| Bibliography and Index of United Nations Centre for Regional Development Publications | |||
| Citation | Edgington, David W. “Flexibility and Corporate Organization in Chukuo, Japan: A Study of Five Industries.” Regional Development Studies 3 (1996/97): 83-108. | ||
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| Year | 1997 | ||
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| Material Type | Journal Article | ||
| Features | 98 notes; 6 tables | ||
| Pages | 83-108 | ||
| Relationships |
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| Subjects |
AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY 08.14.07 CORPORATIONS 12.01.01 EMPLOYMENT 13.01.03 INDUSTRIAL AREAS 08.03.02 INDUSTRIAL INNOVATIONS 08.05.01 INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION 08.04.01 JAPAN 01.04.04 PRODUCTION DIVERSIFICATION 12.07.01 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT 03.02.03 | ||
| Abstract | This article presents some results of a study on issues of organizational flexibility in the Chukyo region of Japan (the three central prefectures of Aichi, Gifu, and Mie). Centered on Nagoya, this industrial region has been one of Japan's most successful in adjusting to the challenges posed by the oil shocks of the 1970s and the high-yen period (endaka) of the 1980s. Based on surveys conducted with nine firms, the research covers five of Chukyo's major industries: woolen textiles, industrial ceramics, automobiles, machine tools, and office equipment. The study period (1986-91), was characterized by a particularly fast pace of new product diversification, production networks, and subcontractor relations. The results suggest that whereas product innovation in Western literature has often tended to be associated with "breakthrough" development in new "start-up" firms, for Chukyo it has been mainly associated with the continual improvement of large, well-established "core forms" and their networks of suppliers and subcontractors. These improvements have involved incremental upgrading of product design, technology, and personnel skills within focal factories, as well as complementary adjustments by long-term subcontractors. The findings also address the recent debate over "new industrial districts:. Chukyo, while subject to challenges such as the loss of competitiveness, increased its share of national employment up to 1990, yet was found to be a very different type of "flexible industrial district" to that encountered in Silicon Valley or the "Third Italy". --Journal abstract | ||
| Control No. | RDS 03d | ||