cover image Yankee Samurai: American Managers Speak Out about What It's Like to Work for Japanese Companies in the U.S.

Yankee Samurai: American Managers Speak Out about What It's Like to Work for Japanese Companies in the U.S.

Dennis Laurie. HarperCollins Publishers, $23 (276pp) ISBN 978-0-88730-552-8

With the now-defunct Soviet Union no longer compelling a U.S.-Japanese alliance, the two nations' vastly different cultures, combined with Japan's constant need for such exports as automobiles and electronics to finance vital imports such as oil and wheat, have put them on a collision course. So states Laurie, a former ARCO executive, in his introduction to this informative study of a new breed of Americans: the ``Yankee Samurai'' employed by the 1500 Japanese-owned businesses in America. Basing his exhaustive analysis on some 150 interviews, Laurie examines the Japanese management style and finds that long hours, cryptic overseers and pervasive sexism can conflict with the very different customs and beliefs of American employees. At the same time, he concludes, the American samurai now breaking new ground may inspire greater mutual cooperation and understanding. (Oct. )