Can Japan Compete?: Amazon.co.uk: Michael Porter, Takeuchi, Sakakibara: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

Can Japan Compete?, business guru Michael Porter's first book for almost a decade, could scarcely be timelier, arriving on the shelves at a moment in Japanese corporate history when many an awkward chicken is coming home to roost, causing collapse and consolidation on a previously unimaginable scale. It addresses at some length a very Japanese enigma. How could an economy with so many apparently fiercely competitive industries have a hidden, darkly uncompetitive side to it?

Porter and his co-authors set out to challenge the conventional wisdom on the driving forces behind national competitiveness in Japan, and show that Japan is not a special case. "Its industries succeed not when the government manages competition but when it allows competition to flourish. For various political and cultural reasons, it has been appealing to believe that Japan had invented a new and intrinsically superior form of capitalism, one more controlled and egalitarian than the Western vision," say the authors. What they claim to have found instead is that none of the conventional wisdom is true. Japan's much-celebrated bureaucratic capitalism is not the cause of the country's success. In fact, it is most closely associated with the nation's failures.

Can Japan Compete? sets off at a brisk pace that quickly proves difficult for the authors to sustain. Sharp prose gives way to hard data and plentiful charts. Stick with it, though. In among the thickets of facts and figures there still lurks an array of interesting propositions, leading up to a simple and pretty incontestable final statement. If mindsets in Japan change, the nation has the capacity to move rapidly. --Brian Bollen --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

'Michael Porter is one of the world's most influential authorities on corporate strategy.' - Independent on Sunday

'Porter is the single most important strategist working today, and maybe of all time.' - Kevin Coyne, McKinsey & Co, Fortune

'Takeuchi...ranks among the intellectual leaders of the younger, globally minded generation that is coming to power in Japan.' - Fortune

'This excellent book is definitely a must read. Business people will have a clear idea of what specific problems need to be resolved if they apply the analysis results and future directions suggested in the book to their own company situation.' - Yomiuri Weekly, of Japanese language edition

'The unique feature of this book is the meticulous examination into the activities of individual firms in our country.This is one book that every business person should read.' - JMA Management Review, of Japanese language edition
'America's top business guru...Professor Michael Porter of Harvard Business School is...consultant to the world on what makes economies hum. His status as an international authority on the right way to manage rests on a quarter of a century of mining data from the corporate coalface.' - The Times

'He's one of the two or three so-called gurus on competitiveness who've had more impact over the past 50 years than anyone else.' - Leo Murray, Director, Cranfield School of Management

'...an important contribution to policy thinking - not only in Japan.' - Tom Hardiman, Intermedia

'Michael Porter has summarised in a masterly fashion the key factors that lie behind Japan's economic and corporate success and present problems.' - Strategy

'Based on extensive research the book carries sound analysis and a clarion call to action. The current situation can be turned around and this book shows clearly the way ahead for Japan. For those with an interest in the future of one of the world's largest economies, this is a must read.' - Marketing Business

'Porter (is) the world's foremost authority on corporate strategy.' - South China Morning Post

'A master class on the performance of the post war 'Japanese economic miracle'...one of the best written, clearly presented, well referenced and easily read volumes that one is ever likely to find on this complex subject...A first class read.' - Engineering Management Journal

'A clearly substantiated and well-researched contribution to a clearer understanding of the Japanese economy and culture.' - Business Age

'The detailed research that has gone into this book gives it a more solid foundation than others in the field...the proposals for corporations bear close scrutiny as they aren't just a wholesale selling of Anglo-Saxon practices. The authors...offer a more balanced prescription that gives value to the long-term approach Japanese business has always had.' - World Link

'Michael Porter is a guru. In the overcrowded parking lot of management gurus he is the flaming red one with a turbo charged, 32 valve, three litre engine, a GURU1 number plate and a CD changer in the boot. Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School, has not only taught generations of ambitious executives how to run business better, but his CV reads more like Henry Kissinger's diary than the life of an average academic.' - Neil Bennett, Sunday Telegraph

'Can Japan Compete?...took almost eight years to complete and represents a major contribution to the understanding of Japan. It also offers a set of ideas that can guide economic policy and corporate practice in any country.' - Euro Business

'Porter is the undisputed global authority on strategic management thinking and national competitive advantage and his views on the future of the Japanese economy should be worth reading.' Carol Kennedy, Business Highlights, Booksellers' Buyers Guide 2000

'This is good stuff! Not only is it a timely - and critical - reminder that choosing, occupying and staying in a unique position is an essential part of competitive strategy, but it is also a classic part of the continuing academic debate on strategy...Michael Porter must have enjoyed writing this book and...you should enjoy reading it.' - The Antidote

'Michael E. Porter is an undoubted Business guru.' - The Good Book Guide --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Reviving the competitive advantage of Japan 15 Mar 2003

By Gerard Kroese

Format:Hardcover

Michael Porter is Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a leading authority on competition and strategic management; Hirotaka Takeuchi is Professor and Dean of the new Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University in Japan; and Mariko Sakakibara is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"This book aims first and foremost to offer a theory that can explain and interpret Japan's postware economic trajectory." This 'theory' follows a mostly academical and economical research method. In Chapter 1 the authors first discuss Japan's economical history, whereby the authors use extensive graphs, figures and tables to prove their point: "Japan's actual competitive performance, then, has been mixed for decades." Expanding on their discussion on the economical history, the authors challenge the Japanese government model. "At the core of the Japanese government model is a particular conception of the process of economic development and the bases of competitiveness. It embodies an implicit aversion to certain forms of competition and an effort to channel competition in various ways." This model goes back to the early post-World War II period, when "the nation was in shambles". There is an 12 developmental policies list which form the building blocks of the Japanese governmental model. The authors discuss the impact of these policies on Japan's successes and failures.

In Chapter 3, the authors discuss Japan's unique management model. "The model stresses attributes such as teamwork, a long time horizon, and dedication to continuous quality improvement, all of which remain important Japanese strengths. But it has also encouraged conformity and a conception of competition that is dangerously incomplete." Again, the authors introduce a list of policies which are typical for the Japanese corporate model. The authors' biggest complaint is that most Japanese companies do not have a strategy, they tend to compete on operational effectiveness. (For more see Porter's 1996-article 'What is Strategy?')

In Chapter 4 the authors try to explain Japanese competitiveness. This model for competitiveness follows the universal model: "vigorous competition in a supportive business environment, free of government direction, is the only path to economic vitality." Most of this chapter is directly taken from Porter's 1990-book 'The Competitive Advantage of Nations', discussing various industries (both successful and unsuccessful).

In Chapter 5, 6, and 7 the authors aim to come up with an answer to move Japan forward. The authors discuss the requirements for both government and companies. "What is needed is nothing short of a new economic strategy, one that builds on the true bases of Japan's past success, recognizes the differences between the country's rebuilding challenges and its present circumstances, and addresses the realities of modern global competition." So can Japan compete? The authors believe it can. "Japan has a history of competing successfully at the highest level and rapidly advancing national productivity, when competition was allowed to proceed unfettered. ... Japan can compete. To do so, however, it will require the systematic changes in both business and government we have described. ... As it has shown in earlier periods of transition, if mind-sets change, Japan has the capacty to move rapidly."

Yes, I do understand the disappointment of some of the other readers. In line with Michael Porter's 'The Competitive Advantage of Nations' (1990) this book is more about governmental issues than the activities within companies as in Porter's bestsellers 'Competitive Strategy' (1980) and 'Competitive Advantage' (1985). In their search for their answer to the title-question (Can Japan Compete?) the authors use an mostly academical and economical approach, which can be daunting to some readers. The book is mostly aimed at Japanese multinationals, economists, and governmental officials, and includes some strong critical comments toward their policies.

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Fascinating 7 Dec 2000

By A Customer

It is difficult to criticise and reject a piece of work when the approach to research is so well structured. Although it reads at a fast pace the early chapters are somewhat heavy on explaining principles of micro-economics and at times you may find re-reading a number of pages. However, on a more general note I enjoyed reading chapters identifying causes of recession of Japan, and likened the conclusions here to Clayton Christenson's concepts of disruptive technologies. The concept offered being that Japan's recession is to blame on industry and govt ignoring upstarts in countries once considered as unable to progress or compete against Japan's core competencies; computer related manufacturing.Overall a very enjoyable read.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful

good: relevent to modern economics and politics 29 Oct 2000

By kashburchett@hotmail.com

I'm gonna keep this short and sweet, as advised in the book. In this tour de force of Japanese Politics and economics, and her position on the on the world stage. Worth while (if a little jargon filled) particularly if studying economics from beyond A-level/As, as I am. This puts lots of theory (usually within macro-economics) into practice. Make sure that if you're gonna read it, you're sure you want to. Not for the undetermined.