Post Fordism Debate and Japanese Management

Abstract

After World War II, western economies passed through an unprecedented era of peace, affluence, and economic stability. But with the decline of postwar economy in the late 60's, western society had to search for new paths leading to prosperity. Some expected western economies to shift from industrial societies to post industrial ones. Others asked if industrial economies might catch up with the changing market. The discussion was mainly focusing on the problem of how to overcome crisis. Finaly, western industrial countries gradually learned the advantage of the japanese management. But studying this management system in more detail, there are some issues that can't be solved. In this paper, I would like to point out these problems.