Technology and Industrial Development in Japan: Building Capabilities by Learnin

Publisher Description

Japan was the first major non-western nation to take on board the Western technological and organizational advances of the century after the fist industrial revolution. It subsequently proved fully able to exploit and contribute to the broad, sustained technological advances that began in the twentieth century, as science became harnessed to technology. Japan's economic development remains a model for many technologically less advanced countries which have not yetmastered modern technology to organizational forms; and a knowledge of Japanese technological and economic history can contribute importantly to our understanding of economic growth in the modernera.This book studies the industrial development of Japan since the mid-nineteenth century, with particular emphasis on how the various industries built technological capabilities. The Japanese were extraordinarily creative in searching out and learning to use modern technologies, and the authors investigate the emergence of entrepreneurs who began new and risky businesses, how the business organizations evolved to cope with changing technological conditions, and how themanagers, engineers and workers acquired organizational and technological skills through technology importation, learning-by-doing, and their own R&D activities.The bookinvestigates the interaction between private entrepreneural activities and public policy, through a general examination of economic and industrial development, a study of the evolution of management systems, and six industrial case studies: textiles, iron and steel, electrical and communications equipment, automobiles, shipbuilding and aircraft, and pharmaceuticals. The authors show how the Japanese government has played an important supportive role in the continuing innovation, without being asubstitute for aggressive business enterprise constantly venturing into unfamiliar terrains.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Richard R. NelsonAcknowledgements1: Introduction2: Economic and Technological Change from the Meiji Restoration to World War II3: The Post-War Technological Progress and Government Policies4: The Evolution of a Management System from the Tokugawa Era to World War II5: Management in Post-War Japan and Today6: Textiles7: Iron and Steel8: Electrical and Communications Equipment9: Automobiles10: Shipbuilding and Aircraft11: Pharmaceuticals12: What Can We Learn from the Past?NotesAppendixA Brief Chronology of Japan's HistoryBibliography

Long Description

Japan was the first major non-western nation to take on board the Western technological and organizational advances of the century after the fist industrial revolution. It subsequently proved fully able to exploit and contribute to the broad, sustained technological advances that began in the twentieth century, as science became harnessed to technology. Japan's economic development remains a model for many technologically less advanced countries which have not yetmastered modern technology to organizational forms; and a knowledge of Japanese technological and economic history can contribute importantly to our understanding of economic growth in the modern era.This book studies the industrial development of Japan since the mid-nineteenth century, with particular emphasis on how the various industries built technological capabilities. The Japanese were extraordinarily creative in searching out and learning to use modern technologies, and the authors investigate the emergence of entrepreneurs who began new and risky businesses, how the business organizations evolved to cope with changing technological conditions, and how the managers, engineers andworkers acquired organizational and technological skills through technology importation, learning-by-doing, and their own R&D activities.The book investigates the interaction between private entrepreneural activities and public policy, through a general examination of economic and industrial development, a study of the evolution of management systems, and six industrial case studies: textiles, iron and steel, electrical and communications equipment, automobiles, shipbuilding and aircraft, and pharmaceuticals. The authors show how the Japanese government has played an important supportive role in the continuing innovation,without being a substitute for aggressive business enterprise constantly venturing into unfamiliar terrains.

Feature

Uses a specific country study in order to inform broader arguments on development and growth.Contributes to economic theory on the role of private entrepreneural activities and public policy, through a general examination of economic and industrial development, a study of the evolution of management systems, and six industrial case studies.A pioneering case study of Japan's Industrial Development and Growth.

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