Imitation and Innovation: The Transfer of Western Organizational Patterns in Meiji Japan

by D. Eleanor Westney

Japan in the Meiji period, 1868-1912, experienced the most remarkable social transformation in modern history. In less than half a century, the Japanese adopted from the advanced Western nations a phenomenally wide range of new institutions, manufacturing methods, and communications technologies in a successful effort to convert their country into a modern nation. Eleanor Westney investigates both the influence of traditional Japanese culture on the evolution of organizational patterns and processes and the transforming impact of the new organizations on the culture. Focusing on three case histories – the police, the postal system, and the mass-circulation newspaper – Westney describes how decisions were formulated and implemented, thus revealing a great deal not only about Japan but also about the ways organizations simultaneously shape and are shaped by their social contexts.

268 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2000