Japanese style management - Nihonteki Keiei (English)

Management characteristics that are considered unique to Japanese companies based on international comparison. J.C. Abegglen, an American who is said to have been the first to point out the characteristics of Japanese management, listed them as (1) lifetime employment until retirement age, (2) wages (seniority-based wage system) and promotions (seniority-based promotion system) based on seniority (educational background and length of service), (3) company-based labor unions, and (4) a full range of welfare facilities. The first three were later called the three pillars or three sacred treasures of Japanese management. However, the points made by foreigners tend to be biased toward characteristics related to personnel, labor, and labor-management relations, which are likely to reflect cultural differences. Research by Japanese people, which was conducted separately from research by foreigners, pointed out characteristics related to decision-making and management systems that are closer to the core of business management, such as executive committees, approval systems, departmental and section-based organizations, conference bodies, and general affairs department systems. The results of the latter have spread abroad, and terms such as "ringi," "nemawashi," and "kaizen" have become established internationally as technical terms. What was initially a study of institutional differences eventually progressed to investigating their true nature. Hazama Hiroshi defined the prewar system as managerial familism, and the postwar system as managerial welfarism. Many commentators also argue that collectivism, as opposed to Western individualism, is the pillar of Japanese management. However, the most important thing is that Japanese management is based on the idea of ​​humanism. With the internationalization of management, the international effectiveness of Japanese management has become an issue. On the one hand, there is the theory that Japanese management has international universality, while on the other hand there is the theory that transformation is inevitable.

[Mitsuo Morimoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

国際比較を踏まえた日本の企業に独自とされている経営上の特質。日本的経営の特質を最初に指摘したといわれるアメリカのアベグレンJ. C. Abegglenは、その内容を〔1〕定年まで勤続する終身雇用制、〔2〕年功主義（学歴と勤続）による賃金（年功賃金制）と昇進（年功昇進制）、〔3〕企業別労働組合、〔4〕福利厚生施設の充実、をあげた。前三者は、その後、日本的経営の三本柱ないし三種の神器とよばれるようになる。しかし外国人の指摘は、文化的相違を反映しやすい人事・労務・労使関係に関連する特質に偏っている。外国人の研究と別に進められていた日本人自身の研究は、常務会、稟議(りんぎ)制度、部課制組織、会議体、総務部制など、より経営管理の中枢内容に接近した意思決定や管理の制度に関する特質を指摘した。後者の成果は外国にも伝わり、稟議、根回し、改善などは国際的に専門語として定着している。当初の制度的相違の研究は、やがてその本質の究明へと進む。間宏(はざまひろし)は、戦前のそれを経営家族主義、戦後のそれを経営福祉主義と規定した。また多くの論者は、欧米の個人主義に対し集団主義が日本的経営の柱であるとする。しかしもっとも重要なことは、日本的経営が人間中心主義の理念にたっていることである。経営の国際化とともに、日本的経営の国際的有効性が問題になってきた。一方に日本的経営は国際的普遍性をもつとの説があり、他方に変容が避けられないとの説がある。

［森本三男］

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