|
 Japan’s Manufacturing Competitiveness Strategy: Challenges for Japan, Opportunities for the United States contains insights from interviews with various Japanese academics, Japanese government officials, Japanese industry representatives, and representatives of U.S. companies operating in Japan.
The conducted interviews are not meant to be an exhaustive list nor a scientific survey. Time, availability, and travel limitations affected which entities were interviewed. Meetings with various representatives were conducted to gain first-hand insight on the happenings of the manufacturing sector of Japan. Within just four weeks, a snapshot or glimpse of what is happening in the manufacturing arena emerged.
From nearly 100 pages of handwritten notes taken during interviews, this report presents only a sampling of case studies that represent the views of those interviewed. A list of interviewed entities can be found in Appendix B. While the interviews and research were conducted before the financial and economic crisis in fall 2008, many of the insights and lessons learned remain pertinent and timely.
Japan’s efforts to enhance its competitiveness and to advance its economy have become even more relevant.
Visit Japan’s Manufacturing Competitiveness Strategy: Challenges for Japan, Opportunities for the United States Download Page
You can download Japan’s Manufacturing Competitiveness Strategy: Challenges for Japan, Opportunities for the United States in PDF format.
By Jane Corwin and Rebecca Puckett
Published April 2009 by the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
After a 10-year period of economic stagnation, Japan is pursuing various tracks to promote the expansion of its economy and its manufacturing sector in particular. Japan is engaged in a cohesive “innovation program” at all levels: academia, government, and industry.
There is a widespread belief in all sectors of Japan’s economy that innovation will be the linchpin for improving productivity and for sustaining strong economic growth and global competitiveness. Innovation is viewed not only as technological invention, but also as a broad social transformation that enables ideas and discoveries with the creation of new social systems and values.
The Japanese government’s science and technology (S&T) strategic roadmap and its manufacturing competitiveness strategy are inextricably linked, well coordinated and organized, consistent in focus and policy direction, and very well funded. The overall strategy according to those roadmaps includes a number of key components:
- Maintain various research funding levels according to the development stage of research and development (R&D).
- Build a sustainable and progressive industry– academia–government collaboration.
- Promote the use of new technologies in the public sector.
- Promote entrepreneurial activities and R&D ventures by private enterprises.
Japan’s promotion of an active S&T strategy is designed to help jump-start innovation and to enable success in the manufacturing sector and the economy as a whole. In the minds of Japanese leaders, another key to Japan’s global competitiveness will be the development of its human resources. Facing a declining workforce, an aging population, and the loss of its “manufacturing culture,” the government is moving quickly to build strong alliances with universities to develop intensive new curriculums in science and technology and to conduct joint research on new technologies.
Japanese industries are moving forward on an aggressive competitiveness strategy of their own—without direct government support or intervention. According to many influential business leaders, government policies are having less effect on private-sector innovation strategies than in the past. Industries are moving quickly to build strong alliances with universities, as well as to harness new technologies, to develop new innovations on original inventions, and to bring them to market quickly in order to remain competitive.
Japanese academia, government officials, industry, and U.S. industry operating in Japan have highlighted various opportunities for greater U.S.– Japan cooperation and business endeavors. Those opportunities represent only a small sample of the many areas of possible cooperation and business development. The examples herein are to provide an illustrative sampling of potential opportunities as seen by leaders in Japan and by multinationals operating in Japan. The samples do not represent an endorsement of a particular entity, opportunity, or policy recommendation.
Opportunities highlighted by Japanese companies, officials, and academies, as well as U.S. companies in Japan, include the following:
• Early collaborations between U.S. and Japanese university professors, engineers, and researchers can provide opportunities for U.S. technologies and joint ventures.
• Japan’s Center of Excellence programs can be a launch pad for greater U.S.–Japan involvement and collaboration on academic research.
• Japan and the United States could collaborate closely on nanotechnology, particularly in the area of standards development.
• A new bilateral initiative focusing on innovation could lead to collaborations in energy, health, and environment—thus exploring drivers such as access to venture capital, entrepreneurship, protection of intellectual property rights, commercialization of R&D and technology transfer.
• Harmonization of regulations and standards could help facilitate trade between the two countries and aid in the operation of U.S. companies in Japan.
• Because there is significant consumer market demand in Japan in the health-care sector, trained health-care professionals, services, and products will be needed.
• U.S. software services could be pursued in the Japanese market to meet the software needs of technology-driven companies.
• Environmental testing services could be a significant growth market. The United States is ahead in this arena and could continue to be a strong leader in the Japanese market.
 |
eBook Categories 
Subscribe to the RSS feed.