Date of Award

8-1992

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Dr. David Chaplin

Second Advisor

Dr. Thomas Van Valey

Third Advisor

Dr. James Petersen

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

The study of diffusion of Japanese management practices in the United States is required by growing Japanese investment in the United States and the need of United States manufacturing to become more efficient. This thesis is based on a qualitative analysis of five case studies of automobile assembly plants in the United States utilizing cultural diffusion theory.

Most of Japanese production practices and some of their labor management policies were originally transferred to Japan from the United States. After being modified in Japan some of these policies are coming back to the United States with the transplants. Other Japanese management practices turned out to be unacceptable, but these were either not essential to productivity or had functional substitutes.

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