272 Pages 34 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    272 Pages 34 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    In this new book, Hara, Kambayashi and Matsushima gather together a collection of case studies of innovation in various industries in modern Japan, including automobile, electronics, semiconductor, component, chemical, pharmaceutical and service industries. Unlike other books in this area, this book focuses on a broader range of Japanese industries from the post world war era to the modern day and considers the relationships between the characteristics of innovation and the features of Japanese society.

    These chapters demonstrate Japan’s shift from being product-oriented and domestic to being business system-oriented and global. Meanwhile the process of innovation in Japan continues to include the tendency of eliminating uncertainty through intimate in-process interaction between different functions, rather than through preset rule or contracts. This book goes some way in challenging accepted notions of Japanese innovation, emphasising new and diverse trends and practises.

     

    1. Introduction Takuji Hara, Noboru Matsushima and Norio Kambayashi 2. The Social Shaping of Technological Paths: Antibiotics in Japan Takuji Hara 3. Institutional Change and the Emergence of an Electronics Transaction in the Japanese Manufacturing Industry: Beyond the Dichotomy of Technical Efficiency and Social Legitimacy in Institutions Noboru Matsushima, Mitsuhiro Urano and Takuya Miyamoto 4. Technological Innovation Induced by Tacit Scientific Knowledge: Research and Development in the Mirai Semiconductor Project Yuji Horikawa 5. Development of the Carbon Fiber Business in Toray Katsuo Tohma 6. Reorganizing Mature Industry through Technological Innovation: De-Maturity in Watchmaking Industry Junjiro Shintaku and Kotaro Kuwada 7. Innovation Impacts on the Digital Device Industry Munehiko Itoh 8. New Product Development beyond Internal Projects: A Case of Joint New Product Development Shin’ich Ishii 9. Application of Japanese Production Methods to the Service Sector Takashi Matsuo 10. Emerging Competitive Value in Use Materiality: The Negotiated Transformation of Business Systems with Regard to the Online Securities Market in Japan Kosuke Mizukoshi and Noboru Matsushima 11. Analysis of the Innovation Process Created through the Management of Business Incubators in the Japanese Content Industry Misanori Takahashi 12. Industrial Innovation under the Influence of Japanese Culture Norio Kambayashi

    Biography

    Takuji Hara is Professor of Industrial Management at the Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University. Norio Kambayashi is Professor of Human Resource Management at the Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University. Noboru Matsushima is Associate Professor in Organization Studies and Technology Management at Kobe University.

    "Overall, this book is a recommendable book with interesting case studies." - Ulrike Schaede, Pacific Affairs: Volume 82, No. 3 - Fall 2009