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Comment by _delirium | Hacker News Reader

Has anyone written a good book on Japanese corporate/management/business culture? I hear a lot of tidbits about it, both good and bad, mentioned in recurring news articles like this one. They're intriguing enough that I'd like to read something deeper and well-researched, but I can't seem to find anything that looks like a good overview book.

The only books I can find seem to either be of the "teach Westerners how to do business in Japan" variety (not my interest), or very specialist academic books and paper anthologies on narrow aspects.

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I don't think you should take much stock in Japanese business culture. While there are some great aspects 'toyota way'/continuous improvement...

There's also a lot of drawbacks. The management by consensus, hammering the nail that sticks out, the lack of willingness to deal with real problems, putting cultural norms before economic logic -- these are all major issues with Japan that are partly responsible for why they have been stuck in an economic malaise for the last 20 years.

As I mentioned in a reply below, Japanese business culture (the good side of it, anyway) was heavily influenced by Peter Drucker in the 60s, and carried it forward decades, long after he became a sort of side show in the U.S.-business-mogul ratrace. For example: http://www.economist.com/node/16481583

A book like "The Toyota Way" or "Product Development for the Lean Enterprise" I'd recommend to understand Lean (which isn't pervasive in Japan, but of course is known to have originated in a couple of automakers).

You could look for Deming's books. He was the guy who went to Japan in the 50's to teach better manufacturing methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming

I think it's Jim Collins's book Good to Great that says that managers that perform at a high level for a long time are recognizable by the fact that they remain modest while their business units make great results.

"A Primer for Japanese Business Success" by Masami Atarashi is probably meant to be the former type of book, but it was refreshingly free of stereotypes and "it's a Japanese thing--you won't understand" attitude.

"The Toyota Way" is decent and interesting, about half manufacturing but half culture.

Some of Peter Drucker's famous books about business and management dealt with Japan extensively.

I wonder if a book can really capture the dynamics and differences which they have here in Japan. Depending on the company the "rules" can vary greatly.

I have been here since years now, but I still struggle with this. Even after reading many books on japan and studying various cultural background of Asia.

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