Japan's Computer and Communications Industry: The Evolution of Industrial Giants and Global Competitiveness

Japan's Computer and Communications Industry: The Evolution of Industrial Giants and Global Competitiveness Book Description

This book explains the resurgence of Japan's IC giants, their global status, and their strengths and weaknesses. Empirical scrutiny of their evolution is complemented by the author's own theory of the most appropriate method for studying the dynamics of long-term industrial change. While the Japanese motor vehicle and consumer electronics industries have been relatively well analysed, there are no comprehensive up-to-date studies of the Japanese IC industry. This book addresses the questions consequently left unanswered: How were Japanese IC companies able to catch up with their western rivals - and in some cases overtake them? How have Japanese IC companies responded to the 'post-IBM' world of computing? Why do they remain primarily dependent on the Japanese market? Why do they combine competences in computers, semiconductors, and telecommunications equipment, while their US counterparts are far more specialized? What role has been played by the Japanese government and the system of controlled competition in their success? Will Japanese IC companies become increasingly competitive internationally in the future? The author extends the evolutionary approach to the organization of the firm and industry developed by such writers as Schumpeter, Nelson, Winter, and Chandler. He argues that in order to understand the evolution of companies and industries, it is necessary to create a theory of the firm capable of encompassing the development of real firms in the real world in real time. This approach stresses the importance of the beliefs that are constructed in the firm under conditions of 'interpretive ambiguity', which guide the firm's decisions and its reactions to new technologies. Theseconcepts are illustrated by lengthy analyses of NEC and NTT, and of the computing, switching, and optical fibre industries.
This work draws on and extends the theoretical framework developed by such authors as Richard Nelson, Sidney Winter, David Teece, Alfred Chandler, Nathan Rosenberg, and Christopher Freeman, through an empirical analysis of the evolution of the Japanese information and communications (IC)
industry. Particular attention is paid to the development of a theory of the firm which is consistent with this empirical objective.
The Japanese IC industry contains three main segments: computers and software, thelecommunications equipment, and semiconductors. The work asks: How did such Japanese companies as NTT, NEC, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Sumitomo Electric manage to catch up and become some of the largest companies
in the world. Why have they not been as successful in global markets as their counterparts in consumer electronics and automobiles? What role was played by NTT's system of controlled competition and by MITI?
Based on over 600 personal interviews over eight years with Japanese leaders, this book provides new analyses and empirical material on this crucial industry.

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