Japanese/American management myths

Abstract

A good American Management Theory will beat a good Japanese Management Theory every time, and vice versa. T he deluge of articles about Japanese Management seems endless. So we have decided to offer our own last c o m m e n t on the Japanese Miracle. This article requires the courage to laugh and learn (not necessarily in that order). So if you don't have a sense of humor or aren't in the mood to chuckle at (a) yourself, (b) the Japanese, or (c), the U.S., please consider this THE END. It's a small world now, full of won minute managers. This article was written in chronological order. If you've had it up to here with books and articles on Japanese Management, join the c lub--you ' re #76,348,712. The purpose of this discussion is to properly set the stage for thinking about Japanese managers and distill some horse sense out of the huge quagmire of self-serving distortions and whimsical fantasies. In preparing to write this, we scientifically polled 100 friends and relatives at random. They were split 50/50 on their preference for American or Japanese management techniques. Shucks--no help there!