Japan's technology support system has played a crucial role in developing firms technological capability and stimulating their innovation. How has it been done, and why is it effective? The research findings presented here show that what has worked best in Japan is inter-firm cooperative learning, which requires the support of public technology institutions to promote cooperation, disseminate technology, and facilitate innovation. Among the many books published about Japanese technology policies and corporate management, this is the first to show definitively that cooperative learning is...

Japanese semiconductor firms are well known for obtaining dynamics in a short period of time and achieving even global leadership. A significant portion of their success are attributable to cooperative interfirm relations and the development of intermediate organizational structure based on long-term relationship between firms. The purpose of this book is to explain how interfirm relations contributed to their dynamics during the golden age of the semiconductor industry. Meanwhile this book clarifies the real source of dynamics in interfirm relations and how the firms have interacted. The...