Producing original knowledge is the foundation of scientific progress. Originality is associated with certain skills and practices that can be trained and socialised. This study investigates how inbreeding as a career practice influences the socialisation of originality. An analysis based on a sample of mid-career life scientists in Japan finds…

Describes Japan's two-tiered approach to recruitment in which graduates from top Japanese universities are automatic hires, while those from second-place schools must do job searches to find employment. Notes that, in Japan, university personnel play very large role in recruiting and that Japanese companies are concerned with goodness of fit…

After examining recruitment as a dual process in Detroit and Yokohama (Japan), the author states that discrepant findings result in part from different temporal focus in the recruitment process. He advocates study of the entire recruitment process and the need to isolate contingencies that influence employee selection. (Author/CH)