Management of Technology and Innovation in Japan

A profound overview of Japanese ways of managing innovation, looking at various relevant levels such as strategy, processes, organization, culture and implementation. Contributions by both researchers and practitioners deal with aspects such as the fuzzy front-end of innovation, the role of knowledge in new product development, supplier integration, product architecture, multi-project management and intellectual property rights issues. Featuring cases studies and comparisons with Western practices to identify differences and similarities between management practices in these different cultural regions.

What Makes this Book Unique? No crystal ball is required to safely predict, that in the future - even more than in the past - mastered innovativeness will be a primary criterion distinguishing s- cessful from unsuccessful companies. At the latest since Michael Porter's study on the competitiveness of nations, the same criterion holds even for the evaluation of entire countries and national economies. Despite the innumerable number of p- lications and recommendations on innovation, competitive innovativeness is still a rare competency. The latest publication of UNICE - the European Industry - ganization representing 20 million large, midsize and small companies - speaks a clear language: Europe qualifies to roughly 60% (70%) of the innovation strength of the US (Japan). The record unemployment in many EU countries does not c- tradict this message. A main reason may be given by the fact that becoming an innovative organi- tion means increased openness towards the new and more tolerance towards risks and failures, both challenging the inherently difficult management art of cultural change. Further, lacking innovativeness is often related to legal and fiscal barriers which rather hinder than foster innovative activities. Yet another reason to explain Europe's notorious innovation gap refers to insufficient financial R&D resources on the company as well as on the national level. As a result, for example, hi- ranking decisions on the level of the European Commission are taken to increase R&D expenditures in the European Union from roughly 2% to 3% of GNP.

The secret of Japanese success in technology

Designing the Product Architecture for High Appropriability: The Case of Canon.- Case Study Shimano: Market Creation Through Component Integration.- Invisible Dimensions of Innovation: Strategy for De-commoditization in the Japanese Electronics Industry.- The Customer System and New Product Development: The Material Supplier's Strategy in Japan.- The Japanese Know-Who Based Model of Innovation Management - Reducing Risk at High Speed.- The Domestic Shaping of Japanese Innovations.- Exploiting "Interface Capabilities" in Overseas Markets: Lessons from Japanese Mobile Phone Handset Manufacturers in the US.- "Fuzzy Front End" Practices in Innovating Japanese Companies.- Implementing Process Innovation - The Case of the Toyota Production System.- Reorientation in Product Development for Multiproject Management: The Toyota Case.- Suppliers' Involvement in New Product Development in the Japanese Auto Industry - A Case Study from a Product Architecture Perspective.- NPD-Process and Planning in Japanese Engineering Companies - Findings from an Interview Research.- Japanese New Product Advantage: A Comparative Examination.- Differences in the Internationalization of Industrial R&D in the Triad.- Global Innovation and Knowledge Flows in Japanese and European Corporations.- Reducing Project Related Uncertainty in the "Fuzzy Front End" of Innovation - A Comparison of German and Japanese Product Innovation Projects.- From Practice: IP Management in Japanese Companies.- MoT: From Academia to Management Practice - The MoT Implementation Case in a Traditional Japanese Company.