

Tsutsui's historical and comparative perspectives reveal the centrality of Japanese Taylorism to ongoing discussions of Japan's government-industry relations and the evolution of Fordist mass production. He compels us to rethink what implications Japanese-style management has for Western industries, as well as the future of Japan itself.