The Rise of the Japanese Specialist Manufacturer : Leading Medium-Sized Enterprises

Specialist manufacturers have existed in Japan from even before the start of industrialization in the late nineteenth century. Proliferating since but remaining steadfastly lean, many of them can be categorized as leading medium-sized enterprises. This book looks at how they are globalizing and assuming a role as East Asian specialists. Manufacturing forms the base of the Japanese economy and will continue to do so. It is supported by a host of specialists both in end-user products and intermediary components. Many of these specialists are not behemoths; they can be described as leading medium-sized enterprises, or LMEs. This book traces the rise of these LMEs. It shows how they forged their own course - often at variance with the ideas of the central authorities - honing their art of monozukuri, or making things. At each point in the historical narrative actual entrepreneurs and the LMEs they created are cited. Having contributed handsomely to Japan's industrial evolution from industrialization to the information age, these LMEs are now globalizing, and in so doing assuming a role as East Asian regional specialists "Manufacturing forms the base of the Japanese economy and will continue to do so. It is supported by a host of specialists both in end-user products and intermediary components. Many of these specialists are not behemoths; they can be described as leading medium-sized enterprises, or LMEs. This book traces the rise of these LMEs. It shows how they forged their own course - often at variance with the ideas of the central authorities - honing their art of monozukuri, or making things. At each point in the historical narrative actual entrepreneurs and the LMEs they created are cited. Having contributed handsomely to Japan's industrial evolution from industrialization to the information age, these LMEs are now globalizing, and in so doing assuming a role as East Asian regional specialists."--Jacket Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-9 The Dawning of a Concept....Pages 10-21 The Universal LME....Pages 22-41 The Stylized LME....Pages 42-55 Early Industrialization and the Adumbrated LME....Pages 56-69 Organization and Technology: 1912–1930....Pages 70-88 War and the Molding of an Industrial Structure: 1930–1945....Pages 89-103 Growth and the ‘Dual Economy’....Pages 104-123 Contrasting Profiles of the Modern Japanese Specialist....Pages 124-142 Monozukuri — Making Things....Pages 143-160 Globalization and the Specialist....Pages 161-177 A Population of Globalizing Japanese LMEs....Pages 178-199 2007 Update: Funds and China....Pages 200-219 Conclusion....Pages 220-229 Back Matter....Pages 230-241