Enterprise as a Carrier of Culture: An Anthropological Approach to Business Administration

194 Pages·2019·4.8 MB·English

by  Hirochika Nakamaki

Translational Systems Sciences 16
Hirochika Nakamaki
Koichiro Hioki
Noriya Sumihara
Izumi Mitsui E ditors
Enterprise
as a Carrier
of Culture
An Anthropological Approach to
Business Administration
Translational Systems Sciences
Volume 16
Editors in Chief
Kyoichi Kijima, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroshi Deguchi, Yokohama, Japan
Editorial Board
Shingo Takahashi, Tokyo, Japan
Hajime Kita, Kyoto, Japan
Toshiyuki Kaneda, Nagoya, Japan
Akira Tokuyasu, Tokyo, Japan
Koichiro Hioki, Okayama, Japan
Yuji Aruka, Hachioiji, Japan
Kenneth Bausch, Riverdale, GA, USA
Jim Spohrer, San Jose, CA, USA
Wolfgang Hofkirchner, Wien, Austria
John Pourdehnad, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Mike C. Jackson, Hull, UK
Gary S. Metcalf, Atlanta, GA, USA
Marja Toivonen, Helsinki, Finland
Sachihiko Harashina, Ichikawa, Japan
In 1956, Kenneth Boulding explained the concept of General Systems Theory as a skeleton
of science. He describes that it hopes to develop something like a “spectrum” of theories—a
system of systems which may perform the function of a “gestalt” in theoretical construction.
Such “gestalts” in special fields have been of great value in directing research towards the
gaps which they reveal.
There were, at that time, other important conceptual frameworks and theories, such as
cybernetics. Additional theories and applications developed later, including synergetics,
cognitive science, complex adaptive systems, and many others. Some focused on principles
within specific domains of knowledge and others crossed areas of knowledge and practice,
along the spectrum described by Boulding.
Also in 1956, the Society for General Systems Research (now the International Society
for the Systems Sciences) was founded. One of the concerns of the founders, even then, was
the state of the human condition, and what science could do about it.
The present Translational Systems Sciences book series aims at cultivating a new frontier
of systems sciences for contributing to the need for practical applications that benefit people.
The concept of translational research originally comes from medical science for enhancing
human health and well-being. Translational medical research is often labeled as “Bench to
Bedside.” It places emphasis on translating the findings in basic research (at bench) more
quickly and efficiently into medical practice (at bedside). At the same time, needs and
demands from practice drive the development of new and innovative ideas and concepts. In
this tightly coupled process it is essential to remove barriers to multi-disciplinary collaboration.
The present series attempts to bridge and integrate basic research founded in systems
concepts, logic, theories and models with systems practices and methodologies, into a process
of systems research. Since both bench and bedside involve diverse stakeholder groups,
including researchers, practitioners and users, translational systems science works to create
common platforms for language to activate the “bench to bedside” cycle.
In order to create a resilient and sustainable society in the twenty-first century, we
unquestionably need open social innovation through which we create new social values, and
realize them in society by connecting diverse ideas and developing new solutions. We assume
three types of social values, namely: (1) values relevant to social infrastructure such as safety,
security, and amenity; (2) values created by innovation in business, economics, and
management practices; and, (3) values necessary for community sustainability brought about
by conflict resolution and consensus building.
The series will first approach these social values from a systems science perspective by
drawing on a range of disciplines in trans-disciplinary and cross-cultural ways. They may
include social systems theory, sociology, business administration, management information
science, organization science, computational mathematical organization theory, economics,
evolutionary economics, international political science, jurisprudence, policy science,
socioinformation studies, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, complex adaptive systems
theory, philosophy of science, and other related disciplines. In addition, this series will
promote translational systems science as a means of scientific research that facilitates the
translation of findings from basic science to practical applications, and vice versa.
We believe that this book series should advance a new frontier in systems sciences by
presenting theoretical and conceptual frameworks, as well as theories for design and
application, for twenty-first-century socioeconomic systems in a translational and
transdisciplinary context.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11213
Hirochika Nakamaki • Koichiro Hioki
Noriya Sumihara • Izumi Mitsui
Editors
Enterprise as a Carrier
of Culture
An Anthropological Approach to Business
Administration
Editors
Hirochika Nakamaki Koichiro Hioki
Suita City Museum Faculty of Business Administration
Suita, Osaka, Japan Shujitsu University
Okayama, Japan
Noriya Sumihara
Faculty of International Studies Izumi Mitsui
Tenri University College of Economics
Tenri, Nara, Japan Nihon University
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
ISSN 2197-8832 ISSN 2197-8840 (electronic)
Translational Systems Sciences
ISBN 978-981-13-7192-9 ISBN 978-981-13-7193-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7193-6
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Preface
In 2016 we published our first book on an anthropological approach to business
administration under the main title Enterprise as an Instrument of Civilization.
Koichiro Hioki had originally suggested understanding enterprise as an instrument/
device of civilization under the influence of both Peter Drucker’s view that “[enter-
prise] determines the individual’s view of his society” and Tadao Umesao’s defini-
tion of civilization as a system consisting of instruments/devices and institutions
(Nakamaki et al 2016: vii). Thus “instrument of civilization” became a new concep-
tual tool in business administration, replacing production and economic purpose
with an emphasis on social activity and institutional systems. Meanwhile, in busi-
ness studies many researchers have confined their understanding of culture to, e.g.,
“organizational culture,” which they have treated as functional, operational, and,
therefore, manipulable. In this volume, however, culture is referred to as the basis or
the foundation of business activity itself.
This volume focuses on the cultural dimensions of enterprise under the challeng-
ing title Enterprise as a Carrier of Culture. Rooted in the Umesao’s (2013) defini-
tion of culture as a projection of instruments/devices and institutions into the mental/
spiritual dimension, enterprise is here considered a medium of culture, rather than
an object of production and management. Inverting the usual pattern, then, our view
is that enterprise culture itself is the medium carrying the projected
mentality/spirituality of production and management. This perspective carves a new
frontier in business administration, especially when combined methodologically
with anthropological fieldwork in the world of modern business.
In this book cultural dimensions of enterprise are classified in three parts, the first
being “religiosity and spirituality,” the second “exhibition, performance and induce-
ment,” and the third “history and story.” In Part I, topics such as Quaker Codes, ex-
votos, and spiritual leadership are dealt with in relation to management and behavior,
and miracles and pilgrimage. In Part II, Chap. 4 describes how the use of nuclear power
is explained and justified through exhibitions at nuclear power plant visitor centers in
Japan and England. Chapter 5 deals with how family porcelain is exhibited at home in
England. Meanwhile, in Chap. 6, performance of orchestral maestros is viewed as
myth formation. All of these examples indicate that, through the use of narratives and
v
vi Preface
myths, exhibits and performances overtly and covertly induce visitors or audiences to
certain viewpoints and emotions. Finally, in Part III histories and stories of enterprise
are both consumed through the products of the enterprise and their display in enterprise
museums where the essence of culture and heritage is cherished and emphasized, by
and for the community and the enterprise itself. Cultural dimensions of enterprise are
thus created or “invented” through representations of history.
Though the targets of research in England, Scotland, and in Japan were different,
in an effort to shine a new light on business administration through the perspective that
enterprise is a carrier of culture, the authors have been conjoined as a team in applying
an anthropological approach to the cultural history of enterprise. The anthropological
approach to business administration in this volume may also be unique in that, here,
outsiders to European culture have investigated the industrial culture of Europe
through unusual ideas, concepts, themes, and objects, such as Quaker Codes, ex-voto,
orchestras, beer, whisky, and so forth. The fieldwork collaborations of Japanese and
American scholars in Scotland and in the Midlands of England are also noteworthy in
that we have found common themes across problems of nuclear power plant represen-
tation, similarities between ex-voto and ema, stories and histories of beer and whisky,
as well as notions of spirituality in business and management philosophy.
The joint fieldwork that involved the majority of authors in this volume was con-
ducted in England and Scotland during 2001 and 2003 with the financial support of
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Based on this research, we held
a workshop at Oxford Brookes University entitled “Comparative Cultures of
Association in British and Japanese Organizations” in 2003. Follow-up research has
been carried out separately, though reports were presented and discussed in joint-
research conferences which were consecutively organized by Nakamaki and Hioki
at the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) until 2012.
Based on fieldwork and inspired by philosophy, we sincerely hope to promote an
anthropological approach to business administration. Enterprises are not only cre-
ated by founders but are nourished by the communal life of their regions and their
heritage. Phrased theoretically, enterprises not only function as instruments of civi-
lization but are mediums and, so, carriers of culture, the latter being the major focus
of this publication.
Suita, Japan Hirochika Nakamaki
Okayama, Japan Koichiro Hioki
Chiyoda-ku, Japan Izumi Mitsui
Tenri, Japan Noriya Sumihara
References
Nakamaki, H., Hioki, K., Mitsui, I., & Takeuchi, Y. (Eds). (2016). Enterprise as an instrument of
civilization: An anthropological approach to business administration. Tokyo: Springer.
Umesao, T., Befu, H., Kreiner, J., & Nakamaki, H. (Eds). (2013). Japanese civilization in the mod-
ern world: An introduction to the comparative study of civilizations (B. Cary, Trans.). Bonn:
Bier’sche Verlangsanstalt.
Contents
Part I R eligiosity, Spirituality, and Business
1 Corporate Society, the Formation of Order, and “Quaker Codes”:
Seeking an Origin of Corporate Governance Principles ..................... 3
Izumi Mitsui
1.1 Introduction: Religion and Management ......................................... 3
1.2 Framework of Analysis .................................................................... 5
1.3 The Development of Quaker Entrepreneurs in Britain
and Their Philosophical Characteristics ........................................... 7
1.4 Twenty-First Century Moral Codes: Adrian Cadbury
and Corporate Governance ............................................................... 13
1.5 Conclusion: From Taylor in the Twentieth Century to Cadbury
in the Twenty-First Century ............................................................. 15
References ................................................................................................. 17
2 Management of Miracles and Pilgrimage: A Comparative
Study of Votive Offering in Europe and Japan .................................... 19
Hiroshi Iwai
2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 19
2.2 Ex-voto in Europe ............................................................................ 20
2.3 Ema: Votive Painting in Japan .......................................................... 22
2.4 Offering Practices and the Transitions of Religious Systems .......... 24
2.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 27
References ................................................................................................. 28
3 Spiritual Leadership: Background, Theory, and Application
to Japanese Business Leaders ................................................................ 29
Motomasa Murayama
3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 29
3.2 Transcendental Leadership Theory .................................................. 31
3.3 “Spirituality in the Workplace” Movement:
Megatrend of Conscious Capitalism ................................................ 32
vii
viii Contents
3.4 Fairholm’s “Spiritual Leadership Process” ...................................... 34
3.5 Fry’s “Organizational Spiritual Leadership Model” ........................ 35
3.6 Spirituality of Japanese Business Leaders ....................................... 39
3.7 Conclusion: Future of Spirituality and Religion .............................. 41
Appendix ................................................................................................... 42
References ................................................................................................. 44
Part II E xhibition, Performance, and Inducement
4 How the “Anomaly” of Nuclear Power Plants Has Been
Explained Before and After the 3.11 Disaster in Japan:
An Observation Through Power Company Visitor Centers
in Japan and England ............................................................................. 49
Noriya Sumihara
4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 49
4.2 Visitor Centers as a Tool to Explain How
and Why Nuclear Power Plants Were Safe Before 3.11 .................. 51
4.3 Visitor Centers in the UK ................................................................. 59
4.4 How the Account of Nuclear Power Plants
Changed After 3.11 .......................................................................... 62
4.5 Concluding Remarks ........................................................................ 66
References ................................................................................................. 67
5 Modelling Museums: The Management Culture of Family
Porcelain in England ............................................................................... 69
Yuko Shioji
5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 69
5.2 Porcelain as Cultural Commodity .................................................... 70
5.3 A Case Study of Family Porcelain in the Cotswolds ....................... 73
5.4 Parallels with the Heritage Industry ................................................. 88
5.5 Conclusion: The Management Culture of Family Porcelain ........... 89
References ................................................................................................. 93
6 An Orchestral Myth: Maestros Are Born and Made ........................... 95
Yuko Oki
6.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 95
6.2 Orchestra and Conductor ................................................................. 96
6.3 Conductors Called “Maestros” ........................................................ 97
6.4 A New Type of Maestro ................................................................... 102
6.5 Who Created the Myth of These Maestros?..................................... 106
6.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 109
References ................................................................................................. 109
Contents ix
Part III History, Story, and Industry
7 Museum and Visitor Centre in England:
Schism and Conflict Over Globalisation ............................................... 113
Hirochika Nakamaki
7.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 113
7.2 Museum and Visitor Centre in Stoke-On-Trent ............................... 115
7.3 Schism of Museum and Visitor Centre at Wedgwood ..................... 115
7.4 Burton-Upon-Trent .......................................................................... 119
7.5 From the Bass Museum to the Coors Visitor Centre........................ 120
7.6 Museums and Visitor Centres Reconsidered .................................... 123
References ................................................................................................. 125
8 Brewing Heritage: Issues in the Management of Corporate
Heritage in the Brewing Industry in Britain ........................................ 127
William H. Kelly
8.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 127
8.2 Parameters in the Presentation of Heritage ...................................... 128
8.3 Case Studies ..................................................................................... 136
8.4 Analysis and Conclusions ................................................................ 146
References ................................................................................................. 149
9 Islay, a Very Tasty Idea: Inventing, Embedding, and Selling
Tradition in the Contemporary Scotch Whisky Industry ................... 151
Mitchell W. Sedgwick
9.1 Theoretical Introduction ................................................................... 151
9.2 The Matter of Scotch ....................................................................... 152
9.3 The Creation of Distinction: Means of Variation ............................. 154
9.4 Marketing Tradition ......................................................................... 157
9.5 Marketing Difference on Islay ......................................................... 162
9.6 A Moveable Feast ............................................................................ 163
9.7 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 164
References ................................................................................................. 164
10 One History, Two Narratives: The Company Myths of Japanese
Whisky Companies ................................................................................. 167
Yoshiyuki Takeuchi
10.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 167
10.2 Sake Brewage and Its Stories ......................................................... 169
10.3 Whisky Making and Its Stories ...................................................... 173
10.4 Narratives on Japanese Whisky: One History, Two Narratives ...... 176
10.5 Interpretation of These “Two Narratives” ...................................... 181
10.6 Conclusions: Character of the Corporation and Its Narratives ...... 184
References ................................................................................................. 186
Index ................................................................................................................. 189