April 1, 2000 - Made in the U.S.A. Exporting American Management Practices
Japan had to rebuild its economy and reinvent its management system after World War II. For new management ideas they discovered a model in the academic writings of American management theorists such as Douglas McGregor, Rensis Likert, and Cris Argyris that emphasized the shift from the "Scientific Management" school to the "Human Relations" school. In "From Human Relations to Organizational Behavior: Reflections on the Changing Scene" (1987) William F. Whyte writes that
The Japanese assumed that the participative management styles espoused by these authors were actually being implemented by the leading U.S. companies. They concluded that if Japan wished to compete with the United States and other industrialized nations, it must develop its own system of participation. Thus, whereas the works of the university people were viewed in U.S. management circles as more ornamental than practical, the Japanese went to work seriously to reshape industrial management and labor relations.
Ironically, during the 1970s and 1980s American academics and corporations looked to Japan and borrowed its management style because Japanese workers produced products of such high quality that it caused American manufacturers, most notably automobile companies, to experience unprecedented declines in market share. The result of extensive borrowing from the Japanese was books like William Ouchi’s Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge.
The worm has turned again. But now, instead of looking toward the academic community, Japanese industrialists, who have suffered through a dramatic economic decline for the past few years, find the words of Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric, to be revolutionary.
It turns out that Japanese managers are more interested in Welch’s existential and global views than the specific tenets of his demanding managerial philosophy. For example, they reject his edict to be either No. 1 or 2 in a business or get out of it. They are also uncomfortable with Welch’s radical cost and personnel cutting.
What they like is his general idea that "The secret of success is changing the way you think." Equally important, according to the Wall Street Journal (February 9, 2000 P.1) is that Welch manages a conglomerate which is Japan’s favored form of business, makes large metal industrial products which the Japanese prefer, and revitalized the business which is clearly a Japanese priority in the new millenium.
In other words, as after World War II, the Japanese have once again creatively interpreted American business practices to meet their needs in a time of crisis.
Web Exercise
It seems reasonable to ask–based on the brief history of management practices borrowing presented above–if distinctive management practices rooted in national culture survive. For example, now that Mercedes Benz and Chrysler are merged into DaimlerChrysler what has happened to the German and the American management processes for making cars? Or, was the management style ever extensively informed by national culture in the first place?
Is it possible that Jack Welch’s tough philosophy of continuous change and emphasis on becoming No. 1 is a recycling of contemporary Japanese management philosophy but strikes the Japanese as novel because of the current needs imposed by the downturn in their economy?
Useful Internet sites for exploring the trials, tribulations, triumphs, and current issues in Japanese management are:
- Japanese Management today
http://www.apmforum.com/japan/jmt.htm- "Constancy and Change in Japanese Management," a discussion between Jiro Ushio and Ronald Dore
http://www.japanecho.co.jp/docs/html/260208.htmlIn your opinion what might be the next phase of Japanese-American management borrowing and blending? For example, does Japanese management have insights for the management of virtual workplaces? Does Japanese management with its emphasis on high tech have insights into incorporating computerization into management that American corporations can borrow?