The Japanese Firm: Sources of Competitive Strength [Paperback]

Masahiko Aoki (Editor), Ronald Dore (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 1996

Japanese firms have come under close examination by their international counterparts,who seek insight into the sources of Japanese accomplishments. The Japanese Firm reveals the complex network of institutions and practices surrounding the Japanese firm to explain the successes of the Japanese economy. A team of internationally renowned scholars uses theoretical and empirical work, and combines contributions from the fields of institutional economics, organizational theory, economic history, and sociology to elucidate the distinctive social and economic context of Japanese firms. Through an analysis of the internal structure of firms, the interdependency of firms and their suppliers, and the effects of relative income and power equality, Aoki and Dore recognize the diversity of experience within Japan and address the transferability or adaptability of the Japanese experience to the Nordic or Anglo-American context.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Contributions are incisive, original, and informed, all authors being established scholars....should be required reading in schools of management."--Choice

"This book is a well-balanced collection of state-of-the-art research results on the postwar Japanese firm."--Journal of comparative Economics

"Probably no two scholars have done more to elucidate important features of the Japanese business system than Masahiko Aoki and Ronald Dore."--Journal of Japanese Studies

About the Author

Masahiko Aoki is at Kyoto University, Japan, and Stanford University, USA. Ronald Dore is at London School of Economics, and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 31, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198292155
• ISBN-13: 978-0198292159
• Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 4.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,813,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A basic material in the Japanese study, March 30, 2003

By 

Suckwoo Lee (Seoul, Seoul South Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Japanese Firm: Sources of Competitive Strength (Paperback)

This book is one the most cited material in the field of Japanese study. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, studying the Japanese firms was a fad in social sciences. There was a deluge of papers and books on that subject. It must be the golden age of Japanology. And this book could be regarded as the fruit of such activities.
First, editors themselves are the leading figures in the Japanese study, and articles in this book were written by distinguished scholars too. So you can expect the quality papers.
Second, almost all the issues raised up to that time are tackled in this volume from organizational learning in the Japanese firm, quality control, lean production, Japanese-style R&D, the human resource management in the Japanese firm, to keiretsu.
But just like all other things in the life, this book has its own weaknesses.
First, as you can guess from the publication date of this book (1994) and the subtitle of the book (sources of competitive strength), there is no account of why Japanese firms are mired in difficulties now. Poster children of Japanese business like Nissan, Toshiba, Hitachi all have suffered over the 1990s and now. There is no explanation for such troubles. It's natural for most didn't imagine the Japanese economy has stumble more than a decade up to 1995. They thought downturn caused by bubble bursting should be short-term problem. So we can't pillory authors for this weakness. But now it's the obvious problem.
Second, as we can guess from the name of editor (Aoki), most articles are confined to incentive or contractual approach in dealing with the firm. Some articles adopt the organizational learning approach. Other approaches on organization than contract theory are few in this book. It goes without saying that this problem doesn't stand for the jaundiced eye of the editors. At the time this book was published, other approaches in organizational studies were not fully competitive.
In spite of these two obvious flaws, you'd better read related articles in this book if you are intended to write the paper about the Japanese firm. As I said, articles in this book could be considered as the fruit of pervious studies on the Japanese firm.