Drawing from his experiences as a Ph.D. student under Peter Drucker, management consultant Laurie gives us an enlightening account of what it's really like for Americans who work for Japanese companies in the United States. Through 250 interviews with American and Japanese workers, he loads his 13 chapters with short quotes and other anecdotal tidbits that focus on a wide array of topics such as culture, trade and investment, work ethics, product quality, mission and strategy, and numerous Japanese management styles. The final chapters offer ``lessons'' for Japanese and American companies and employees and provide a profile of ``the perfect Yankee Samurai.'' This vibrant work's audience is anyone interested in the future of the Japanese presence in the United States. It is also a suitable companion to Joseph Sullivan's Invasion of the Salarymen ( LJ 9/1/92). See also Jina Bacarr's How To Work for a Japanese Boss and Simon Partner's Saying Yes to Japanese Investment , both LJ 8/92; and Robert March's Working for a Japanese Company , LJ 9/1/92 . --Ed.-- Joseph W. Leonard, Miami Univ., Oxford, Ohio (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
With the now-defunct Soviet Union no longer compelling a U.S.-Japanese alliance, the two nations' vastly different cultures, combined with Japan's constant need for such exports as automobiles and electronics to finance vital imports such as oil and wheat, have put them on a collision course. So states Laurie, a former ARCO executive, in his introduction to this informative study of a new breed of Americans: the ``Yankee Samurai'' employed by the 1500 Japanese-owned businesses in America. Basing his exhaustive analysis on some 150 interviews, Laurie examines the Japanese management style and finds that long hours, cryptic overseers and pervasive sexism can conflict with the very different customs and beliefs of American employees. At the same time, he concludes, the American samurai now breaking new ground may inspire greater mutual cooperation and understanding. (Oct. ) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Add Laurie's to the growing number of books about the Japanese presence in the U.S. Several authors have already probed the conflict between Japanese-style management and American work habits and attitudes, but Laurie lets American managers who work for Japanese companies in the U.S. speak for themselves. Currently a research fellow at the Drucker Graduate Management Center, Laurie interviewed 250 workers at all levels from 31 different companies. Using narration from these interviews to illustrate his points, Laurie describes U.S.-Japanese relations, profiles the typical American manager working for the Japanese, and contrasts U.S. and Japanese management theories, personnel practices, corporate cultures, organizational missions, and decisionmaking models. He concludes by outlining lessons learned from his observations and recommending helpful changes for the Japanese that operate here, the Americans that work for them, and the U.S. firms that must compete with them. With 400,000 Americans already employed by the Japanese and the great likelihood that this number will continue to increase, there is a large and growing audience for this illuminating book. ~--David Rouse
Laurie D., . (1992). Yankee Samurai: American managers speak out about what it's like to work for Japanese companies in the U.S. New York: Harper Business.
Chicago
Laurie Dennis, . 1992. Yankee Samurai: American managers speak out about what it's like to work for Japanese companies in the U.S. New York: Harper Business.
Harvard
Laurie D., . (1992). Yankee Samurai: American managers speak out about what it's like to work for Japanese companies in the U.S. New York: Harper Business.
MLA
Laurie Dennis, . Yankee Samurai: American managers speak out about what it's like to work for Japanese companies in the U.S. New York: Harper Business. 1992.
