Peter, on this one, I just had to put my two yen worth although others have already commented...
>>> How can Honda and Toyota become again what they once were when:<<<
Once were? Honda just beat sales performance in US market and has introduced very succesful models in the last year. The have a return on assets of 15%, comparable to any world leader in the field. Toyota has introduced the first commercially viable (ok they lose money on it right now, but as a test for marketing, distribution, fine tuning, you cannot beat that) hybrid vehicle, th Prius.
>>>1) Competing companies have modeled their business strategies after them<<<
So what makes them less competitive, with a weaker yen and higher value added product, excellent quality and incredible brand recognition, they are as strong as ever. You picked the strongest of the lot, I would understand if you looked at Mitsubishi or Nissan but Honda and Toyota...
>>> 2) Japan is losing it's domestic market<<<
I assume you are not talking about cars here, in which case it it true that there have been incursions by foreign firms. Desirable if you ask me . It is not losing its domestic market, new ones are being created and naturally doors are open to new entrants ...
>>> 3) The tight keiretsu system can not be duplicated outside of Japan<<<
Increasingly irrelevant now as most progressive companies are moving to open the field to any suppliers, part of keiretsu or not. Other companies just can not afford to rescue some of their keiretsu breathens. (nissan insurance went down and Nissan Cars did nothing. I suppose they just wrote off their share of the investment)
>>> Japan has few natural resources, is heavily populated, <<<
This is nothing new Peter, it has always been there and in some way has been the part of the explanation for the tremendous growth after the war ( i say part here ... many other reasons contributed)
>>>is it's once protected domestic market is being
penetrated by foreign companies. <<<
Precisely because the market is there. Japanese companies are not going to sit there and just watch. They are either buying the talent and tools they need to compete, laying off people (sometimes not officially, as there are many ways to lay off in Japan) or are partnering up with foreign companies. The weak ones will die off.
>>>It will be a struggle for some time to come.<<<
The only point we agree on here.
later
sg |
