Japan’s journey to the future

Abstract

Like many companies that have experienced enormous domestic success but then stumbled when attempting to enter international markets, Japan is finding that the international scene presents a significantly different set of challenges from those encountered and surmounted domestically. Those skills and attributes that brought Japan domestic success do not easily translate into global success. Moreover, the country is faced with a serious economic downturn and a population entrenched in an outdated “social democracy expectations set”, including lingering lifetime employment expectations and government protection from “normal” business and credit risk. The speed at which Japan can reinvent itself and address its current economic and social issues is akin to a “time‐to‐market” crisis. Lost time translates to a major loss of international market share, making recovery increasingly difficult as time passes.

Citation

Picard, R.R. and Groth, J.C. (2001), "Japan’s journey to the future", Management Decision, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 315-322. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005465