At a minimum our goal is to develop a better understanding of Japanese labor market practices and work organization and in so doing develop a more enlightened vision of American practices. We will greatly enhance our ability to achieve both these goals by arriving at a better understanding of the comparative experience of the two nations over time. We can no longer afford the delusion that what exists in the United States reflects the characteristics of industrial society in its most advanced form. Yet to follow current fashion in simply denying that the United States is the very model of a modern society, while advocating that we imitate the Japanese, is to take a course filled with its own pitfalls. Perhaps it is time we accepted the fact that the social scientist's intense commitment to generalization cannot be allowed to obscure the fundamental observation that nations develop along their own paths, based on their own political, cultural, economic and social histories. As nations industrialize there is undoubtedly convergence in important institutional spheres, such as the expansion of education, the adoption of common technologies and determinants of labor mobility. Certainly nations can learn from one another, and indeed some nations impose their will on other nations. Yet there are also unique solutions to common problems. —From the Introduction This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1979.
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Robert E. Cole is Professor Emeritus of the Haas School of Business and the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.
"One of the two or three most significant comparative studies in sociology in the past decade. . . . It is of great importance for people working not only in the study of Japan, but also in the general study of comparative cultures and industrial systems. It is a book that ought to be read by all social scientists as a model of comparative analysis and by all who are interested in the nature of contemporary societies."—Joseph R. Gusfield
"A comparative study of American and Japanese industry, focusing on job mobility, the relationship between employer and employee in the decision-making process, and the work ethic. The analysis is based on case studies of labor conditions in Detroit and Yokohama. Cole stresses the influence of differing social, political and economic conditions on the workplace in the two countries. He closes with a listing of labor practice areas in which the U.S. might learn from the Japanese."—Choice
"With this volume Robert E. Cole makes another important contribution to our understanding of Japanese organizational behavior. It is surely a timely work, as many in the West are attempting to identify the sources of Japan’s economic success…. It should be required reading for those interested in the Japanese society as well as for those who are concerned with the problem of commitment and participation."—Journal of Economic History
"Trends, traditions, and activities are emphasized in this comparative study…. A variety of data…. Contributes to the comprehensiveness of the study. The explanations of methodology are clear and the author’s skillful integration of a broad array of related research is elegant as well as scholarly."—Library Journal
"This book is well crafted. The theses are carefully developed, the data are diligently analyzed, and the interpretations are conservatively drawn. It is of special value for its presentation of works done by Japanese sociologists, as well as its refinements and extensions to earlier works done by James Abegglen, Ronald Dore, Ezra Vogel, and Robert Cole himself."—Sociology
304 pp.6 x 9
9780520303331$39.95|£34.00Paper
Sep 2018