One view of the social organization of Japanese industrial firms is that employees have a higher level of company loyalty and "lifetime commitment" than is true in the West. This view suggests that, despite the extremely rapid rate of technological innovation ("rationalization") in Japanese industry in recent years, Japanese employees would refrain from expressing reservations about rationalization. Data from one plant of a large, leading Japanese firm, which has had an active rationalization movement, cast some doubt on this view. The meanings employees attach to "rationalization," and their attitudes toward it are explored; the conditions under which employees express unqualified approval, versus a mixture of approval and disapproval, of rationalization are suggested.