Abstract
Karl Weick, in The Social Psychology of Organizing, theorized in effect that organizational learning must be governed by a theory of action. Such a theory can be described in terms of variety amplification by senior managers and variety reduction by junior managers. In a study of senior American and Japanese executives, the Japanese showed a stronger commitment to this theory of action than the Americans did. Implications for strategy-setting behavior in both cultures are discussed.
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*Jeremiah J. Sullivan is Associate Professor of Business Communications in the University of Washington Graduate School of Business Administration. He has published articles in the Academy of Management Journal, the Academy of Management Review, Management International Review, and others. He is the author of Pacific Basin Enterprise and the Changing Law of the Sea and Foreign Investment in the U. S. Fishing Industry.
**Ikujiro Nonaka is Professor of Management at Hitotsubashi University in Japan. He is the author of several books. The most recent is Strategic vs. Evolutionary Management: A U.S. - Japan Comparison of Strategy and Organization. His publications have appeared in such journals as the Harvard Business Review and the Academy of Management Review.
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Sullivan, J., Nonaka, I. The Application of Organizational Learning Theory to Japanese and American Management. J Int Bus Stud 17, 127–147 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490805
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490805