Actually, I'm not a historian in this area, but it would be fascinating to know whether this kind of thing actually started in America, got exported after ww2 (like Japanese baseball), and then reimported with new/old takes from the likes of Japan post 80s and seemed weird to the now globalizing US corporate culture. (Like how 'do the needful' supposedly got imported into India during the days of the English empire, fell out of use in the modern English world, and is now being reimported from India).
I only bring it up as there are just so many parallels in American culture that would see corporate team building and identity type activities as a natural extension: prep rallies, cheer leaders, pledges, marching bands, frats, school songs, etc.
These activities have some parallels outside the US, but they're activities that can seem distinctly 'weird' and not done to the same extent if you come from outside the US.
And not only do we have actual history (ibm) and many contemporary US companies doing these kinds of practices, in many ways the practices make much more sense if taken as a natural extension of already common American cultural practices...
I only bring it up as there are just so many parallels in American culture that would see corporate team building and identity type activities as a natural extension: prep rallies, cheer leaders, pledges, marching bands, frats, school songs, etc.
These activities have some parallels outside the US, but they're activities that can seem distinctly 'weird' and not done to the same extent if you come from outside the US.
And not only do we have actual history (ibm) and many contemporary US companies doing these kinds of practices, in many ways the practices make much more sense if taken as a natural extension of already common American cultural practices...