Japanese Management

This book provides a new understanding of the constellations of logics in Japanese management practices in Asia and the West. Through comparative ethnographic case studies in a Japanese multinational corporation (MNC), the book explores the cultural meanings of family, corporation, market and religion logics at each subsidiary’s site in Thailand, Taiwan, Belgium and the United States.

In doing so, the book defines cultural space through an institutional logic approach. It argues that logics are culturally interpreted, which can impose a serious limitation on the institutional logic approach based on the analysis of Western society. It reveals that Japanese ‘family’ logics and Theravada Buddhism in Asia are strengthening each other and this directly supports the presupposition of amplification. It further elaborates on the ongoing constellations of logics that are continuously formed in relation to geographical contexts. The book also explains that the boundaries of organisational communities are not automatically formed by Japanese expatriates but constructed through actors’ profiles, which, in turn, raises their importance.

Therefore, this book is a must-read for researchers, managers and anyone interested in Japanese MNCs.