After two decades of reinvention, Japanese companies are re-emerging as major players in the new digital economy. They have responded to the rise of China and new global competition by moving upstream into critical deep-tech inputs and advanced materials and components. This new "aggregate niche strategy" has made Japan the technology anchor for many global supply chains. Although the end products do not carry a "Japan Inside" label, Japan plays a pivotal role in our everyday lives across many critical industries. This book is an in-depth exploration of current Japanese business strategies that make Japan the world's third-largest economy and an economic leader in Asia. To accomplish their reinvention, Japan's largest companies are building new processes of breakthrough innovation. Central to this book is how they are addressing the necessary changes in organizational design, internal management processes, employment, and corporate governance. Because Japan values social stability and economic equality, this reinvention is happening slowly and methodically, and has gone largely unnoticed by Western observers. Yet, Japan's more balanced model of "caring capitalism" is both competitive and transformative, and more socially responsible than the unbridled growth approach of the United States.

Between 2002 and 2008, Japan's economy saw constant expansion, a record among the world's advanced economies and Japan's longest period of economic growth since World War II. This remarkable achievement came about because of a transformation of Japanese business practices. This transformation was guided by strategies that enabled Japan's leading corporations, previously diversified to an exceptionally high degree, to become leaner, more nimble, and more competitive at home and in the global economy. In Choose and Focus, the first in-depth account of this strategic inflection point in Japanese business, Ulrike Schaede argues that the emerging practices and attitudes have created a New Japan. Drawing on profiles of several corporations, including Panasonic, Takeda and Astellas, Softbank, kakaku.com, and SBI E*Trade, Schaede explains how the fundamental principles of Japan's economy have been overturned. "Choose and focus" strategies, whereby corporations concentrate on core areas and spin off unrelated businesses, have completely altered the strategic logic of Japan's previous industrial architecture. These surprisingly aggressive moves, Schaede finds, have created new market opportunities for start-up enterprises and foreign investors, as well as a wave of mergers, acquisitions, and hostile takeovers that have shaken Japanese companies out of complacency. Unlike the advances made by Japanese firms in the 1970s and 1980s, the current transformation is taking root in component and materials industries rather than in consumer products. Because of the relative obscurity of the changes and the overshadowing story of China's ascent, the Japanese corporate revolution has gone largely unnoticed among Western observers. Choose and Focus is required reading for anyone doing business in Japan or trying to understand how contemporary Japanese business works and how Japanese corporations have reinvented themselves to face the challenges—and realize the opportunities—of the 21st century.

Since its original publication by McGraw-hill almost 10 years ago, this best-selling guide to the inner workings of Japanese strategic thinking has become an acknowledged classic. Kenichi Ohmae a business strategist of international renown provides a Compelling account of the reasons why companies dominate the global processes and planning techniques, why they work, and how companies can benefit from focusing on the three essential elements of any strategic plan: company customer and competition. Replete with numerous illustrative case histories of strategic thinking in action, Ohmae s classic work continues to inspire managers at all levels to new heights of bold, imaginative strategic thinking.

This book presents theories and case studies for corporations in developed nations, including Japan, for designing strategies to maximize opportunities and minimize threats in business expansion into developing nations. The case studies featured here focus on Asia, including China and India, and use examples of Japanese manufacturers. Five case studies are provided, including Hitachi Construction Machinery and Shiseido in China and Maruti Suzuki in India. These cases facilitate the reader’s understanding of the business environments in emerging economies. This volume is especially recommended for business people responsible for international business development, particularly in China and India. In addition, the book serves as a useful resource for students in graduate-level courses in international management.

This book examines the global corporate strategy of Japanese multi-national enterprises (MNEs) and analyses their position in today’s business environment. Focusing in particular upon Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, Japanese Global Strategy presents nine empirical case studies on companies including Denso, Furukawa Electric and Yamaha Motor. Based on questionnaires and interviews with senior managers, this book applies the hybrid theories of application and adaptation to each company’s corporate strategy. By delving into the historical reasons behind investing in strategy, the author asserts that MNEs should be a priory for Asian markets, making this an invaluable read for anyone researching international business and Asian business more specifically.

In this book, Aaron Forsberg presents an arresting account of Japan's postwar economic resurgence in a world polarized by the Cold War. His fresh interpretation highlights the many connections between Japan's economic revival and changes that occurred in the wider world during the 1950s. Drawing on a wealth of recently released American, British, and Japanese archival records, Forsberg demonstrates that American Cold War strategy and the U.S. commitment to liberal trade played a central role in promoting Japanese economic welfare and in forging the economic relationship between Japan and the United States. The price of economic opportunity and interdependence, however, was a strong undercurrent of mutual frustration, as patterns of conflict and compromise over trade, investment, and relations with China continued to characterize the postwar U.S.-Japanese relationship. Forsberg's emphasis on the dynamic interaction of Cold War strategy, the business environment, and Japanese development challenges "revisionist" interpretations of Japan's success. In exploring the complex origins of the U.S.-led international economy that has outlasted the Cold War, Forsberg refutes the claim that the U.S. government sacrificed American commercial interests in favor of its military partnership with Japan.

In this provocative history, James B. Wood challenges the received wisdom that Japan's defeat in the Pacific was historically inevitable. He argues instead that it was only when the Japanese military prematurely abandoned its original sound strategic plan—to secure the resources Japan needed and establish a viable defensible perimeter for the Empire—that the Allies were able to regain the initiative and lock Japanese forces into a war of attrition they were not prepared to fight. The book persuasively shows how the Japanese army and navy had both the opportunity and the capability to have fought a different and more successful war in the Pacific that could have influenced the course and outcome of World War II. It is therefore a study both of Japanese defeat and of what was needed to achieve a potential Japanese victory, or at the very least, to avoid total ruin. Wood's argument does not depend on signal individual historical events or dramatic accidents. Instead it examines how familiar events could have b

Traditionally, innovation has been considered difficult to manage, as it occurs through contingent discoveries and inventions. For effective innovation management, it is necessary to determine what provides new value to customers and achieve this new value efficiently, while solving the technical problems. This book explores how innovation management for industrial revitalization and activation are conducted in Japanese companies. 'Innovation' has diverse definitions, but the editors of this book have adopted the one proposed by J A Schumpeter. The features of innovation management in Japanese companies are considered systematically in the book. Positive analyses using questionnaires and innovation management strategy in individual industries and companies is also explored in detail.