ABSTRACT

Scholarly works on rhetorical history have inspired the production of an extensive body of research on how firms use history. However, the existing research is based on the experience of firms in a handful of Western countries. Our mixed-methods paper examines the use of history by Japanese firms so that we can see how history is used in a very different institutional and cultural context. The paper operationalizes the comparative capitalism approach. For more than a century, Japanese firms have invested extensively in celebratory corporate histories called shashi. The paper is based on bibliometric and interview data as well as the close textual analysis of shashi from various decades. We show that until recently the main function of shashi was to inspire loyalty on the part of workers. We argue that the post-2000 decline in shashi production is primarily a function of profound changes in the nature of the Japanese variety of capitalism. The relation between the change in governance and the use of corporate history is revealed by the new style of consumer-focused shashi that has emerged since 2000.

摘要

关于修辞史的学术著作激发了关于公司如何利用历史的广泛研究的产生。但是，现有研究基于少数西方国家的公司经验。我们的混合方法论文研究了日本公司对历史的使用，以便我们可以了解在不同的制度和文化背景下如何使用历史。本文将比较资本主义方法付诸实践。一个多世纪以来，日本公司在庆祝公司历史上进行了大量投资，这些历史被称为“ shashi”。本文基于文献计量和访谈数据以及数十年来对《 of师》的紧密文本分析。我们证明直到最近，shashi的主要功能是激发员工的忠诚度。我们认为，2000年后Shashi生产的下降主要是日本各种资本主义性质发生深刻变化的原因。自2000年以来出现的以消费者为中心的新型石狮样式揭示了治理变革与公司历史使用之间的关系。