MANAGEMENT CREEDS IN THE EARLY STAGE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION IN JAPAN

The study of management creeds must be one of the most advanced field of business history in Japan, and perhaps compared with that in other highly industrialized countries. Since the era of the feudal big merchant families, many large companies have drawn up management creeds and philosophies and regard them as important. Today, at a time when businessmen and scholars show great interest in them, we should promote the comparative study of management creeds. The establishment of an analytical framework or conceptual scheme which is essential for deeper insight.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 Japan are illustrated using this framework.