This book expands anthropological studies of business enterprise to
include comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives. A number of
books on business anthropology have been published, but most of them are
written by anthropologists alone. By contrast, this book engages
interdisciplinary studies, e.g., not only by anthropologists but also
management scholars and other social scientists. It is the second volume
of studies forwarding anthropological approaches to business
administration, Keiei Jinruigaku.
This volume focusses on the cultural dimensions of enterprise. Here
enterprise is viewed as a medium carrying culture, rather than solely an
entity of production and management, as is typical in mainstream
studies. The approach is based on Tadao Umesao's definition of culture
as a projection of instruments/devices and institutions into the
mental/spiritual dimensions of life. Therefore, in our view production
and management are among the projections of the cultural aspects of
enterprise. This perspective, we believe, constitutes a new frontier in
the study of business administration.
This book consists of three parts, the first being "religiosity and
spirituality", the second "exhibitions, performance and inducement," and
the third "history and story." In Part I, Quaker Codes, ex-votos, and
spiritual leadership are discussed in relation to management and
behavior, and miracles and pilgrimage. Part II describes exhibitions
justifying nuclear power industry within power plants in both Japan and
England, the exhibition by English families of their porcelain
collections, and the performance skills of orchestral maestros. All of
these examples indicate that, through the use of narratives and myths,
exhibits and performances overtly and covertly induce visitors or
audiences to certain viewpoints and emotions. Part III offers examples
of histories and stories of enterprise articulated through the branding
and consumption of industrial products, and their display in enterprise
museums where the essence of culture and heritage is cherished and
emphasized, by and for the wider community and the enterprise itself.
Conjoined as an interdisciplinary team of Western and Japanese
researchers, we apply an anthropological approach to the cultural
history of enterprise in both Britain and Japan.
