What goes round, comes round. In the 1950s and '60s, U.S. experts warned Japanese businessmen that they had to get rid of their feudalistic management systems if they were to go ahead.

Then when Japan was booming in the '80s and the United States was still in slump, we were told how Japan's people-oriented management systems were much superior to ruthless U.S. hire and fire management.

Then in the '90s, when the U.S. was booming and Japan was in slump, we were told how U.S. management with its tight-fisted emphasis on profits and share-holder gains was much superior to sloppy, sentimental Japanese management.