The art of building a car: the Swedish experience re-examined

The Swedish automobile industry has recently encountered significant difficulties. This article reviews a major study of the relationships between production, technology and work organisation in Volvo and Saab. It compares the Swedish approach to automobile production with those of the American and Japanese companies and speculates on whether the Swedish industry will survive in the coming decade.     

The auto makers and their related party transactions in indonesia

This paper provides a profile of three major automobile manufacturers in Indonesia: the Astra group, the Suzuki group and the Matsubishi Krama Yudha group. Together, they control more than 85 percent of the automobile market in Indonesia. Various types of related party transactions in the auto industry and their transfer prices are also discussed. It appears that Japanese multinational companies are playing a dominant role in the development of the auto industry in Indonesia.The research on which this paper is based was funded by the United Nations Development Programme and the Centre on Transnational Corporations.     

Buyer-supplier relations in the UK - automotive industry: Strategic implications of the Japanese manufacturing model

This paper documents the adoption of the Japanese model of manufacturing in the U.K. motor industry. Internal developments by the vehicle assemblers and their suppliers are examined. It is argued that the Japanese model involves very high intra- and interorganizational dependencies. Although this does not cause problems in Japan due to the structure of the Japanese motor industry, the structure of the UK vehicle industry presents severe obstacles to the successful use of Japanese methods. Pursuit of the pure Japanese model within the existing industry structure appears to be fraught with problems. Moreover, such an exercise risks sweeping away potential strengths of the existing structure.     

我国汽车行业出口贸易的影响因素及出口潜力研究——基于面板数据模型的实证分析

自新中国成立以来,我国汽车行业经过了几十年的发展,现在已经开始大量走出国门。本文利用与我国汽车贸易最密切的34个国家,通过构建扩张的引力模型,对影响我国汽车出口的因素进行了实证分析。结果表明：距离、GDP、互惠贸易、总产量等都对我国汽车行业出口贸易有显著影响。在此基础上,对我国汽车行业的出口潜力进行预测,并提出相应的对策建议。     

Problems and lessons of Japanese technology policy

Statistics on Japanese R & D reveal various problems of policy and implementation. Some difficulties of Japanese technological development and possibilities for overcoming them are discussed. Among others a fundamental problem is the generation of technology with less reliance on Western support. The relationship between the need for self-generated technology and the fact of excessive reliance on technology imports is discussed in regard to superiority, inferiority and appropriateness of Japanese technology. Innovation in the Japanese automobile and iron and steel industries is characterized as integrative or combinatory innovation associated with managerial innovation. The conditions under which integrative innovation is effective are identified, and these conditions are expected to be valid for many other sectors. Finally, the mechanism of government–industry cooperation in Japan is identified as an informational control system in contrast to the financial control system in Western countries, and the major medium of control by the Japanese government is identified as technological forecasting information.
These characteristics of Japanese technology management can be held up as valuable lessons for other countries given certain conditions which are expected to hold in many fields.     

中国汽车工业的发展趋势及对策

2002年中国汽车工业面对加入WTO后的冲击，发展迅速。但是，中国汽车工业从整体上看，仍然是一个国际竞争力较弱的产业。在加入W凹后更加开放的市场环境中，中国汽车工业逐步从制造、研究开发、销售服务、汽车信贷等方面全面融入世界汽车工业体系。通过使自身全面融入世界汽车工业体系，中国汽车工业将获得更加迅速的发展，并且逐步成为世界汽车工业的主要制造基地之一。就长远来看，中国汽车工业也必将获得自主开发的能力，并且逐步提高其在世界汽车工业体系中的地位。     

American and Japanese management practices in their Singapore subsidiaries

Multinational corporations have made significant contributions to the economic growth of Singapore; American and Japanese companies are among those in the forefront. This study is aimed at finding the extent to which US and Japanese companies have transferred and implemented the management practices in their subsidiaries operating in Singapore. Extensive and intensive interviews of a small sample of companies in the electronic/electrical industry reveal that the Japanese are not practising what they do in Japan while the Americans have demonstrated that the transferability of their management practices is feasible and they are workable in Singapore.Joseph M. Putti is an Associate Professor at the School of Management, National University of Singapore. Thomas Chong F.H. is a Production Manager in Union Carbide, Singapore.     

汽车产业全球化趋势及其对中国汽车产业发展的影响

在汽车产业全球化加速的背景下，在一个国家框架内，已经越来越难以建立起完整的有竞争力的汽车产业体系，这个结论对发达国家，对包括中国在内的发展中国家，都是适用的。     

中国汽车产业的协同演进特征及协同度提升策略——基于四时点投入产出表的实证分析

本文以我国1992—2007年投入产出表为依据,对我国汽车产业的协同演进特征进行研究。实证结果表明,受汽车制造业自身和上下游相关产业各自发展特点的影响,我国汽车关联产业可分为同步关联正向协同和松散非协同两类。结合对这两类产业的成因分析,本文认为,我国汽车产业仍然存在传统生产方式强、通用原材料产业适应性更强而高技术原材料的行业发展受限、对下游服务业的融合联动效应微弱以及非均衡协同等特征。基于此,分别提出从单点突破到多面互动、渐进式创新与破坏性创新并举、逆杠杆撬动以及商业模式创新引领四大策略,以提升我国汽车产业的协同度和竞争力。     

The Kigyo Keiretsu Organization and Opportunism in the Japanese Automobile Manufacturing Industry

This paper contends that the distinguishing feature of the subcontracting system for the manufacture and distribution of auto-parts in the Japanese automobile manufacturing industry can be explained by the opportunism hypothesis of transaction cost theory. Opportunism may arise when the parts-supplier uses its information advantage to obtain more favorable contract terms with the manufacturer. It is argued that in response to this kind of informational opportunism, the automobile manufacturer institutes a special form of vertical arrangement, called the kigyo keiretsu group. The kigyo keiretsu group consist of an association of vertically related parts-makers held together by a high degree of sales and technological interdependence, by partial stock ownership, by interlocking boards of directors and by long-term contract. This study raises the possibility of mitigating opportunism among the kigyo keiretsu group firms throughout the core automaker's shareholdings of its parts-supplier.     

劳动力流动与产业组织变化的互动关系研究——以中国汽车产业为例

国内外理论界对劳动力流动和产业组织变化的研究，长期以来主要是沿单一线路推进——要么主要研究劳动力流动问题、要么主要研究产业组织变化问题。而很少有学者对两者之间的互动关系进行深入研究。本文以中国汽车产业为分析对象．运用实证方法对劳动力流动与产业组织变化的互动关系进行了研究．分析了两者之间的互相影响效应．提炼、归纳出了一些具有规律性的新结论。论文最后从新的角度分析了中国汽车产业组织结构欠优化、劳动力配置不合理的成因．并提出了解决问题的对策建议。     

Transfer of System Knowledge Across Generations in New Product Development: Empirical Observations from Japanese Automobile Development

The objective of this article is to explore effective ways of retaining knowledge involved in new product development. Although human–based mechanisms, such as the direct transfer of project members, more effectively convey knowledge required in design integration at the higher level of product systems, the article shows that standardized mechanisms are more appropriate for retention of lower–component knowledge. However, it is also argued that product architecture affects these relationships through its impact on a locus of design change in a product system. Such argument is partially tested in the context of the Japanese automobile industry.     

模块化时代的汽车产业变革

当前汽车产业成为继信息技术产业之后受到模块化深刻影响的产业部门，本文从三个层面界定了汽车产业模块化的内涵，分析了汽车产品模块的种类，以此为基础，研究得出模块化推动汽车生产组织方式变革的根本表现是促使零部件企业分层．而且模块集成供应商作为与组装企业进行直接交易的少数零部件企业，面临整合生产、系统开发模块产品、控制零部件企业及开拓市场等能力要求，并将由此改变汽车零部件产业的市场结构与竞争状态。汽车产业的模块化发展没有产生绝对的受益者或受损者，本文围绕三个主体从六个方面探讨了模块化的实施效果。     

The Heterogeneous Effects of Trade Protection: A Study of US Antidumping Duties on Portland Cement

For many traded products, high transportation and trade costs can lead to regionally segmented markets, which affect both the pattern of trade and the impact of trade policy. This paper studies the imposition of antidumping duties in the cement industry and finds striking regional variation in their impact on domestic prices, sales and imports. Duties that were imposed on Japanese producers that were shipping cement to the US West-Coast coastal markets led to imperfect substitution to other imports, which allowed domestic prices and production to increase. Imperfect substitution also occurred following duties that were imposed on Mexican producers that were shipping cement to the US Gulf of Mexico coastal markets. But in the US Southwest border markets, the same duties had no impact on the domestic prices of cement. I link the variation in responses across regions to hysteresis that was due to high exit costs.     

标准化对我国汽车产品出口竞争力影响的实证分析

标准是新一轮国际贸易竞争的核心,文章选取了每年颁布的汽车标准数量和汽车产品竞争力RCA值分别作为标准化和汽车产品出口国际竞争力的评价指标。以我国汽车产业1988~2010年的数据为基础,利用协整检验、Granger因果关系检验对标准化与我国汽车产品出口竞争力的关系进行了实证分析。结果表明:标准化、利用外资、研发投入与汽车产品出口竞争力之间存在着长期均衡关系,标准化有助于我国汽车产品出口竞争力的提升。在实证的基础上,从国际汽车标准制定及其推广、我国汽车企业创新能力、新能源汽车标准制定等方面提出了相应的对策。     

Research notes and communications: The effect of product recall announcements on shareholder wealth

Previous research Has found that product recall announcements in the automobile industry are associated with negative abnormal returns. We extend this research by examining announcements of product recalls and products taken off the market outside the automobile industry. We find negative abnormal returns for these announcements and that the returns are significantly more negative when products are replaced (or the purchase price is returned) than when the products are checked and repaired. We find only limited evidence that government-ordered recalls produce more negative returns than voluntary recalls.     

Exploiting globalization potential: U.S. and japanese strategies

This paper develops a model of global strategy that includes the constructs of industry globalization potential, the use of global strategy, the role of organization and management and the performance consequences of using global strategy. Propositions are developed as to why American and Japanese MNCs might differ in their perceptions of industry globalization potential, in their desired global strategy response, in their organizationally-derived ability to implement global strategy and in their resulting performance. The model and arguments are examined in extensive interviews with senior executives at 36 worldwide businesses belonging to some of the largest American and Japanese MNCs. Data are analyzed using a partial least squares causal model. The results show that the Japanese firms have more globalized stategies than do the Americans, and that this factor affects their performance favorably.     

捷豹路虎的金融“平衡法则”

通过架构金融平台,捷豹路虎中国希望能让更多的力量参与到经销商网络的拓展运动中,并以此平衡和撬动整个供应链上的资源。     

Estimating Market Power in the US Copper Industry

Before 1978, most of the domestic copper production in the US and an important share of imports were traded at a price set by the major US producers. At the same time, the rest of the world was trading copper at prices determined in auction markets. This two-price system ended in 1978, when the largest US producers began using the Comex price of refined copper as a benchmark for setting their prices. Using this regime shift, I empirically test the competitive behavior of the US copper industry before 1978. The results show that copper prices were close to the levels predicted by a competitive model of the industry.     

SPECIALIZED SUPPLIER NETWORKS AS A SOURCE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: EVIDENCE FROM THE AUTO INDUSTRY

This study examines the relationship between interfirm asset specificity and performance in the auto industry. More specifically, I examine the extent to which differences in supplier–automaker asset specialization may explain performance differences between Japanese automakers (Nissan and Toyota) and U.S. automakers (Chrysler, Ford, General Motors). The findings indicate a positive relationship between supplier–automaker specialization and performance. In particular, the data suggest a positive relationship between interfirm human asset cospecialization and both quality and new model cycle time. Moreover, site specialization is found to be positively associated with lower inventory costs. The findings suggest that in the auto industry a tightly integrated production network characterized by proximity and a high level of human cospecialization will outperform a loosely integrated production network characterized by low levels of interfirm specialization.