CIRJE-J-193. Saguchi, Kazuro, "The Evolution of Japanese Human Resource Management in 1950s", March 2008.

We have a hypothesis that the characteristic of Japanese human resource management was formed in 1950s. Therefore, we firstly investigate how human resource managers of one big shipbuilder dealt with some problems which they had been confronted with in this era. The problem of Japanese grade system (Shikaku-seido) and that of foreman system (Shokucho-seido) are chosen as appropriate cases in this paper. We use not only historical documents which the archive of this company holds, but also our interview with some former human resource managers. Secondly, this paper provides the minutes of our interview with some former human resource managers, including one who played a critical role in this era.