Japanese Management in Evolution

'This book on changing patterns of Japanese management is a helpful contribution to better understand the emergence of new and creative industries within a setting of strong established sectors like the manufacturing industries. This innovative collection is an important read for anyone who want to understand new developments in Japanese business management.' - Professor Cornelia Storz, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany 'For many years, books on Japan focused on Japanese characteristics of success, contrasting those characteristics with US or Western characteristics. As Japan lost its popularity, the change and evolution in the Japanese business environment and the variation within the Japanese system should have grabbed the interest of researchers. It has not done so. This book strives to redress this neglect. The readers are taken on a tour of the current Japanese business environment in a number of key areas of business success. The `tour guides' are some of the most capable scholars of the Japanese system, both Japanese and non-Japanese, all familiar with Japan in a wider world-wide context via joint research projects or academic training. Variation is illustrated by a series of industry studies. Some like audio, examine an existing industry which must respond to new challenges; others in culture-based industries which continue to have appeal in a world looking for variety in experiences define a new image for Japan and its products. In contrast to the traditional focus on manufacturing, the book includes studies of service industries, and of the professional services that support the new directions presented in the book. In chapters addressing corporate social responsibility, family firms and firm management structure, the reader gets a better understanding of the tension in Japanese business between conformity to world norms and the continued value of `traditional' Japanese business structures. Like an elegant kaiseki meal, the reader is treated to a taste of the many flavors that is the Japanese economy and business system in 2017. The reader should enjoy the meal.' - Tom Roehl, Professor of International Business, Western Washington University, and Founding Member and Past President, Association of Japanese Business Studies 'Professor Nakano has assembled a deep and rich collection of original articles by top-flight scholars on an array of leading-edge issues in contemporary Japanese business. The book is thus a uniquely valuable contribution to understanding the structure and functioning of the Japanese economy today.' - James R. Lincoln, Mitsubishi Bank Professor Emeritus, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley