Development of Performance Appraisal Systems in Japan

1)我查阅了二战后出版的实践文献和研究文献，了解了人们是如何描述和讨论绩效评估系统的。笔者发现，二战结束以来，有大量的实践性文献发表，但从20世纪60年代至今，已有近20年没有研究性文献发表。研究文献的缺乏似乎意味着研究本身的缺乏，这可能是由于当时流行的研究范式--劳资关系理论的缺陷造成的。虽然有些研究者在没有任何证据的情况下坚持认为日本的制度对员工非常公平的错误观点。2）我可以揭示制度发展史上的一些重要事实。以下是一些例子，我发现我们可以假设1920年第一次将这一制度引入日本的东京大学教授松本又太郎与沃尔特·D.斯科特是美国绩效考核制度发展的先驱，因为他俩都曾于1898年至1990年在德国莱比锡大学学习。我还透露，海军工程军官松田武太郎在绩效考核制度的引进中发挥了非常重要的作用，因为他在1927年至1929年左右在美国马萨诸塞州的一家通用电气工厂进行了绩效考核制度的实地考察，并介绍了它的系统精确复制其评估泡沫在一个工程杂志。他可能是第一个将日语中的“科卡”翻译成英语中的“评估”的人。

1) I had surveyed both practical literatures and research literatures published after the WW II to know how the performance appraisal systems were described and discussed. I found that many practical literatures had ever been published all years since the end of WW II, but research literatures had not been published about 20 years since the 1960s.The lack of research literatures seems to mean the lack of research itself, which may have been caused by the defects in industrial relations theory, prevailing research paradigm in that period.The research has been revived since the 1980s, although some researchers have insisted on the incorrect view that Japanese systems are very fair for employees without any evidences.2) I could reveal some important facts in the history of system development. Followings are some of examples.I found that we could suppose Matsumoto Matataro, professor at University of Tokyo, who introduced the system to Japan in 1920 for the first time, had been aquatinted with Walter D. Scott, pioneer of the system development in the US, because both had studied at Leipzig University in Germany from 1898 to 1990.I also revealed that Matsuda Taketaro, naval engineering officer, had played a very important role in the system introduction, because he carried out the fieldwork on performance appraisal system at a GE works in Massachusetts in the US around 1927-29, and introduced its system precisely duplicating of its appraisal foams in an engineering journal. He may have been the first person that applied the Japanese word "koka" to the English word "appraisal" in translation.