The resilience of 'institutionalized capitalism': Managing managers under 'shareholder capitalism' and 'managerial capitalism'

This article identifies two, nation-wide, forms of governance or organizing capital,'shareholder' capitalism and 'managerial' capitalism, epitomized by the USA and Japan respectively. Furthermore, it identifies the implications for managers in these systems. The article argues that both varieties of capitalism have been forced to modify, due to pressures from globalization. Shareholder capitalism in the USA has been intensified with an even greater emphasis on 'shareholder value'. In Japan, meanwhile, poor national economic performance has led to pressures upon managerial capitalism to take on features more akin to the shareholder variety. Such pressures have been transmitted to managers with a more intensified work regime. However, many of the HRM features of the Japanese model remain, despite these pressures. Copyright © 2008 The Tavistock Institute ® SAGE Publications.