This book combines a theoretical study of Japan's economic structures and multinational enterprises with a post-modern analysis of the contemporary multinational enterprise. The author considers the appropriateness of the post-modern approach for discussing economic activities, in particular the New Economy, and also Japanese society and culture. Kensy analyses Japan's economic structure, interpreting its methods, strategies and results in a post-modern context and presents a survey of socio-economic development in Japan since the beginning of westernization. He goes on to discuss Japanese models for the transformation of society in the future, with particular reference to the Keiretzu. Finding Japan to be a truly postmodern society, Kensy shows that Japan is prepared to be a leader in the New Economy. Kensy takes an innovative and stimulating approach that will be of interest to those seeking to better understand the development and future of the economic structures of Japan.

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.

Between 2002 and 2008, Japan's economy saw constant expansion, a record among the world's advanced economies and Japan's longest period of economic growth since World War II. This remarkable achievement came about because of a transformation of Japanese business practices. This transformation was guided by strategies that enabled Japan's leading corporations, previously diversified to an exceptionally high degree, to become leaner, more nimble, and more competitive at home and in the global economy. In Choose and Focus, the first in-depth account of this strategic inflection point in Japanese business, Ulrike Schaede argues that the emerging practices and attitudes have created a New Japan. Drawing on profiles of several corporations, including Panasonic, Takeda and Astellas, Softbank, kakaku.com, and SBI E*Trade, Schaede explains how the fundamental principles of Japan's economy have been overturned. "Choose and focus" strategies, whereby corporations concentrate on core areas and spin off unrelated businesses, have completely altered the strategic logic of Japan's previous industrial architecture. These surprisingly aggressive moves, Schaede finds, have created new market opportunities for start-up enterprises and foreign investors, as well as a wave of mergers, acquisitions, and hostile takeovers that have shaken Japanese companies out of complacency. Unlike the advances made by Japanese firms in the 1970s and 1980s, the current transformation is taking root in component and materials industries rather than in consumer products. Because of the relative obscurity of the changes and the overshadowing story of China's ascent, the Japanese corporate revolution has gone largely unnoticed among Western observers. Choose and Focus is required reading for anyone doing business in Japan or trying to understand how contemporary Japanese business works and how Japanese corporations have reinvented themselves to face the challenges—and realize the opportunities—of the 21st century.

Readable, wide-ranging history of multinational enterprise, exploring its role in international events and influence on globalization and the modern world.

This innovative volume brings together contributions from leading experts in the study of luxury to present the full range of perspectives on luxury business, from a variety of social science approaches. Topics include conceptual foundations and the evolution of the luxury industry; the production of luxury goods; luxury branding and marketing; distributing luxury; globalization and markets; and issues of morality, inequality, and environmental sustainability. The Oxford Handbook of Luxury Business is a necessary resource for all students and researchers of the field as well as for forward-thinking industry professionals.

Direct foreign investment and the activities of multinational corporations are new dynamic elements in the international economy. This book identifies, theoretically and practically, a Japanese model of multinational business operations which has characteristics differing from the American or "anti-trade oriented" type, and casts light on important policy implications concerning direct foreign investment and multinational corporations. By developing a macroeconomic approach to direct foreign investment, instead of the prevalent explanation from the viewpoint of business administration and industrial organisation, this study adds to current knowledge of the multinational corporation. It endeavours to bridge the gap of separated treatments between international trade and foreign investment, and presents an integrated theory from the viewpoint of a dynamic reorganisation in the international division of labour. The book also includes two introductory surveys on the survey of international division of labour and foreign investment.