Japan's Computer and Communications Industry

Computers, telecommunications equipment, semiconductors - the products and technologies of the information and communications (IC) industry have transformed our world. Most of these products were initially developed in Western countries, but by the early 1990s some of the world's largest companies in the field were Japanese. This book explains the resurgence of Japan's IC giants, their global status, and their strengths and weaknesses. Empirical scrutiny of their evolution is 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. Lengthy analyses of NEC and NTT (by far the world's largest company in terms of market value; its future currently under government scrutiny), and of the computing, switiching, and optical fibre industries, illustrate these concepts. Based on over 600 personal interviews over eight years with Japanese leaders, this book provides important new material on the past, present, and future of Japanese industry.

About the Author :
Martin Fransman is Director of the Institute for Japanese-European Technology Studies (JET), at the University of Edinburgh.

Review :
"Should be requred reading for anyone interested or involved in the evolution of the most dynamic industry in the 20th century...Fransman integrates complex interrelated developments in technology, management, and government policy in a most impressive manner...An outstanding piece of work."--Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., Straus Professor of Business History, Emeritus, Harvard University "There are few formidably large books that have such a good excuse for being so bulky....The treatment is of the concrete and down-to-earth kind that makes the subject come alive...The analysis of 'controlled competition' is one of the best things in the book. Altogether, a first-rate piece of work."--Ronald Dore, London School of Economics "A major contribution in our understanding of the evolution of japanese capabilities in computers and telecommunications....It is must-reading for anyone who wants to understand both the success and the weakness of Japan in these key industries."--Richard Nelson, Columbia University "An excellent book...It provides by far the best account of the evolution of Japanese computer and telecommunications companies...It is also a major contribution to the theoretical and empirical literature on industrial innovation."--Chris Freeman, Emeritus Professor of Science and Technology, SPRU, University of Sussex "With an observant eye for detail, Professor Fransman brings to life the successes and shortcomings of Japan's efforts in computing and communications. While the largely self-contained case studies offered by this authoritative volume deserve attention by themselves, interested readers will find even greater reward from the composite picture they present of Japan's search for economic advantage from information technologies."--Arno Penzias, AT&T Bell Labs