Inazō Nitobe’s Idea of Bushidō in the Concept of Servant Leadership: A Few Words About Values in Modern Management

• Authors: Sfugier Marek

Title variants

Idea bushidō Nitobe Inazō w koncepcji przywództwa służebnego. Kilka słów o wartościach we współczesnym zarządzaniu

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

This article was based on the Author’s thesis in the field of Human Resources Management defended in 2011 at Kozminski University (in association with the Gdansk Foundation for Management Development). The text was divided into four main chapters. The first one presents a brief history of the Japanese chivalry ethos – the way of the warrior, the evolution of its components and the importance of the idea of bushidō in Japan’s feudal society, which over time has taken the form of seven values depicted in details in Inazō Nitobe’s (1862–1933) book Bushido: The Soul of Japan, first published in 1900. The second section of the article describes the concept of servant leadership in management, introduced into professional literature by Robert K. Greenleaf (1904–1990) and discusses ten attributes of a servant leader. The third chapter is an attempt to inscribe the values of bushidō into servant leadership, and to find the connecting elements of both concepts. The fourth section is based on the international survey made in February 2011 among the leaders of Jeppesen (A Boeing Company) and the analysis of its results. All four parts combine Author’s both practical and theoretical experience as a manager and at the same time are an attempt to answer the following questions: How is it possible that in the Land of the Rising Sun, where for a Westerner most things seem to work the other way around, there are values quite understandable and close to him? What makes that both ideas of leadership and the perception on the role of a leader in two different societies have so much in common, despite the barriers of time and distance? How do the values of bushidō fit into the model of servant leadership? And in particular: Can today’s leaders recognize some elements of this idea as useful in their daily work?

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Gdański
• Journal: Gdańskie Studia Azji Wschodniej
• Year: 2014
• Issue: Zeszyt 6
• Pages: 69-97

Dates

online

2015-01-08

Contributors

author

Sfugier Marek

• Uniwersytet Gdański, Polska, ul. Bażyńskiego 1a 80-952 Gdańsk

Identifiers

DOI

10.4467/23538724GS.15.005.2952