As the global economy has evolved, many companies have expanded their operations overseas in a constant search for potential markets in which to sell their products and services. As these companies seek to establish themselves abroad, it becomes imperative to train and to retain local employees. Despite this pressing need, Japanese companies have been widely criticized for failing to retain the services of experienced local employees. The retail industry, in particular, experiences a high degree of employee mobility and requires instant solutions for adjusting to the fast changing environment in which its firms operate. However, many companies believe in the rationality of their corporate systems without questioning suitability to the local circumstance. This thesis uses an anthropological approach to evaluate the company building process of a leading Japanese fashion enterprise (referred to by the pseudonym “Ichi”) in Hong Kong. In adopting this approach, I seek to explain the formation and expression of Ichi’s corporate ideology, and its interpretation by the firm’s employees. This analysis focuses on two primary themes: Ichi’s managerial control and the way employees attempted to satisfy company expectations in a purely superficial manner. Specifically, I adopt a participant-observation approach over fifteen months to provide a comprehensive illustration of the activity within Ichi’s Hong Kong stores. The first part of this thesis suggests that Ichi uses its corporate ideology, Ichi DNA, to control employees through its corporate system including training, ranking, remuneration, and promotion. Ichi’s implementation of its corporate system in Hong Kong seeks to apply its ideology to local employees to promote a “shared” set of values and its own institutional culture, thus unifying important principles across the company. This suggests that industrial familialism, which many scholars have identified as unique to Japanese corporate culture, only superficially illustrates the nature of Japanese companies. This thesis further demonstrates that during the implementation of Ichi’s corporate ideology, store employees individually or collectively distorted reports of their performance to attain personal career goals. This challenges the widespread perception that “harmony” is a genuine characteristic of the Japanese company. By examining the actions of different nationalities, the thesis also shows that Store Managers manage human relations within their stores primarily on the basis of different interpretations of the corporate ideology rather than their ethnic backgrounds. This similarly refutes the presumption that Japanese companies are ethnocentric in nature. Evidence from this study demonstrates that the general assumption of the efficacy of scientific management must be reexamined, as the company’s managerial practices and relationships with its employees are more heavily influenced by worker politics than the firm’s rational structure. By exploring the company building process and the effect of dynamic human relations on it, this study seeks to address the gap between corporate ideology and those practices that exemplify it, contrasting starkly with studies that claim that Japanese firms are uniquely culture- or ethnocentric. / published_or_final_version / Japanese Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

by Tse Po-shing, Andy. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Bibliography: leaves 57-59. / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY --- p.i / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF APPENDICES --- p.iv / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.2 / Chapter II. --- RESEARCH RATIONALE --- p.3 / Statement of the Program --- p.3 / Programme Strategy --- p.3 / Assumptions and Hypothesis --- p.3 / Target Population --- p.5 / Chapter III. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.6 / Segmentation --- p.6 / Lifestyle --- p.9 / Lifestyle Segmentation --- p.11 / Fashion Research --- p.13 / Chapter IV. --- BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON HONG KONG --- p.16 / Demographics of Hong Kong Females --- p.16 / Hong Kong's Market for Apparel --- p.18 / Lifestyle Study in Hong Kong --- p.20 / Chapter V. --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.21 / Sampling Procedure --- p.21 / Instrument --- p.22 / Measures --- p.23 / Chapter VI. --- RESULTS --- p.27 / Factor Analysis --- p.27 / Cluster Analysis --- p.32 / Demographics --- p.33 / Chapter VII. --- DISCUSSION --- p.34 / Cluster I: Followers --- p.34 / Cluster II: Leaders --- p.35 / Cluster III: Realists --- p.36 / Cluster IV: Uninvolved --- p.37 / Chapter VIII. --- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.39 / Conclusion --- p.39 / Recommendation --- p.39 / Chapter IX. --- LIMITATION --- p.41 / Chapter X. --- APPENDICES --- p.42 / Chapter XI. --- REFERENCES --- p.57 / LIST OF APPENDICES / Chapter APPENDIX 1: --- English Version Questionnaire --- p.44 / Chapter APPENDIX 2: --- Chinese Version Questionnaire --- p.49 / Chapter APPENDIX 3: --- Figure and Table --- p.52 / Figure 1 --- p.52 / Table 1 --- p.53 / Table 2 --- p.55 / Table 3 --- p.56

by Chan Kam-hung, Andy. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Bibliography: leaf 69. / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.v / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.vi / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- RETAIL INFORMATION SYSTEM --- p.3 / Key Components of Retail Information System --- p.4 / Techonological Trend for Retail Information System --- p.11 / Chapter III. --- RESEARCH OBJECTIVES / Fashion Retailing in Hong Kong --- p.14 / Defining Research Objectives --- p.15 / Chapter IV. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.16 / The Setting of Questionnaire --- p.17 / Conducting the Survey --- p.18 / Research Limitation --- p.19 / Chapter V. --- RESULTS AND ANALYSIS / Survey Responses --- p.20 / Analysis Techniques --- p.21 / Analysis of Company Background Information --- p.22 / Review of Current Status of Computerization --- p.23 / Assessment of Key Success Factors for Computerization and Implementation Priority --- p.25 / Application of Advanced Tools in Retailing --- p.26 / Analysis of Key Factors in Selecting Advanced Tools --- p.28 / Chapter VI. --- INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS / Current Utilization of Computerized Retail Information Systems and Advanced System Tools --- p.29 / Overall Utilization --- p.30 / Hardware --- p.32 / Application Systems --- p.32 / Advanced System Tools --- p.35 / Attitude Towards Future Computerization --- p.37 / Chapter VII. --- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION --- p.40 / APPENDICES --- p.44 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.69

by So Oi-kwan, Christina. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Bibliography: leaves 71-72.