Translating and Incorporating American Management Thought into Japan

Prof. Kazuhito Isomura is Professor of Organizational Behavior in the School of Science and Engineering, Chuo University. Prior to joining Chuo University, he was with Fukushima University, School of Economics as an associate professor. He was a professor in the MBA program at Chuo Graduate School of International Accounting before transferring to the School of Science and Engineering. He earned a BA, an MA, and a Ph.D. in economics at Kyoto University. He is a leading researcher on Chester Barnard’s management thought. His areas of research are leadership development, corporate strategy, knowledge management, and management history. He is the author of Soshiki to Ken-i [Organization and Authority] (in Japanese) (2000), Senryaku Model wo Design suru [Designing Strategic Models] (in Japanese) (2018), Organization Theory by Chester Barnard: An Introduction (2020), and Management Theory by Chester Barnard: An Introduction (2021). Prof. Izumi Mitsui is Professor of Business Administration in the Faculty of Business Administration, Sonoda Women’s University. Prior to joining SWU, she was in Nihon University, Tezukayama University, and Fukushima University. Her research interests include management philosophy, history of management thought, and anthropological approaches to business administration. She is author of Shakaiteki Networking-ron no Genryū: MP Follett no Shisou [An Origin of Social Networking Theory: The Thought of MP Follett] (in Japanese) (2009), editor of Asia-kigyō no Keieirinen: Seisei Denpa Keishō no Dynamism [Management Philosophy of Asian Companies: Dynamism of Creation, Diffusion and Succession] (in Japanese) (2013), and coeditor of Enterprise as an Instrument of Civilization: An Anthropological Approach to Business Administration (2016), Enterprise as a Carrier of Culture: An Anthropological Approach to Business Administration (2019), and Cultural Translation of Management Philosophy in Asian Companies: Its Emergence, Transmission, and Diffusion in the Global Era (2020). Prof. Yoshiyuki Takeuchi is Associate Professor of Applied Statistics and Econometrics in the Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University. His research interests focus on data science including statistics. In addition, he has been working on the history of statistical thought, in particular the migration of the mathematical statistics into Japan, and the anthropology of business administration. He is author of “On a Statistical Method to Detect discontinuity in the Distribution Function of Reported Earnings” (Mathematics and Computers in Simulation 64(1), 2004) and is co-editor of Enterprise as an Instrument of Civilization (2016) and of Tekisuto Keiei Jinruigaku [Textbook: Anthropology of Business Administration] (in Japanese) (2019).

1. Introduction: historical background and focus of this book.- 2. Introduction, installation, and dissemination of the Scientific Management in Japan. 3.- The acceptance of Human Relations Theory in Japan.- 4. Examining the impact of Chester Barnard’s organization theory in Japan.- 5. Peter F. Drucker and the Philosophy of ‘Management.- 6. How has Japan accepted, developed, and transformed strategic management theory?.- 7. The development of Human Resource Management theory in Japan.- 8. The development of corporate culture studies in Japan: What did the corporate culture boom of the 1980s bring about?.- 9. Conclusion.