Six articles in this issue are papers read at the common-topics session of the ninth annual meeting of the Business History Society of Japan, held at Kobe University of Commerce on November 10 and 11, 1973.
In the opening address, Kurita pointed out that the aim of this symposium lay in analysing the interrelationship between “Business Administration and Business History”. There are three approaches in studying business history : history of the business thought ; history of the business structures ; history of the business management. Kurita emphasized the possibility of multiple approaches, suggesting five genres of the history of business management-labour management ; financial management ; production management ; marketing management ; and accounting management.
The second speaker, Professor Seiji Fujitsu (Hitotsubashi University), explained, to the minutest detail, the development of the standard profit concept at Onoda Cement Manufacturing Company, which was one of the pioneering modern enterprises in Meiji-Japan. He pointed out that Onoda Cement Manufacturing Company was the earliest enterprise tackling with the problem of depreciation-expense. (Commentator ; Professor Jiro Ono, Kobe University).
Professor Hiroshi Noguchi (Keio University) tried to trace the historical characteristics of the labour management in Japan. He concretely reported about “the Japan-Type-Labour-Management”, which had a couple of unique marks-the system of employment for life ; the institution of generous welfare ; and the special personnel relationship based on the business community. (Commentator : Professor Hiroshi Hazama, Tokyo University of Education).
Professor Hiroshi Tachibana (Osaka Municipal University) insisted the importance of the historical approach in the study of production control, reviewing the development of capitalistic-factory-production during the recent two centuries, together with the contemporary thoughts and systems of production control. He also analyzed the current structure and function of the production control in detail, from the historical view point. (Commentator : Professor Kisoo Tasugi, Kyoto-Gakuen University).
Professor Koichi Shimokawa (Hosei University) reported on the origin and growth of the marketing control in the United States during the latter half of the 19 th century. He found the origin of the marketing as a means of control in the early development of salesmen control, promoted in some new consumers' goods industries, such as sewing-machine, reaper, meat-packing and cigarette, to which neither established marketing organization nor sales agency could afford enough sales facilities. (Commentator : Professor Moriaki Tsuchiya, Tokyo University).
Professor Eiichiro Ogura (Shiga University) gave the audience a corroborative business-history-research of the accounting management. Analyzing the cases of House of Nakai and Muranishi together with Izumo-account, he put emphasis on the existences of the managerial-accounting and the cost-accounting in Tokugawa-Japan. (Commentator : Professor Osao Kojima, Kwansei Gakuin University).
Co-chairmen of this symposium were Professor Yasuzo Horie (Kyoto Sangyo University) and Professor Keiichiro Nakagawa (Tokyo University).

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