Discusses Japanese management from the perspective of the complex relationship between Japanese culture and their practice of lifelong employment, shared authority in decision making, and dissolution of many of the privileges of rank. (Author)

William Ouchi's Theory Z, a theory that focuses on the identification of both management and labor with the company's goals, emphasizes communication structures and styles. Ringi is a Japanese procedure for decision making in which all levels of management participate. In Ringi, a manager's task is to communicate. In quality control (Q-C) circles,…

Analyzes the decision to drop the atomic bomb from a rhetorical point of view, arguing that the bombs were launched because of an American commitment to a particular rhetoric that focused on the propaganda slogan "unconditional surrender." (PD)

Provides a case study of a Japanese-owned British manufacturing plant. Its purpose was to establish reasons for the introduction of employee participation in the company's manufacturing plant. (JOW)

Many large Japanese-owned multinational corporations have established successful subsidiaries in the United States, but distinct ethnic and cultural differences have caused communication problems between Japanese managers and American laborers and business people. Many top executives of the Japanese subsidiaries are sent to the United States on a…

Organizational scholars have consistently noted that organizations in Japan generally possess more effective systems of communication than U.S. firms. This article explains how the Japanese approach to management encourages and facilitates the exchange of information between organizational members. (PD)

Maintains that it is necessary to compare different educational practices and teaching strategies before choosing a practice or strategy for a particular situation. Offers as an example the possibility of the United States adopting the teaching strategies of the Japanese educational system. (BB)

The Japanese theory of participatory management is seen as thriving on American campuses under the rubrics of shared governance and collegiality. Participatory management, quality control circles, lifetime employment, superordinate goals, and interdependent leadership are discussed. More commerce between academic administrators and corporate…

In recent years, Japanese management techniques have been proclaimed by many as the salvation of American business. It would be dangerous, however, to apply these techniques to American business situations without critically examining them. Whereas Americans regard responsible individuality as a virtue and view lack of autonomy as a constraint,…

Argues that American education could benefit from a look at the Japanese participative management system. (FL)

Intended for professionals who work internationally, the booklet addresses the cross-cultural communication process that is involved whenever persons of widely differing backgrounds attempt to reach agreements. Three countries (Japan, Mexico, and France) are compared and a line of questioning and analysis that a negotiator might find useful,…

Contrasts in the approaches of a Japanese company and the American university to management development provide the basis for a discussion of Theory Z's potential application to faculty affairs. Among the issues discussed are the tenure and promotion system, collegial decision making and responsibility, faculty development and incentives, and…

Based on the theory that leadership skills receive too much attention and leadership goals and ideals too little, this article outlines the "10-P" model of leadership: prerequisites (leadership skills); perspectives, principles, platform, and politics (leadership antecedents); purposing, planning, persisting, and "peopling"…

American schools might improve their performance by emulating certain successful businesses that, while distinctly American, have much in common with Japanese corporations. William Ouchi attributes Japanese business success to worker involvement; the typical Japanese corporation, he asserts, unifies its employees around a corporate philosophy…