Postmodernism and Organizational Culture: The Japanese Experience

Abstract

The paper is a critique of the postmodernism organizational culture, from the perspective of the Japanese work experience. Beginning with the broad principles of postmodernism, the author goes ahead to situate them within the specific context of the Japanese working environment. Citing some of the known authorities such as French critics, Jean François Lyotard and Jacques Derrida, the paper identifies some of the fundamental objectives of postmodernism such as the emphasis on localism, development of an idea of anti-expertise, flexibility, fragmented and democratic organizational environment and so on, which stand in contradistinction to the concepts and tenets of modernism and enlightenment based on the ideas of universal rationality, universal humanity, universally accepted methodological assumptions, and so forth. In applying the postmodernist principles to the Japanese work environment, the author highlights the outstanding advantages, while doing a critical appraisal of the inherent drawbacks.