Men under pressure: representations of the `salaryman' and his organization in Japanese manga

In this article we analyse representations of the Japanese salaryman and Japanese organization in Japanese manga, or graphic novels, during the turbulent decades from the mid-1980s to the present day. We argue that manga presents salarymen protagonists in a sympathetic yet not uncritical light, and that it displays support for and criticism of both the Japanese and American organizational models. We describe how these manga offer important critical challenges from the world of popular culture to the direction of change in Japanese business organizations since the 1980s. In addition, we suggest that the manga may also provide salarymen with opportunities for critically re-evaluating their own working situations and for developing methods for surviving and thriving under the pressures of working within contemporary Japanese business organizations

Impactos da tecnologia de informação sobre o trabalho de "colarinho branco" Impacts of information technology on "white collar" work

Grandes investimentos em tecnologia de informação (TI) vêm sendo canalizados para a melhoria dos processos empresariais. Esses investimentos limitam-se, em geral, à automação pura e simples dos processos já existentes na companhia, os quais continuam sendo realiza-dos pelos mesmos profissionais e regidos pelos mesmos princípios anteriores à TI. Um corolário deste tipo de automação é o pequeno ganho de produtividade do trabalho de colarinho branco. Uma alternativa para este problema é a reengenharia de processos, que por meio do uso criativo da TI e da gestão por processos procura estabelecer novas formas muito mais eficientes de realizar o trabalho. Entretanto, tais formas alteram, freqüente e fundamentalmente, o perfil do profissional e a natureza de seu trabalho. É sobre estes impactos que estaremos discorrendo ao longo deste artigo.<br>Huge investiments in information technology (IT) have been directed to business process improvements. Generally, such investments are limited to the sole automation of already existing processes, which continue to be performed according to the same rules and by the same professionals prior to IT. A consequence of this kind of automation is the low producti-vity increase in white collar work. An alternative to this problem is business process reengi-neering, which, via the creative use of IT, strives to establish much more effective ways of performing work. However, very often such new ways affect the professional skills and the nature of the work. This paper discusses the impacts of IT on white collar work

Supply chain strategies in the UK fashion industry - the rhetoric of partnership and realities of power

This paper focuses on the fashion industry, one characterised by issues such as dramatic shifts in the scale and power of major retail buyers in the market, the advent of retailer own brands, and the nature of sourcing and supply chain decisions, issues that are increasingly global in nature. The aim of this research is to explore the nature of relationships between UK high street multiple fashion retailers and their contracted suppliers, many of whom are entrepreneurial firms by most definitions of the term. Four core themes emerge from the literature and provide a framework for the research, namely, power, process, partnership, and people. The research approach was qualitative, and conducted over a period of twelve months. The paper ends with an agenda for future research

Spaces and scales of innovation

10.1191/030913201682688940Progress in Human Geography254569-58