The Culture Wars: How American And Japanese Businesses Have Outperformed Europe's And Why The Future Will Be Different

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the relevant copyright, designs and patents acts, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers. The Culture Wars How American and Japanese businesses have outperformed Europe’s and why the future will be different John Viney Copyright © John Viney 1997 The right of John Viney to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 First Published 1997 Capstone Publishing Limited Oxford Centre for Innovation Mill Street Oxford OX2 0JX United Kingdom All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 1-900961-253 Typeset in 10/14 New Baskerville by Sparks Computer Solutions, Oxford Printed and bound by T.J. Press Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall This book is printed on acid-free paper Contents CONTENTS IV FOREWORD BY KARL OTTO PÖHL IX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS XIII 1 INTRODUCTION: TOWARDS THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 1 Going global The nation state — confronting its mortality, or merely metamorphosing? The balance of the national and the international The influence of culture Networking and trust 2 UNITED BY DIFFERENCE: THE FORMATION OF A EUROPEAN IDENTITY 6 What is Europe? European Union — Roman style Decentralization and empowerment in the Roman Empire European Monetary Union and standardization Christendom and the need for a coherent European identity The marriage of two empires The fragmentation of the secular empire Fragmentation as a source of power The free movement of persons — the historical precedents for a single market Expansionism, reformation and the origins of the market economy Protestantism, the hard work ethic and the rise of capitalism Protestantism and the delineation of difference The nation states and systems of commerce Revolution — democratic and industrial Nationalism — source of unity, force of destruction A modern European identity 3 THE BUSINESS OF AMERICA IS BUSINESS: A CONSIDERATION OF HOW AMERICA GAINED ITS BUSINESS HEGEMONY A mongrel society but a pedigree culture The early migrants The European legacy Independence and a constitution for business 10 12 13 14 23 23 25 26 27 27 29 30 31 32 34 35 36 37 39 40 42 45 46 47 48 49 Innovation The growth of the corporation The impact of war on industrial development The importance of peace to industrial development A nation of shopkeepers? Technology and the shrinking nation The automobile industry — Fordism and Taylorism Sloan, General Motors and the development of brands Latter day innovators The cult of culture The profile of the modern Chief Executive — some clues to cultural homogeneity The techniques that characterize American business A review of American business culture, past and future 4 MIRACLE WORKERS: DEVELOPMENT OF THE JAPANESE AND GERMAN ECONOMIES 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 60 From the same stable The Westernization of Japan German industrialization Running neck and neck The German economic miracle Erhard’s achievements The German worker Industrial strengths The Japanese economic miracle The American occupation The labour problem The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) The impact of trading relationships with other nat