This paper attempts to discover the possibility of keeping union members from losing interest in enterprise union activity, as a function of the enterprise union in its relationship with management. There is fateful limit to the function of the enterprise union in its relationship with management. Since maintaining and improving the employment and working conditions of the union members depends on the survival and prosperity of the corporation, this limit is embodied in the difficulty of denying the implementation of rationalized management even if it means increasing union members' burden. Also, the members have been losing their expectations for the union, due to the fact that the limit is clear against the background of the present management environment, and the fact that the members can' t get benefit from the union. Therefore, the limit causes losing interest in the enterprise union activity for union members. Taking into consideration these limits of this enterprise union, this paper will discover the possibility of overcoming the limits through the example of Union A' s response to corporate division in the three functional points of the union. This is because it “responds to the feeling of dependency among members,” “provides them with a voice vis-à-vis management,” and “allows members to get conducive results.” In other words, it demonstrates leadership as an expert as pertains to the wellbeing of union members. And these are the basic functions of a union, and also even more important functions in current management-labor relations, under the dimensions of the advantages of management, with the corporation' s ability to survive as the greatest challenge.

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Japan is now making the institutional transition from a single income to a dual income society. The direction of change seems to place middle-aged housewives in a situation of mounting financial risks and potential loss of legitimacy of their identity. This paper tries to describe this macro-level institutional reorganization from the everyday experiences of Japanese housewives. The target of analysis is a group of housewives working for Maple, a Japanese network business organizing 190 thousand housewives all over Japan. Although its sales volume has been declining, the number of housewives joining the business is increasing. ‘Network business’ is the Japanese term for a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) system, which invites individuals to become sales persons without formalized employment relations and simultaneously expands its sales network by asking those individuals to invite other individuals to join the network. Maple attracts housewives who have lost self-confidence and felt ‘no future’ in their life, claiming that anyone can become another self by joining the business. Three years of field work reveals a distinctive new work style induced by ‘hitodukuri’ (literally 'making people') ideology entangled with the business interest. The paper finally identifies a sign of hope in their ambivalent work experiences characterized both by intensive and encompassing exploitation and by production of new identities.

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