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The Perfect Natural Experiment: Asia and the Convergence Debate

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The Palgrave Handbook of Management History

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Abstract

This chapter is about international approaches to management and the convergence debate. It interprets convergence as a manifestation of the comparative problem, the second most consequential big-picture dilemma in management studies, the first being concerned with the how-to question. On the one hand it argues that “the how-to” dilemma has largely been viewed as a problem for the West in the twentieth century. On the other hand, the comparative problem became of interest after World War 2. Two questions expose its nature: Which, of various nationally distinctive approaches to management, is most effective? Will internationally distinctive approaches to management converge? The chapter contends that progress on the comparative question has been impeded because, with the exception of Japan, theory has mostly not been built on a base of data that embraces non-Western Asian countries. It further argues that such a lack of inclusion of Asia has rendered theory about convergence, in particular, limited in its scope.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département des relations industrielles, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

    Anthony M. Gould

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  1. Anthony M. Gould
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Correspondence to Anthony M. Gould .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Emporia State University, Emporia, USA

    Jeffrey Muldoon

  2. Faculté des Sciences Sociales, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

    Anthony Gould

  3. College of Business, RMIT University, School of Management, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Adela McMurray

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Gould, A.M. (2020). The Perfect Natural Experiment: Asia and the Convergence Debate. In: Muldoon, J., Gould, A., McMurray, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Management History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_121-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62348-1_121-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62348-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62348-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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