Technological diversification and assimilation of spillover technology: Canon's scenario for sustainable growth

Under the paradigm shift from an industrial society to an information society in the 1990s, contrary to the decrease of profits in Japan's electrical machinery firms, only Canon demonstrated its increasing trend. This contrasting performance corresponds to Canon's another contrast with respect to increasing technological diversification while reverse trends in other electrical machinery firms. These contrasts suggest us that Canon's technological diversification strategy can be the source of high level of its profits.Prompted by this hypothetical view, this paper analyzes Canon's scenario for sustainable growth and attempts to elucidate its technological diversification dynamism with special attention to its contribution to high level of profits. On the basis of the identification of the correlation between technological diversification and assimilation of spillover technology, comparative empirical analyses are conducted focusing on the consequence of technological diversification and development trajectory in Japan's leading electrical machinery firms over the last two decades.