Knowledge that Transforms

Thirteen years ago, I first heard mention of three American engineers who had helped Japanese industry in important ways during the Occupation. In the midst of my other activities, I was able to track them down; it seemed to me that they could have valuable information on how Japan's “new” industrial management was shaped — a process about which very little has been written, at least in English. Such information I thought should surely help any of us who are interested in reshaping our own management in any way in the Japanese direction. I was not disappointed in what I found. In the following I have given comparatively little space to my own conclusions, and as much as possible to the material I have unearthed, in the belief that there are many able managers who would like to study the evidence themselves, and form their own conclusions about the significance of these past events for the present. In drawing attention to the hard work and dedication of those discussed in this article, I have wanted to pay tribute to the gift mid‐century Americans made to the world — a gift of their sacrifice, generosity, and vision.

The article presents a comparison of the perceptions of public and business employees. Many studies over the years have compared public sector employment with private sector employment. Within each sector strong negative stereotypes are generally expressed about counterparts in the other sector. Employees in each sector feel that while their jobs are difficult and important but at the same time feel that their counterparts in the other sector have it quite easy. Such beliefs have important social consequences. The negative stereotypes of government employees persists despite the evidence from several recent studies that there are no significant differences between managers in the public and private sectors on such critical dimensions as leadership styles, ability, personality role ambiguity and conflict, motivational orientation, work patterns or job characteristics. Other major source of potential differences between public and private sector management is in terms of situational, environmental, and organizational distinctions. The impact of the work environment as a contributing factor to public versus private sector employment choices, attitudes, and managerial strategies continues to warrant investigation.