This paper discusses organizational symbolism and postmodernism as a new stream of the social sciences. The character of modern science is a proposition in which the world is separated from human consciousness and is described by absolute principles. It seems to be required for social scientists to believe that there is no reason in principle why the social sciences should not be viewed and explained in just the same way as the natural sciences. According to the thinking of the natural sciences to be under the general law, organizational theory has also analyzed organizations by the objective and nomothetic approach. The functionalism of organization theory has been a dominant paradigm in organizational studies. The functionalistic assumptions, however, which objectively and regularly explain organizational phenomena have been threatened and have become doubtful. New organizational theory is required to adopt not only functionalistic disciplines but also interpretive disciplines. Theoretical relativity is today well accepted as a natural state in the field of organizational theory. This movement towards theoretical pluralism implies a significant meaning in organizational science. Organizational symbolism includes a wide variety of approaches, perspectives, and concepts that characterize the new organizational field. Postmodernism focuses on cultural and symbolic dimensions. The postmodernists in social theory share a common concern which is based upon a mistrust of the notion of rationality, truth, and progress. Postmodernism will help us adapt to new waves already taking place as a result of applying modern science and technology, and will challenge the conventional wisdom. The theory of organizational symbolism has a viewpoint of postmodernism and seems to be a new trend of organizational theory.

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In modern corporate finance theory, the notion of the cost of capital is defined as the rate of return required by investors and it plays an important role in the theory building. On the contrary, it is generally said that Japanese top management regard the cost of capital just as the out-of-pocket cost in use of the fund. In this article, we have tried to make it clear what the Japanese management understand the cost of capital. Although there are a few surveys on this point, there has not been such an essential and direct evidence that shows and analyses the Japanese top management's understanding of the cost of capital. Because the questionnaire of our survey includes the questions concerning to a lot of kinds of financial decision making as well as the cost of capital, we can make clear the relationship between the understandings of the cost of capital and the views to various financial policies. Our findings are the following: 1. The 80% of the samples answer that "the cost of capital" is the out-of-pocket cost and the other 20% of samples answer the required rate of return. 2. Compared with the group of the samples that answer the required rate of return, the out-of-pocket cost group has the tendency as follows: -As to financing policy, they attach more importance to dividends and issuance costs. -As to investment policy, they are satisfied with lower rate of return. -As to dividend policy, they tend to be more traditional and conventional. As to financial purpose, they attach more importance to the index of the quantity (ex. proceeds, ordinary profit), and less importance to that of the quality (ex. ROA, ROE) In the results, it is made clear that the majority of the Japanese management regard the cost of capital just as the out-of-pocket cost and such an understanding of the cost of capital has an influence on several kinds of financial decision making.

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The purpose of this paper is to rationalise the importance of environmental issues within business ethics. In other words, why should a firm whose essential purpose is to make a profit be concerned about environmental issues? In the latter part of the twentieth century, mass production and mass consumption have necessarily created mass waste. We live at the expense of our environment. We have been caught in a dilemma between the private interest of company profitability and the public interest of the preservation of the environment in which we live. This situation has come about as a result of the implementation of Ford system without Fordism. Fordism was a management creed of Henry Ford. Ford system was a means of Fordism. While "the spirit of service" was central to this philosophy, Fordism was abandoned under pressure from market competition and replaced with Ford system which centered on the effective use of capital. This resulted in gross exploitation of the enviornment. What dose a firm stand to gain by making ethical decisions about environmental issues? The business world is placing an increasing importance on the preservation of the environment. This is evident in the ISO 14000 regulations which firms must adapt themselves to. In addition, and independent of government legislation, are NPO activities which advocate the public interest. A firm as "going concern"-profit-making principles -must keep good relationship with the public. In conclusion a firm must consider the environment and structure its decision-making processes and management organization to solve that dilemma if it is to increase profit-ability and remain competitive in the market place.

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The Automobile industry has affected the earth's environment in many ways. They used tons of CFCs that are proven harmful to the ozone layer. They also use a tremendous amount of energy and resources, leaving millions of scrapped cars piling. In addition, they generate a vast amount of emissions such as HC, CO, CO_2, NO_X, SO_X, and SPM, some of which have "green house effect" and the other harm all living things directly. This treatise focuses on the "green management" of Japan's four major automobile corporations: TOYOTA, NISSAN, HONDA and MITSUBISHI. Publications, inside data, and private hearings reveal that these companies are implementing many kinds of green management. They include CFC disuse programs, improving technologies for emission gas, recycling programs, and so forth. These efforts have brought about several environmental improvements. Special CFCs have been completely eliminated. The volume of CO_2 emission from all Japanese automobile corporations has been reduced from 3 million ton to 2.5 million ton. Industry wastes from all automobile factories have also been reduced by half. Automobile corporations, however, possess characteristics that contradict one another. On one hand, they are environmentally conscious. On the other hand, like any other private corporation, their goal is to pursue maximum profits. For example, one company sold out a new model with a special 1,800cc engine that dramatically reduced CO_2 and NO_X levels. It has also begun selling the bigger models with 3,500cc engines, which can produce more profit, but harm the earth more. In Japan, the total volume of CO_2 emission, as well as the density of NO_2, is still rising. Automobile corporations are not willing to accept the deposit systems, recycling scrapped cars, or carbon tax. We, as consumer, must also do our best both to protect the earth and to accelerate their green management.

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Earth environmental problems are now one of the most important issues in international society. This paper analyzes these problems from the viewpoint of corporate strategy and tries to clarify the notion and the problems of the strategic environmental management. This paper consists of four subjects. First, I analyze the difference between pollution problems and earth environmental problems to clarify how corporations should deal with earth environmental problems. This paper insists corporations need to adopt a strategic approach, not a passive approach, because earth environmental problems will change the form and the value of the present socio-economic system. This paper shows the following three necessary conditions for the strategic environmental management. 1) Company managers, who have a clear vision about earth environmental problems and can take a strong leadership. 2) Organizational reform to cope with earth environmental problems. 3) Socio-economic system and social climate, which support the strategic environmental management. Second, I analyze Toyota Motor Corporation as a case study of the strategic environmental management. The focus on analysis is here how Toyota works on the recycling. In this paper, the automobile design which considers the recycling, the development of technology and materials for the recycling in Toyota are taken up and analyzed. Third, I analyze the actual conditions of recycling in BMW Corporation. It is widely known that BMW is one of the most advanced companies concerning the environmental management. For example, the recycling network of end of life vehicles which was built in Germany and other 8 main markets, the experiments in recycling center and so on. Finally, I compare Toyota with BMW on recycling and point out Toyota is behind BMW on building the recycling network of end of life vehicles. This paper proposes the following three items to improve this situation. 1) To legislate a law which clears the principle of new socio-economic system. 2) To give a financial support for the practice of strategic environmental management. 3) To foster green consumers.

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This research investigates the relationship between the product development process and the way of decision making in car makers. To analyze it, the qualitative research method of comparing and examining three product development process models of Japanese & Occidental volume producers and a high-end car maker was employed. Analysis of the results indicates that methods of the product development in car makers are divided largely into two. One is the traditional product development by Occidental volume producers and high-end car makers, which is characterized by pushing each process one by one rationally from the beginning according to the plan. The other is Japanese product development which is characterized by pulling the way of working in the former process from the last process in succession through the 'ambiguity' in the decision making in each process. Japanese car makers leave the 'ambiguity' in the decision making by not deciding details strictly so that they could always take the influence of the latter process into the room of 'ambiguity' in the former process. In contrast, the strict division of labor in Occidental car makers fosters full completion of one's job before handing over his accomplishment to the next process. So any ambiguity cannot be left in the decision making in each process. 'Pull system' and 'push system' have been advanced mainly for production methods. However, as the product development has been developing these systems as well, the notion of 'pull system' and 'push system' can also be standardized in product development methods. 'Pull system' of the product development sends critical information from the latter process to the former process through the 'ambiguity' in the decision making where the former process and the latter process overlap in some degree. So in the product development, the 'ambiguity' plays a role as a paper of 'kanban' on which the necessary information could be written. In order to attain high customer satisfaction, the concurrent engineering based on the 'pull system' would be a competent tool of product development for car makers.

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In this decade the relations between assemblers and suppliers in the European automobile industry have experienced the significant changes, reflecting introduction of new method to assemble vehicles in face of intensified world competition. One of their features is the tendency of modularization resulting to reduction of the number of suppliers and use of modules with the aim of increasing total efficiency procuring the parts. In this developing environment, the module and system suppliers take the new and important roles in the industry. This article's subject is to analyze the process of the changes in the Swedish automobile industry based on the results of my field work I made with the local firms such as Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks on assemblers side, and Lear Corp., and Autoliv on the supplier side. The concern is placed on both systems and the relationship between assemblers and suppliers. The conclusions of this paper are that Volvo has introduced the module production method like other European assemblers to reduce assemble costs totally with their supplier chain integrating. Suppliers are forced to correspond this Volvo's strategy, nevertheless, some large suppliers, module and system suppliers, are expanding their production areas from their strategic point of view. Thus the modularization has impacts not only on production process but on the relationship between the assemblers and suppliers and will be an important factor for the development of Swedish automobile industry.

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