Hybrid Factory: The Japanese Production System in The United States / Edition 1

by Tetsuo Abo

Overview

As Japanese automotive and electronics firms have expanded their operations into the United States more attention has been focused on Japanese management and manufacturing. In Hybrid Factory a team of Japanese and American scholars explores the potential for the effective transfer of Japanese management and production systems that have been credited with giving Japanese firms their competitive superiority to a much different national culture. The book looks in particular at which management factors, that provide strength to Japanese production systems, can survive the transfer to the United States or whether the radically different social and cultural environment makes such a transfer impossible.

Contributors:
Tetsuo Abo, University of Tokyo
Hiroshi Itagaki, Saitama University
Duane Kujawa, University of Miami
Kunio Kamiyama, Josai University
Hiroshi Kumon, Hosei University
Tetsuji Kawamura, Teikyo University
Mira Wilkins, Florida International University

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195079746
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/12/1994
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.38(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.17(d)

About the Author

Tetsuo Abo is Professor of Economics at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Tokyo and Head of the Japanese Multinational Enterprise Study Group.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Globalization and ProductionContributors1. The Analysis of Japanese Factories Located Overseas, Tetsuo Abo2. Characteristics of the Japanese Production System and Its International Transfer Model, Tetsuji Kawamura3. The Typical Japanese Overseas Factory, Kunio Kamiyama4. Questionnaire and Survey, Duane Kujawa and Hiroshi Kumon5. Correlation Analysis Between Structural Elements of the Hybrid Model, Hiroshi Itagaki6 Industrial Analysis by Industry Types, Hiroshi Kumon, et al.7 Types of Japanese Factories Located Overseas, Hiroshi Kumon, et al.8. Overall Evaluation and Prospects, Tetsuo AboEpilogue: More than One Hundred Years: A Historical Overview of Japanese Direct Investment in the United States, Mira WilkinsNotesBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"This study is a useful corrective to assumptions that technology transfer is straightforward or even necessary in its entirety."—Business History

"One of the most systematic and extensive studies ever conducted on Japanese manufacturing transplants in the United States. An invaluable contribution to the literature on Japanese management as well as foreign direct investment."—Toshihiro Nishiguchi, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

"[R]epresents an important step towards understanding Japanese manufacturing facilities in the U.S."—Journal of International Business Studies

"The pioneering work by Tetsuo Abo and his colleagues will provide us with some useful tools for analyzing and evaluating Japanese transplants, including the application-adaptation approach."—Takahiro Fujimoto, The University of Tokyo

"This is an important book and a major contribution to the field. It sheds important light on the efforts of Japanese corporations to transfer their systems of production organization and manufacturing management to the United States. Their message is important: The Japanese system can and is being transferred to the United States, but success depends upon the effort and resources companies put into this process. This book is essential reading for everyone interested in the globalization strategies of Japanese companies and the transfer of Japanese management to the United States and elsewhere at the close of the 20th century."—Richard Florida, Director, Center for Economic Development, Carnegie Mellon University

From the Publisher