The Japanese approach: a better way to manage programmers?
Communications of the ACM
The Psychology of Computer Programming
The Psychology of Computer Programming
Programmers and Managers: The Routinization of Computer Programming in the United States
Programmers and Managers: The Routinization of Computer Programming in the United States
Motivating and Managing Computer Personnel
Motivating and Managing Computer Personnel
People and organizations in software production: a review of the literature
ACM SIGCPR Computer Personnel
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Japanese management techniques have excited Western thought in recent years partly because they seem to promise relief from the "productivity crisis." Detractors have been quick to point out the lack of quick success, the enormous cultural content of these practices, and the difficulties in transferring organizational behaviour techniques from one culture to another. Proponents contend that the lessons, rather than the content of Japanese management techniques and their unique focus upon organizational process rather than upon production technique will provide the greatest benefit to Western business. This paper explores the transferability of one form of Japanese management technique, Ouchi's Theory "Z", to the last bastion of unarticulated management--the software shop. While there are no documented efforts at such transfer, it is likely that this unlikely migration can take place painlessly over the next decade. In the exploration, numerous similarities between computer programmers in today's software shop and the emerging form of the twenty-first-century worker are pointed out. The lesson learned from this exercise will be appropriate to all knowledge workers as office automation reaches out into professional and managerial positions.