For Harmony and Strength: Japanese White-Collar Organization in Anthropological Perspective"Rohten has demonstrated that traditional anthropological method and theory can be adjusted to the analysis of complex organizations. The book provides a holistic perspective of a Japanese bank and its more than 3,000 employees. Methodologically, Rohlen analyzed this bank in much the same fashion as he would have carried out the study of a small community. Eleven months of participant observation within the bank and among its employees after work provided the major source of data. . . Possibly the most important finding of the study is that despite surface similarities with banks throughout the world, the Japanese have evolved an institution which is radically different. This bank, like many modern Japanese businesses, is organized to secure a common livelihood and way of life for its employees . . . more than the best cultural analysis of a Japanese business, for the book also contributes to the fields of Japanese cultural change and modernization process essential reading."--American Anthropologist "The account is adorned with an unusually rich selection of illustration from the speeches of firm officers, company records and documents, and of course extensive observations from employees . . . As a case study of a single Japanese organization, For Harmony and Strength is a superb effort that penetrates deeper than any other book in the English language."--Contemporary Sociology "A first-rate contribution to the literature in applied anthropology and comparative and cross-cultural management for the insights it provides on management of white-collar employees in Japan."--Industrial and Labor Relations Review "A well-written, thoroughly researched study of the internal life of a single Japanese organization . . Unlike most previous writers, Aohlen deals with the separate recruitment, work, and leisure patterns of the bank's women employees. As an anthropologist he has particular sensitivity to the ritual meanings of bank songs, ceremonies, and extensive training activities . . . one of the best analyses to date of how Japanese organization works."--Library Journal "What emerges from Rohlen's convincing and penetrating analysis is a picture of a thoroughly 'Japanese' business organization deeply imbued with Japanese cultural values .. . . in its sensitivity to cultural meanings and in its analytical coherence in the presentation of data, this book is a model of scholarship matched by few ethnographies. It will be consulted by those specializing in Japan, those interested in organizational behavior, and those interested in seeing 'the meanings of fundamental matters, ' for a long time to come.''--Journal of Asian Studies |
Contents
THE BASIC FORM OF THE COMPANY | 13 |
SONGS CEREMONIES AND THE UEDAGIN IDEOLOGY | 34 |
ENTRANCE DEPARTURE AND LIFELONG | 62 |
THE OFFICE GROUP | 93 |
A FRIEND AT COURT | 121 |
GETTING AHEAD | 135 |
WHO GETS WHAT WHEN | 156 |
THE BANKS UNION | 176 |
CREATING THE UEDAGIN MAN | 192 |
DORMITORIES AND COMPANY APARTMENTS | 212 |
MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY | 235 |
Other editions - View all
For Harmony and Strength: Japanese White-Collar Organization in ... Thomas P. Rohlen Limited preview - 2023 |
For Harmony and Strength: Japanese White-Collar Organization in ... Thomas P. Rohlen Limited preview - 1979 |
For Harmony and Strength: Japanese White-collar Organization in ... Thomas P. Rohlen Limited preview - 1974 |
Common terms and phrases
activities age set Aoyama apartments arranged marriages arrangement assigned average bachelors bank bank's base pay basic blue-collar workers branch career ceremony chief common company housing considerable cooperation dependency deputy directors discussion dormitory effort emphasized example expected fact factors goals hierarchy high school graduates housing ideal ideology important individual institute interest involved Japa Japan Japanese companies kohai labor leaders leadership living mah-jongg main office marriage matter meeting membership ment modern Nakane Chie nomic office group office romance older organization organizational oyabun pany parents participation party pattern percent personnel department personnel section position president problems promotion quasi members quit rank recreation regarded regular relations relationship responsibility retirement role salary senior senior-junior senpai senpai-kohai sense significance situation social Sōka Gakkai spirit status tion traditional Ueda union university graduates vidual welfare section white-collar white-collar workers wives women workers young younger