The Meanings of Managerial Prerogative: Industrial Relations and the Organisation of Work in British Engineering, 1880–1939

In pre-war Japan, large-scale business enterprises tended to become managerial enterprises, but around 1930 this transformation was still in a stage of transition. Managerial enterprises developed rapidly due to the militarisation of the economy during the Second World War, and, after 1945, following the dissolution of the zaibatsu by the occupying US forces. The purge of businessmen that had co-operated with the military, and tax and land reforms which affected the wealthiest, were other contributory factors. Economic growth after 1950 assisted the development of managerial enterprise, just as managerial enterprise accelerated economic growth by facilitating investment and the expansion of business capability. The majority of post-war Japan's most important executives were promoted from within their companies. They were already acquainted with their workforces, especially their engineers, and fully understood their capabilities. This knowledge and the support they enjoyed amongst their employees were critical to the strategic decision-making that guided the investments that brought rapid growth, and, with these organisational assets, they won the confidence and support of banks, business allies, and government. It was those managerial enterprises controlled by salaried managers promoted from within and the emergence of new entrepreneurial enterprises which led Japan's post-war economic growth.