While Japan's export-oriented economy has been advancing with astounding speed, significant differences remain between the management philosophy and techniques used within Japanese companies and those used in the West. These include the significant differences in the use of capital budgeting techniques, economic and political assessment of projects, decision-making styles, and techniques of corporate governance.

Japanese corporate behavior and practice raises a number of issues for international businessmen, accountants and lawyers, and there are many things that they find difficult to understand. Thus, their interest in the current Japanese market and economy is significant and increasingly prominent. This book will showcase tremendous insight to both Japanese and American issues of finance, law and business; the author's expertise in these three areas will contribute to a very unique perspective. As the data provided in Current Business and Legal Issues in Japan's Banking and Finance Industry is pertinent to understanding Japanese laws and business practices, this text will be of great interest to foreign companies wanting to be successful in Japan.

Providing rare insight into the topic of Japanese management, this book looks at how Japanese companies changed after the economic recession of the 1990s and the decade-long restructuring process. With 12 case studies, this book investigates crisis management, strategy development, merger and globalization in a structured and descriptive manner. It aims to support students and decision-makers to learn more about strategic Japanese management and effective decision-making.

With the service industry taking up the largest portion of its GDP, Japan has much to share in the area of managing service industry. This book explores and elucidates the unique management styles in non-manufacturing industries or service industries in contemporary Japan, both practically and theoretically through case studies. These specially selected cases are the management of the world No.1 convenience store chain of Seven-Eleven, the sales finance business and auto sales business of Toyota, application of TPS (Toyota Production System) to life insurance company, performance evaluation of local government, BSC (balance scorecard) in local government hospitals, cost and pricing policy of telecommunication company, Japanese-style OC hospitalityOCO in the retail industry, service level agreement (SLA) in IT and shared service companies, and ICT (Information & Communication Technology) applied to BPN (Business Process Network) of service industry.The analyses presented in this book were carefully laid out in regard to the business in general. It will be useful for business practitioners in service industry and beneficial to the scholars, students or general readers interested in this area.

Since the bursting of Japan’s bubble economy, from 1990 onwards, its multinational companies (MNCs) have faced new competitive challenges, and questions about the management practices on which they had built their initial success in global markets. Japanese engagement in the international economy has undergone a number of phases. Historically, Japanese MNCs learnt from foreign companies, frequently through strategic alliances. After the post-war ‘economic miracle’, Japanese manufacturers in particular converted themselves into MNCs, transferred their home-grown capabilities to overseas subsidiaries, and made an impact on the world economy. But the period after 1990 marked declining Japanese competitiveness, and asked questions about the ability of Japanese MNCs to be more responsive and global in their strategies, organization, and capabilities. It has been argued that the established management practices of Japanese MNCs inhibited adaptation to recent demands of global competition. This volume presents new case evidence on how Japanese MNCs have responded to the new challenges of the global market place, and it provides examples of how they have transformed strategies and competitive capabilities. This book was originally published as a special issue of Asia Pacific Business Review.

When the world economy is facing serious difficulties such as now, the management of Japanese corporations is attracting attention from all over the world. In coping with rapid changes in the environment, Japanese management techniques and legal practices continue to change. In the era of internationalization, Japan and foreign countries have followed a path of convergence, despite differing traditions. By following this course, businesses both in Japan and abroad are expected to achieve greater progress in productivity, cost efficiency, and profit maximization, while maintaining good quality control. However, these Japanese stories are only partially known to the world. As one of the very few casebooks written in English on Japanese corporations, this book offers valuable insights into Japan's unique business culture and practices. The seven cases in this book include well-known Japanese corporations such as the Bank of Japan, Toyota, Sumitomo-Mitsui Bank, Saizeriya, and Toshiba. "The Toshiba Accounting Scandal: How Corporate Governance Failed" and "Negative Interest Rates: The Bank of Japan Experience" rank as "BESTSELLERS" in the Top 20 most popular cases at Harvard. These cases illustrate many of the key differences between Japan and the West that exist in the realm of corporate governance and finance. All in all, the book provides relevant and in-depth information on the current state of business in Japan.

As global business competition continues to accelerate, it is imperative that managers and executives examine all facets of an organization so that it remains successful. Often dynamics such as espionage, diplomacy, and geopolitical atmosphere have a great impact on daily operations of an organization; however, these areas are often overlooked. Corporate Espionage, Geopolitics, and Diplomacy Issues in International Business highlights strategic planning and operations tactics in the areas of human resource management and security. Featuring the impact of espionage, geopolitics, and diplomacy, this book is an insightful reference for business and government executives, scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, and practitioners .