Strategic Networks

The Art of Japanese Interfirm Cooperation

With Strategic Networks: The Art of Japanese Interfirm Cooperation, you will examine the structure and dynamics of Japanese business networks and discover successful Japanese business practices and opportunities. For professors of business and Japanese studies, as well as managers of firms throughout the world, this book analyzes new and innovative networks through case examples from the Japanese automobile, chemical, and electronics industries. Strategic Networks offers you insight into the management of these company partnerships and how they work to increase the competitiveness of businesses and allow firms within the network to share important knowledge.

Unknown to many, several of the management concepts that made Japanese companies successful in the 1980s, such as total quality control (TQC) and continuing improvement processes (CIP), were only a part of the formula for a successful business. This book discusses types of Japanese strategic networks, another element of Japan’s thriving business structure of today, how they are influenced by Japanese cultural values and state interventions, and why all of the businesses involved are benefiting from these networks.

Evaluating the theoretical foundation of these business relationships and intercompany cooperation, Strategic Networks offers you up-to-date information on the structures of Japanese firms by:

• examining Karl Popper’s ideas on critical rationalism and how Japanese companies follow his theories of problem solving, questioning, and developing knowledge

• explaining the system, growth, and game theories in order to completely understand a network and all of its facets

• exploring the ability to work with and navigate strategic networks when they are managed without strict plans or with unforeseen circumstances

• recognizing how networks enable the activation of interpreneurs to develop future visions, innovations, and responsible leadership for the network

  Complete with illustrations to emphasize important points along with insight into networks in the twenty-first century, Strategic Networks offers information and research that will help you understand how Japanese networks operate and how Japanese firms are conducting business differently. As a result, you will learn how the changing values in Japanese society influence company structures and procedures and come to understand the unique workings and effective structures of strategic networks.