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Management article
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Reference no. 78209
Published by: Harvard Business Publishing
Published in: "Harvard Business Review", 1978

Abstract

An in-depth study of Japanese-managed companies in the United States and Japan reveals that when technology and governmental factors are equal, the Japanese companies' U.S. subsidiaries do not outperform their American counterparts. Also, contrary to conventional belief, American managers use a participative decision-making style as often as Japanese managers do. Japanese executives use ambiguity as a managerial tool. Ambiguity is a useful concept in thinking about how individuals relate to each other, orally and in writing. It provides a way of legitimizing the loose rein that a manager permits in certain organizational situations. McKinsey Award Winner.

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Abstract

An in-depth study of Japanese-managed companies in the United States and Japan reveals that when technology and governmental factors are equal, the Japanese companies' U.S. subsidiaries do not outperform their American counterparts. Also, contrary to conventional belief, American managers use a participative decision-making style as often as Japanese managers do. Japanese executives use ambiguity as a managerial tool. Ambiguity is a useful concept in thinking about how individuals relate to each other, orally and in writing. It provides a way of legitimizing the loose rein that a manager permits in certain organizational situations. McKinsey Award Winner.

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