Keiji Baba (Japanese: 馬場敬次; born March 22, 1897, in Osaka; died August 10, 1961, in Tokyo) was a Japanese economist.

Life and act

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Baba Keiji graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo in 1920, pursued graduate studies and, after working as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics, became a professor in 1931. In 1950, he received his doctorate in economics.

His first research concerned industrial economics. In the 1930s he was influenced by Max Weber, Heinrich Rickert, Alfred Amonn, etc. Eventually he devoted himself to philosophical research and studied Kant and Husserl. He developed his own business administration, which is based on organizational theory.

After World War II, he contributed to the development of business administration in Japan by first introducing the theory of American economists Chester I. Barnard and Herbert A. Simon to Japan.

Important writings of Baba are:

“Sangyō keiei no shokunō to sono bunka” (産業経営の職能と其の分化) – “Functions of the industrial company and their differentiation” 1926 “Keiei-gaku hōhō-ron” (経営学方法論) – “Business Methodology” 1931 “Keiei-gaku kenkyū” (経営学研究) – “Business Research” 1932 “Keiei-gaku to ningen soshiki no mondai” (経営学と人間組織の問題) – “Problems of Business Administration and Human Organization” 1954

Literature

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  • S. Noma (Hrsg.): Baba Keiji. In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993. ISBN 4-06-205938-X, S. 92.
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