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Strategic Industrial Sourcing

The Japanese Advantage

Toshihiro Nishiguchi author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc

Published:14th Apr '94

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Strategic Industrial Sourcing cover

Japanese industrial firms have developed a system of subcontracting with suppliers that has played a major role in their world-wide success. This book explores the historical evolution of subcontracting in Japan and analyses it in current practice. It develops a theory of `strategic dualism' that after nearly six decades of evolution is a new mode of contractual relations, based on principles of problem-solving collaborative manufacturing. This new form of contractual relations is supported by a range of institutional arrangements that drive prime contractors and subcontractors towards continuous improvement in product quality and cost reduction. It argues that this system is possible in a range of cultures different from Japan.

One of the most interesting parts of Nishiguchi's descriptions is his contrast of Japanese-style managers' attitudes toward suppliers with the attitudes of American and British managers whose firms have not adopted these practices...No amount of asset flexibility can substitute for a system of flexible employees such as is described in Strategic Industrial Sourcing. Management scholars fail to see the true contours of the Japanese business landscape if the reality of these business arrangements is ignored. * Academy of Management Review *

ISBN: 9780195071092

Dimensions: 163mm x 243mm x 31mm

Weight: 739g

352 pages