This book explores the differences in cultural attributes and management factors to enable managers working for Japanese contractors to reduce misunderstandings and misinterpretations when communicating with project team members from different cultural backgrounds. It focuses on Japanese contractors operating in Singapore, since the Singapore construction industry has, for many years, been one of the largest overseas construction markets for the top-5 Japanese contractors. Using Hofstede’s national cultural framework for the cultural studies in construction project management, it reveals various real-world management practices and discusses national cultural differences relating to managers working for Japanese contractors in Singapore as well as the communication weaknesses of current management practices and styles. The results presented provide useful lessons for Japanese contractors operating in Singapore, as well as other parts of the world, to bridge cultural and communication gaps.

Amid the current, protracted recession in Japan, new corporations termed global excellent companies by the authors of this book have been rising since the end of the 20th century. They are not yet in the spotlight but have a huge market share worldwide with regard to their specialized products and services.

After two decades of reinvention, Japanese companies are re-emerging as major players in the new digital economy. They have responded to the rise of China and new global competition by moving upstream into critical deep-tech inputs and advanced materials and components. This new "aggregate niche strategy" has made Japan the technology anchor for many global supply chains. Although the end products do not carry a "Japan Inside" label, Japan plays a pivotal role in our everyday lives across many critical industries. This book is an in-depth exploration of current Japanese business strategies that make Japan the world's third-largest economy and an economic leader in Asia. To accomplish their reinvention, Japan's largest companies are building new processes of breakthrough innovation. Central to this book is how they are addressing the necessary changes in organizational design, internal management processes, employment, and corporate governance. Because Japan values social stability and economic equality, this reinvention is happening slowly and methodically, and has gone largely unnoticed by Western observers. Yet, Japan's more balanced model of "caring capitalism" is both competitive and transformative, and more socially responsible than the unbridled growth approach of the United States.

Two powers in East Asia today stand to define the region's economic and commercial future: Japan, which rose in a spectacular industrial burst to become at present the world's second largest economy; and China, which is rapidly advancing towards a market economy under the watchful eye of the world. While much has been made of Japan and China’s particular economic institutions and developmental paths, few works analyze them in a comparative framework. Including contributions from leading academics, the text focuses on the period from the 1980s to the onset of the 2000s, reviewing the experiences of Japan and China across the areas of development, trade, investment, finance and technology. Drawing on a combination of official documents, economic statistics, case studies and original fieldwork, this book will give political scientists, political economists, business concerns, and policy analysts a firmer grasp of the role Japan and China stand to play in the world political economy.

Despite its often mismanaged economy, Africa remains the third largest continent in land mass and population. It continues to offer unexploited business opportunities for entrepreneurs, global corporations, and institutions. Emerging Business Opportunities in Africa: Market Entry, Competitive Strategy, and the Promotion of Foreign Direct Investments presents the basic business modeling for developing appropriate strategies in exploiting these business opportunities in the emerging economy in Africa. This book offers insight into the challenges and successes aiming to encourage researchers and students of business in creating a value for doing business in Africa.