Strategic Industrial Sourcing: The Japanese Advantage

ISBN-13: 9780195071092 / Angielski / Twarda / 1994 / 352 str.

Toshihiro Nishiguchi

Opis

A major aspect of Japan's international economic success has been its industrial firms' ability to develop a system of subcontracting with suppliers. Through an exploration of the evolution of subcontracting in Japan as well as an analysis of its current practice in advanced economies, Nishiguchi reveals what he believes to be the shortcomings of existing theories of contractual relations. He shows that subcontracting can be described as the evolutionary product of complex historical interaction among social, political, technological, and company-level strategic plans--but not one constrained by culture. This makes it possible for other countries to use models similar to those employed in Japan, encouraging continuous improvement in product quality and cost reduction.

Recenzje

One of the most interesting parts of Nishiguchi's descriptions is his contrast of Japanese-style managers' attitudes toward suppliers with the attitudes of American and British managers whose firms have not adopted these practices...No amount of asset flexibility can substitute for a system of flexible employees such as is described in Strategic Industrial Sourcing. Management scholars fail to see the true contours of the Japanese business landscape if the reality of these business arrangements is ignored.