Varieties of capitalism and the corporate use of history: the Japanese experience

Smith, ADA ORCID: 0000-0002-8589-7608 and Donzé, Pierre-Yves (2018) Varieties of capitalism and the corporate use of history: the Japanese experience. Management and Organizational History, 13 (3). pp. 236-257.

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Abstract

Scholarly works on rhetorical history have inspired the production of an extensive body of research on how firms use history. However, the existing research is based on the experience of firms in a handful of Western countries. Our mixed-methods paper examines the use of history by Japanese firms so that we can see how history is used in a very different institutional and cultural context. The paper operationalizes the comparative capitalism approach. For more than a century, Japanese firms have invested extensively in celebratory corporate histories called shashi. The paper is based on bibliometric and interview data as well as the close textual analysis of shashi from various decades. We show that until recently the main function of shashi was to inspire loyalty on the part of workers. We argue that the post-2000 decline in shashi production is primarily a function of profound changes in the nature of the Japanese variety of capitalism. The relation between the change in governance and the use of corporate history is revealed by the new style of consumer-focused shashi that has emerged since 2000.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Corporate history, rhetorical history, varieties of capitalism, Japan, bibliometric research
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	27 Nov 2018 10:11
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 01:11
DOI:	10.1080/17449359.2018.1547648
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3029073