Company Paternalism and the Hidden-Investment Process: Identification of the “Right Type” for Line Managers in Leading Japanese Organizations

Authors

Mary Uhl-Bien, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Pamela S. Tierney, University of Cincinnati
George B. Graen, University of Cincinnati
Mitsuru Wakabayashi, Nagoya University

Date of this Version

12-1990

Comments

Published in Group Organization Management 15:4 (December 1990), pp. 414–430; doi: 10.1177/105960119001500406 Copyright © 1990 by Sage Publications on behalf of Eastern Academy of Management. Used by permission. http://gom.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/4/414

Abstract

This study investigates belief in company paternalism as an indicator of the “right type” for line managers in leading Japanese corporations. In five companies, 1,075 line managers were surveyed about their belief in company paternalism, their experience with both the formal and informal career-development systems within their company, their working relationships with their immediate superior (LMX), and their overall job satisfaction. Results indicated that belief in company paternalism contributed as hypothesized to formal career investments, informal career investments (including both self-investment and supervisor investment), LMX, and overall job satisfaction. These relationships held true both before and after experiences with the formal career-development system were controlled. Implications of right type for American organizations are discussed.