Business Management in Japan—A Comparative Historical Study

Abstract

More than 30 years ago, a group of economists developed the so-called ‘convergence theory’, maintaining that the differences along national lines in the social aspect of the business enterprise were destined to disappear because the ‘logic of industrialism’ rule out differences based on the traditional social or cultural structure of each country.1 However, the process of ‘convergence’ in fact takes a very long time and, in addition, the advocates of the ‘convergence theory’ seem to have overlooked the fact that the ‘logic of industrialism’ itself should differ from country to country, according to its degree of international backwardness at the start of each country’s industrialization.2