1st Edition

The Rise Of The Japanese Corporate System

By Koji Matsumoto Copyright 1991

    First published in 1991. In general, Japan's economic system is viewed as being capitalism, and there seems to be no room for doubting otherwise. If one glances at the many subsystems that form the Japanese economy's foundation, for example, such as private ownership of property, joint stock companies and well-developed markets, one is forced to conclude that yes, indeed, Japan belongs to the group of highly developed capitalist nations. Although not widely recognized yet, a new economic system has developed and been nurtured in Japan inside a shell of capitalism. The new system differs greatly from traditional capitalism, but that does not mean to say it has drawn close to socialism. Nor can the newness of this system be understood by viewing it as depending principally on either market or planning principles, or on the two in combination. This book discusses the new corporate system in specific terms, explaining how it differs from the system of orthodox capitalist corporations, in being both more progressive and more fitting for meeting the various conditions of contemporary industrial society. It also explains the circumstances, in the context of the new corporate system, that brought forth powerful corporations for which it is difficult to find comparisons in other countries.

    Preface Chapter 1 Corporations for Corporate Employees 1 Independence from Shareholder Control 2 Qualitative Changes in Workers 3 Corporate Employees and the Corporation Chapter 2 Comparison with Foreign Corporations Part I: Comparison with Capitalist Corporations 1 Management Policies in American Companies 2 Restrictions on Management 3 'Freedom of Management' in Corporations in Japan 4 Consolidation of Corporate Objectives Among Employees 5 Comparison of 'Management Participation' Part II: Comparison with Socialist Corporations 1 Corporate System in the PRC 2 Problems in the Chinese Corporate Structure 3 The Necessity for Uniting Management and Labor 4 The Corporate System in Yugoslavia 5 The Actual Status of Self-Management 6 Problems with the Self-Management System Chapter 3 The Progressive Nature of the Japanese Corporate System 1 Changes in Management Structure 2 Labor 3 Job Rotation Inside the Company 4 The Organizational Structure 5 The Humanization of Labor Chapter 4 Kigyoism as an Economic System 1 On Japan's 'Uniqueness' 2 The Core of the Japanese Corporate System 3 The Autonomy of Management 4 From Authority to Responsibility 5 Impediments to the Development of Kigyoism Chapter 5 Kigyoism as a Social System 1 Features of Japan's Social Structure 2 The Company as a Source of Social Integration 3 Equality within a Kigyoistic Society 4 Freedom in a Kigyoistic Society 5 A System for the Masses

    Biography

    Koji Matsumoto, Translated by Thomas I. Elliott