Article ID: | iaor19881061 |
Country: | United States |
Volume: | 34 |
Issue: | 3 |
Start Page Number: | 305 |
End Page Number: | 310 |
Publication Date: | Nov 1988 |
Journal: | Technological Forecasting & Social Change |
Authors: | Maruyama Magoroh |
In recent years some American firms attempted to create an equivalent of the Japanese general trading companies, but they failed because of the cognitive and epistemological differences between the two kinds of companies. It is a mistake to try to understand the Japanese companies in terms of organizational structure or operational procedures. This article discusses the cognitive and epistemological aspects of the Japanese general trading companies.