Identity Building:

Rites and Symbol in Corporate Management

This presentation aims to anthropologically examine the ways in which a corporate entity’s rites and symbols in management help construct a unique corporate identity, and the ways in which community members can cultivate a strong sense of belonging. Numerous management scientists believed that corporate identity was a fixed concept that could be measured scientifically. This perspective overlooks its fluidity and the impacts of routines and symbolic figures on identity building. This study will use the case of a Japanese ramen shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), to examine one of the unique aspects of Japanese management, which is to use daily routines and symbols to enhance collectivism. This paper uses the anthropological notion of identity building to offer a new perspective on management studies and to deepen the understanding of management in the Japanese context.

Keywords: identity, rites, symbol, management, Japan