ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors examine the related themes of status advancement and compensation level in a large Japanese company in the mid-1990's. They organize the analysis around the following specific issues: What are the determinants of promotion and how do they vary by rank in the firm? What is the consequence of status attainment (relative to the effect of seniority) for remuneration level? What kind of conceptual imagery—e.g., Rosenbaum's tournament model; Ballon's formulation—best describes the way that opportunity and advancement are structured for employees? Since the system of standard ranks is the principal dimension of stratification in the Japanese firm, the authors focus their investigation on mobility within this status hierarchy. Clark also describes a set of titles accorded to employees on the basis of seniority—"honorable consolation prizes"—but which lack the authority that derives from high rank in the principal status hierarchy of the firm.
