he specific management techniques employed by the Japanese are not at the root of the problems faced by American industrial firms (Maher 32). In other instances, opposition is based on a con tention that, as a result of cultural differences between Japan and the United States, techniques which are successful in Japan will not be successful in the United States (AD AMS Research Group 77 78). This opposition, however, has not stopped many American firms from adopting Japanese management techniques. 4
A broad comparative summary of Japanese and American management techniques is presented in Exhibit 1, which may be found on the following page. Lifetime employment, non special ized career paths, and a wholistic concern are the characteris tics of Japanese management which are most often emphasized in American management literature favorable to Japanese management techniques (Peters, and Waterman 37 41). While these charac teristics are important, others may be of greater significance in explaining the success of Japanese firms. These other char ac
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