In order to regain its competitiveness, Japan is restructuring and globalizing its business and economics system, as well as other aspects of society. How it is resolving this is of huge interest to its global trading partners. With contributions from well-known North American and Japanese academics, this book discusses these issues from historical, analytical and empirical perspectives.

Monograph relating business organization to society and economy in Japan - covers trade unions and labour relations at enterprise level, economic growth trends, trade competitiveness, income distribution and consumer expenditure, political system, the impact of modernization, etc. Bibliography after each contribution and graphs.

This collection of readings is intended to serve as a foundation for those expecting to have commercial interaction with the Japanese. The selections--from sources not limited to mainstream business journals--address various aspects of the cultural environment of Japanese business and discuss communication and interpersonal relationships, the institutional and legal environment, management and marketing, and the Japanese approach to manufacturing. Some specific topics: the influence of Confucianism and Zen on the Japanese organization, gift-giving, the ethnography of dinner entertainment, spiritual education in a Japanese bank, women managers.

This Handbook is an interdisciplinary resource that focuses on contemporary Japan and the social and cultural trends that are important at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

This book explores the linkages between the evolution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financing and governance in Japan since the late 2000s. Since the 1990s, increasing economic and financial globalization has steadily eroded the Japanese style of business based on relationships and influenced the awareness and practices of CSR that are unique to Japanese companies. In Japan’s two “lost decades” after the bubble economy, the business model and corporate financing seem to have continued a gradual financial reform toward a more market-oriented system. CSR awareness and practices of Japanese companies have been influenced by social and environmental issues that global society and communities face. Furthermore, the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 triggered increasing attention paid to the responsibility of business toward society. In this process, major players in corporate governance and components of governance structure have continued to change. The conventional view of Japanese corporate governance and corporate finance is too narrow to understand this field in Japan. This book is based on empirical research to investigate how multifaceted CSR has aligned with business and finance and has influenced the corporate governance structure of Japanese companies. The findings and discussions in this book act are stepping stones in further research on the linkages between business and society, and provide empirical evidence on changes in Japanese corporate finance and governance.