Reflecting on Japan's contributions to management theory

Although Japanese management's transformative impact on American managerial practice has long been recognized, its contribution to management theory in a range of fields has been less widely acknowledged. This article looks back on the influence of Japanese management on concepts, frameworks, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Westney, D Eleanor (Author)
Other Authors: Sloan School of Management (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2020-11-23T22:07:00Z.
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Summary:Although Japanese management's transformative impact on American managerial practice has long been recognized, its contribution to management theory in a range of fields has been less widely acknowledged. This article looks back on the influence of Japanese management on concepts, frameworks, and theories in four management fields: organization behaviour/organization studies, production and operations management, strategy, and international business. The review reveals three ways in which Japanese management had a significant influence on the development of management theory: legitimating and enriching one position in a contested management field; inspiring novel management concepts and frameworks; and providing rich data for testing and refining hypotheses based on established theory.