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
Industry 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
"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
"A comprehensive treatment of Japanese manufacturing investment in the U.S. focusing on differences in organizational strategies. It will be the standard for future research."--Vladimir Pucik, Cornell University
"This book is a vital addition to our understanding of the transfer of the Japanese production system by Japanese firms operating in North America. The authors have conducted detailed interviews and provide insight into which features have been transferred and which have not been transferred."--Martin Kenney, University of California, Davis
