From my personal working experiences in Japan and the US, I think both management techniques, the American emphasis on "individual achievement" and the Japanese emphasis on "the performance and well-being of the collective" (p. 130) can be effective in organizations, such as workplaces. We should synthesize and balance those techniques focusing on the context, environment, and so forth. If we utilize both concepts effectively in a certain organization, our achievement could be higher.
According to Ouchi, a Theory Z type of organization "would integrate individual achievement and advancement while also developing a sense of community in the workplace" (p. 130). In the 1970s, my father was a factory worker for a leading Japanese automobile maker, which followed the Theory Z style of management. My father's job was to make car engines. Some examples of Theory Z management were that he and his co-workers were expected to wear matching uniforms, which is very common in Japan. Each morning, my father and all his co-workers would assemble to exercise to the NHK radio broadcast calisthenics for about ten minutes before they started work. This is also very common in Japan and, like the uniforms, helped to develop the sense of community in my father's workplace. Also, my father was sometimes required to transfer his workplace from one city to another to accommodate the needs of the company. I also transferred my elementary schools three times within six years because of his work transfers.
I don't know whether I could follow such a kind of management style, although I really appreciate my father's efforts. What do you think, guys?
4 days ago
I don't think I could follow your father's company's management style either. He obviously was devoted to his family and job to follow orders of the company to support his family. However, I wonder if this took a toll on the family being uprooted each time he was relocated? As I read and understood Ouchi’s Theory Z, I think of the dot-com era where stock options made many employees rich. Why did I think of dot-com companies? Well, it was because employees were given stock options based on performance and it made them want to do a better job to achieve the company’s goals. They were a part of community, a part of a bigger cause. So, there was the American style of individual achievement and the Japanese sense of community in the workplace.
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