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

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Corporate history
• rhetorical history
• varieties of capitalism
• Japan
• bibliometric research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We base this claim on data from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, http://www.mhlw.go.jp/file/06-Seisakujouhou-11650000-Shokugyouanteikyokuhakenyukiroudoutaisakubu/0000120286.pdf (last accessed 20 October 2017).

2. Yushu kaishashi sho: senko hokokusho, Tokyo: Yushu kaishashi sho senko iinkai, since 1978.

3. Website of the company, http://www.shashi.co.jp/ (last accessed 26 October 2017).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pierre-Yves Donzé

Pierre-Yves Donzé is a Professor in Business History at Osaka University, Japan, and a Visiting Professor in History at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. His research interests include history of international business, business history of luxury and fashion, and history of medical technology. He has recently published Global Luxury: Organizational change and emerging markets since the 1970s (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, co-edited with Rika Fujioka) and Making Medicine a Business: X-Ray Technology, Global Competition, and the Transformation of the Japanese Medical system, 1895-1945(Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool Management School, where he teaches international business and strategy. He did his PhD at the University of Western Ontario and has since published a monograph, three edited collections, and numerous papers in ABS-ranked journals. His work involves qualitative and mixed methodologies and he has helped to make theoretical advances in business history, strategy, and social memory. His empirical work has explored the evolution of business strategies in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He also does research on social memory and how corporations use historical narratives to attain competitive advantage.