RELATIONS BETWEEN
ZAIBATSU-OWNERS AND EMPLOYED MANAGERS IN PREWAR
Shigeaki Yasuoka
By the end of the War, in 1945, a substantial part of the
Japanese economy was controlled by many zaibatsu. When the war became serious,
zaibatsu were compelled to change their character: the Mitsui and the Yasuda
which had developed on the bases of banking and trade business entered such new
fields as the heavy and the chemical industries, which were the main businesses
of the Mitsubishi and the Sumitomo zaibatsu; the Mitsubishi and the Sumitomo
had become more powerful just before the bombing by the U.S. Air Force. At the
termination of the war, 35.2% of the total domestic paid-up capital was
occupied by that of the companies of the ten biggest zaibatsu.
The employed managers of the Mitsui and the Yasuda
zaibatsu endeavored to adapt their business to the new environment in the
1930-40s, by shifting the main field of their businesses and by reforming the
organizational structure of their firms. The headquarters of zaibatsu, which
had been unlimited (Mitsui and Yasuda) or limited partnerships (Mitsubishi and
Sumitomo), were obliged to be reorganized as joint-stock companies
(corporations) in order to raise necessary funds for new investments. By
adopting the form of joint-stock company, the headquarters could offer their
stocks for public subscription and could issue debentures.
In the cases of the Mitsui and the Yasuda, however,
zaibatsu owners were reluctant to invest in heavy industries because the center
of their interest was in the preservation of their business entities.
Therefore, the top-managers of the two zaibatsu made every effort to awake the
owners, only to cause friction with the owners.
On the other hand, the owners in the Mitsubishi usually
held real power in the management. In the Sumitomo, it was an established
practice that the owners delegate authority over management to the top-managers.
On account of this practice, no severe conflict was ever seen between the
owners and the managers in the two zaibatsu.
After the war, main zaibatsu were dissolved according to
the order of the GHQ; the headquarters of zaibatsu was broken up; the owners
and managers of zaibatsu were purged; and the stocks of zaibatsu-affiliated
companies were offered to the general public, and these companies became firms
independent of each other.
After the Peace Treaty came into effect in 1952, however,
the former zaibatsu subsidiaries began to regather
together and to reorganize their own financial groups respectively. These
financial groups are called “Kigyo-shudan” instead of
“zaibatsu.” Among Kigyo-shudan, the Mitsubishi and
the Sumitomo groups grew up most remarkably.
On the other hand, the solidarity of the Mitsui and the
Yasuda groups was weak because of the top-managers reluctance to renew
zaibatsu. Moreover, the top-managers opposed the former owners’ comeback and
involvement in the former subsidiaries.
It may be argued from the above that the prewar pattern
of owner-manager relations that developed in respective zaibatsu had a great
influence upon the solidarity and potentiality of each Kigyo-shudan
in the postwar period.
MANAGEMENT CREEDS IN
THE EARLY STAGE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION IN
Hiroshi Hazama
The study of management creeds must be one of the most
advanced fields of business history in
This paper seeks to form a conceptual framework for the
comparative study of management creeds in the East and the West.
The basic value system of the East and the West are
characterized by collectivism (groupism) and
individualism respectively. However, the concept of collectivism (groupism) and that of individualism are vague as scientific
terms. For this reason, these two terms are made clear by using crossing two
axes. The vertical axis shows the purpose or goal of social action, and the
horizontal axis shows the means of social action to attain the purpose or goal.
The former axis has two poles representing collectivity-centeredness and
self-centeredness, and the latter axis has two poles representing self-help and
mutual-help.
According to the four quadrants formed by the two axes,
management creeds are separated into four types. Management creeds in the early
stage of industrialization in
THE BUSINESS IDEOLOGY
IN
Myong-soo Hwang
This paper is an attempt to clarify the business ideology
in
In this paper, the business motive and business ideology
in
In the first period, the native business enterprises were
established to protest against foreign control of Korean industries and to
respond to the introduction of modern civilization. The business motive and
business behavior of the enterprisers at that time worked for “the protection
of the country.” In the second period of the business boom after the Sam-il Independence Movement, the business motive was “the
recovery of national rights.” In the third period, the business motive was
“escape from poverty through economic growth,” in other words, industrial
contribution to the nation.
The strong nationalism in the business ideology of
enterprisers before and after the liberation in 1945 was in evidence in the
attitude of enterprisers toward national crises. This nationalism traces itself
back to the royalty, to parents, and to rulers and is based on Confucian
tradition. For instance, Ryee, Byung-chul
and Kim, Sung-kon were influenced by Confucian
philosophy throughout their lives.
The ethics of honesty, industry, prudence and frugality
in business management in
The higher economic growth in
These are similar to the thought of self-denial
(asceticism) in Protestant ethics and that of Benjamin Franklin, as pointed out
by Max Weber.
A STUDY ON THE
CONSOLIDATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1882-1904
Akitake Taniguchi
We can find that 47 of the 63 1argest-manufacturing firms
in 1909 were formed by consolidation from 1882 to 1904. Consolidation played a
decisive role in the process of the emergence of modern large corporations.
In this article l divide these cases of consolidation
into four types according to three criteria: (1) pattern of strategic
evolution; (2) percentage effect of the standard firm on the market or economy
of scale and speed; and (3) incentive to diversification. To type A-1 belong
the cases where first horizontal consolidation of single-unit-firms took place
because the high percentage effect brought about severe competition and then
vertical integration evolved, and no incentive to diversification existed. In
type A-2 the percentage effect was low and other conditions were similar to
those in type A-1. In type B-1 one firm began vertical integration and a few
firms followed it, and then the severe competition between them led to
horizontal consolidation. There, the percentage effect was high because
vertically integrated firms became standard, and incentive to diversification
was little. In type B-2 incentive to diversification was an important factor
that led to consolidation, and other conditions were similar to those in type
B-1. These four types express the dynamism of American industry in this period.
The cases in type A-l were in the main stream where the progress in technology
itself gave birth to overproduction. In type B-l where the technological
condition was similar to type A-1, innovations made pioneers develop new
strategies (vertical integration). The cases in type A-2 show the move to consolidation
in the low-technology industries. The cases in type B-2, though only a few,
imply the emergence of new type of industries where product-innovation is of
significance.
After consolidation most of the large
corporations in every type began to pursue the strategy of growth through
diversification which was still of narrow range in most cases.
THE ORIGIN OF BUSINESS
IDEOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES AND
Kishichi Watanabe
In this paper, I attempt to define “business ideology” as
a decisive element in management and entrepreneurship. Then I go on to examine
comparatively the role it played in 18th century
At first I define the concept of business ideology as the
fundamental principle, goal or spirit of business which entrepreneurs regard as
the soundest basis for the foundation, maintenance and development of the
enterprise, greatly affecting strategic and managerial decision-making.
Secondly, I describe the business ideology and/or the spirit
of the modern capitalism of Benjamin Franklin as the origin of modern
entrepreneurship in the
Thirdly, I touch upon the social values and business
ideology of the Tokugawa era of
Finally, comparing the business values and ideology of
SOME ASPECTS OF FRENCH
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Jun Sakudo
French entrepreneurship has been hotly debated in earlier
business history. Perhaps the reason is that the poor performance of French
industrialists has been considered as one of major retardative
factors of French economic growth. But recent studies on French economic and
business growth challenged these conventional views. The performance of modern
French economy is far more satisfactory than has generally been allowed.
This article aims to reexamine the French entrepreneurship
in the nineteenth century, mainly from two points of view. Firstly,
investigating several cases of most successful firms, the positive role of
family firm in French economic growth will be pointed out. The other major
problems such as business ideology, paternalism and religion will be argued in
this context. Secondly, regional differences in French entrepreneurship will be
examined, based on the cases of five industrial centers (
In conclusion, the
emphasis will be placed on the active role that dynamic entrepreneurs and
enterprises had played in the evolution of French modern economy.