The ‘close but adversarial’ model of supplier relations in the U.S. auto industry

While cooperative buyer–supplier relations are an important source of sustainable competitive advantage, noncooperative behavior persists widely. This paper tests a model incorporating noncooperative behavior within a context of formal commitment, using data from the U.S. auto industry. This ‘close, but adversarial’ model appears to be reasonably well supported by the data, suggesting that even within professed cooperative buyer–supplier relationships adversarial behavior persists. In contrast, a small but significant minority of the relationships were found to be characterized by high levels of trust as well as informal commitment. The results suggest specific strategies for developing cooperative supplier relations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inter-firm Collaboration and Learning: The Case of the Japanese Automobile Industry

This paper investigates the effect of intra-firm Research and Development expenditure and inter-firm collaboration on firm performance. It is proposed that R&D expenditures enable a company to improve knowledge and assimilate the exchange of information within non-routine collaboration activities. The hypotheses are tested by an empirical study on inter-firm technical collaboration in Japanese Automobile firms during the years 1975–1995, using the method of first-order auto-regression on a panel data set. The findings indicate that R&D expenditure increases performance, but do not allow clear conclusions on the effects of collaborations.     

Comparing U.S. and Japanese corporate-level operating performance using financial statement data

This study uses financial statement data restated to a similar reporting basis to compare the operating performance of U.S. and Japanese companies, identifying possible strategic and environmental explanations for the differences observed. Comparisons are made for U.S. and Japanese samples as a whole, for groups of Japanese firms (keiretsu v. nonkeiretsu), and for 11 industries. The results show that neither country appears to generate systematically higher profit margins, but that U.S. firms turnover assets other than inventory more quickly and therefore have higher rates of return on assets. More intensive examination of these results suggests that environmental factors, such as cultural or structural differences, are the primary causes of the observed differences in the data analyzed.     

Strategic action generation: A comparison of emphasis placed on generic competitive methods by U.S. And Japanese managers

The paper identifies similarities and differences in the emphases and patterns that U.S. and Japanese managers attribute to a set of 22 generic competitive methods. It highlights the different ways that Japanese and American managers combine these methods to form general business strategies. Using factor analyses and smallest space analyses, the study shows differences in business strategy patterns between managers in Japan and the U.S. Such differences reflect the organizing principles underlying the strategy approaches in U.S. and Japanese firms. The organizing principle underlying U.S. responses is the desire to find way to differentiate a firm from its competitors. In contrast, the organizing principle underlying Japanese responses is a desire to establish a comprehensive, stable and defensible position. The paper discusses the implications of these results for strategic management and suggests directions for future U.S. and Japanese comparative strategy research.     

柏克德（Bechtel）——安全管理与知识管理造就全美行业翘楚

介绍了全球著名的美国第一大建筑承包商——柏克德（Bechtel）公司的总体情况,分析了该公司的国际和国内市场的经营业绩、业务范围、主营业务。重点从安全管理、知识管理两大核心竞争力剖析了柏克德公司实现可持续发展的源动力。通过比较研究,总结了柏克德公司对我国建筑企业的借鉴意义,并为我国建筑企业学习柏克德公司的先进经验提出了具体举措。     

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.     

Quality management practices and competitive performance: Empirical evidence from Japanese manufacturing companies

This paper presents the results of an empirical study on the relationship between quality management practices and competitive performance in Japanese manufacturing companies. The data was gathered from two surveys including the common sample of twenty-seven Japanese manufacturing companies in the 1990s and the 2000s. Statistical techniques are used to compare the degree of implementation of the eleven quality management practices and their impact on different dimensions of competitive performance between two periods. Findings of this study highlight the stability and consistency of the Japanese quality management, which can be used as one of the strategic weapons for maintaining competitive advantage of Japanese manufacturing companies.     

A comparison of manufacturers and financial services suppliers' and buyers' use of relationship management methods

Suppliers and customers work within a network in which they have a vast array of diverse relationships they have to manage [Easton, G. (1992). Industrial networks: A new view of reality. London: Routledge; Turnbull, P. W., & Moustakatos, T. Int. J. Bank Mark. 14 (1996) 26]. Past research in relationship portfolio analysis [Turnbull, P. W., & Cunningham, M. T. (Eds.). (1981). International marketing and purchasing: A survey among marketing and purchasing executives in five European countries. London: Macmillan Press; Fioca, R. Ind. Mark. Manage. 11 (1982) 53; Campbell, N. C. G. & Cunningham, M. T. Strateg. Manage. J. 4 (1983) 369; Reicheld, F. F. & Sasser W. E. Harv. Bus. Rev. (1990) 105; Krapfel, R. E., Salmond, D., & Spekman R. Eur. J. Mark. 25 (1991) 72] has sought to enable companies to allocate resources efficiently and effectively to different kinds of relationships. However, little research has been carried out to investigate how this concept can be applied across sectors, across functions, across manufacturing and financial services, and across suppliers and buyers. This research explores three methods of managing relationships: formal, documented systems, personal judgement, and meetings. The perceived usefulness of each method and combination of methods used varied across industrial sectors and functions. All three methods were used by the majority of financial suppliers and buyers and manufacturing buyers while manufacturing suppliers tended to use personal judgement and meetings. Overall, meetings were perceived as the most useful method for managing relationships. Formal, documented systems were generally perceived as the least useful method by all of the groups except the financial services buyers. Since relationship portfolio analysis is generally perceived as being less useful than personal judgement and meetings, researchers must reexamine the models put forward to improve their applicability and usefulness in industrial settings.     

Postacquisition turnover among U.S. top management teams: an analysis of the effects of foreign vs. domestic acquisitions of U.S. targets

An analysis of postacquisition top management turnover among 168 cross-border and 102 purely domestic acquisitions, and a control group of 120 nonacquired U.S. firms, revealed that turnover rates in firms acquired by non-U.S. acquirers were significantly higher than in firms acquired by other U.S. firms or the control group. Further, the timing of postacquisition turnover differed in the foreign vs. domestic acquisitions. Finally, the nationality of the foreign acquirer was found to be an important predictor of turnover in certain acquisition categories. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gaining from vertical partnerships: knowledge transfer,relationship duration,and supplier performance improvement in the U.S. and Japanese automotive industries

We study sources of operational performance improvement in supplier partnerships. We argue that supplier performance will benefit most where time‐bound relational assets have developed between a buyer and supplier and the firms exploit the resulting communication efficiency by transferring productive knowledge. We examine the effects of two forms of knowledge exchange together with the prior duration of the buyer–supplier relationship. We find similar interaction patterns in two survey samples of Japanese and U.S. automotive suppliers. The effect of ordinary technical exchanges on supplier performance improvement does not vary with relationship duration. The effect of higher‐level technology transfer, however, grows more positive as relationship duration increases. Other results show relevant contrasts consistent with heterogeneous sourcing behavior between the two countries. The findings highlight the role of relational assets and show that it is important to distinguish between simple techniques and higher‐level technological capabilities when studying interfirm relationships. This research extends the literatures on knowledge transfer, buyer–supplier partnerships, and the performance dynamics of interfirm and intrafirm relationships in general. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Research Note: A Comparison of the Financial Characteristics of U.S. and Japanese Electronics Firms

The growing U.S. trade deficit with Japan has provided the motivation for a number of comparative studies of U.S. and Japanese business firms in recent years. In this study, the financial characteristics of U.S. and Japanese electronics firms are compared using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) method. The findings indicate that the financial characteristics of U.S. and Japanese electronics firms are significantly different.     

Asymmetric performance: the market share impact of scale and link alliances in the global auto industry

This study investigates how participating in strategic alliances with rivals affects the relative competitive positions of the partner firms. The paper builds on studies that show significant differences in the outcomes of scale and link alliances. The study argues that the more asymmetric outcomes of link alliances translate into greater changes in the relative market shares of the partner firms, due to unbalanced opportunities for inter‐partner learning and learning by doing. We find support for this argument by examining 135 alliances among competing firms in the global automobile industry, from 1966 to 1995. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of U.S. company internationalization on top management team advice networks: a tacit knowledge perspective

This study surveys 37 U.S. multinational corporations (MNCs) to examine the effect of internationalization on one dimension of the top management team’s (TMT’s) character: international business advice network density. This study draws on international business (IB) theory, the resource‐based view of the firm, and philosophy of science and its view of tacit knowledge. Results show that both the firm’s internationalization extent, and the interdependence that exists across its country–market activities, are positively related to the TMT’s IB advice network density. As the extent of the MNC’s business outside the United States grows and the linkages among its IB units intensify, the demand for IB expertise within the TMT increases, TMT members share each other’s knowledge of IB more extensively and the TMT’s IB advice network density increases. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Manufacturing and firm performance in technology-intensive industries: U.S. and Japanese DRAM experience

Firm-specific limits on capacity development rates (rates at which firms are able to increase output rate to design capacity) can affect firm performance in important ways, especially for firms involved in technological competition which introduce products relatively early. A simple model in which capacity development rates act in this way is developed and tested using data from semiconductor memory products (DRAMs). These results are used to estimate the ex post impact of increasing U.S. capacity development limits to the higher Japanese levels in the important 64 K DRAM generation.     

Performance implications of delayed competitive responses: evidence from the U.S. retail industry

The timing of competitive actions and responses is a key management concern that has important performance consequences. This study focuses on the timing and consequences of competitive responses. Theory predicts a negative linear relationship between response delay and responder performance mirrored by an opposing positive linear relationship between response delay and first mover performance. In contrast, our study suggests that response delay has a curvilinear relationship with responder performance, and a linear relationship with first mover performance. We test our propositions using retail industry data and discuss the implications. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The U.S. Motion Pictures Industry: An Empirical Approach

We hypothesize that the U.S. motion pictures industry is structured so that star presence increases box office receipts and (less so) admissions, but places Ricardian limits on the output of blockbusters. The few dominant studios (majors) rely on a modified star system to generate supra-normal box office by stimulating admissions at exhibitors. Rising costs (from stars and their promotion) are required for rising revenues; that is, the majors gain revenue only at higher costs. Although the industry has unique features, the empirical results are surprisingly relevant to other industries.     

Trends in Japanese Management: An Overview of Embedded Continuities and Disembedded Discontinuities

In this paper we consider the accounts of post-war Japan's economic development in terms of a consideration of the argument from embeddedness. We note the dangers implicit in approaches that tend to proffer over-socialized accounts of action and stress the importance of institutionally and organizationally specific levels of analysis. We establish the significance of the immediate post-war period for analysis of Japanese organizations, and look at the continuities and discontinuities in their development up to the present. The paper analyses continuities in terms of the maintenance of a long-term orientation and global vision and that organizations remain both competitive and cooperative. The discontinuities have emerged in the last decade, since the economic ills of Japan became evident. These include a shift from a growth emphasis to the balancing of multiple goals; the emergence of new forms of competitive strategy, in the form of: alliances and cooperation; changing conceptions of careers; relaxation of the centralisation of authority; a shift from lifetime employment to employability; larger differentiation of wages and promotion opportunities in the status ladder system, and the increased scope for initiative and consensus. We conclude with some implications of the analysis for future research.     

Network effects and the adoption of new technology: evidence from the U.S. telecommunications industry

This paper examines variations in the adoption of new technology by firms operating in a network-based industry: telecommunications. These variations are explained as a function of three network effects: the first is the conversion effect, driven by operations-related increasing returns to scale; the second is the consumption effect, driven by demand-side increasing returns to scale; the third is an imitative effect. We expect the conversion effect to be felt more strongly during earlier phases of a technology's evolution, while a strong consumption effect is felt throughout. The imitative effect is also expected to be felt throughout. These hypotheses are examined with respect to electronic switching adoption in the local operating sector of the U.S. telecommunications industry. An analysis of the variations in adoption levels of the 40 largest firms over a period lasting from 1973 to 1987 supports our expectations, except for the imitative effect. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cross-Pacific internationalization of R&D by U.S. and Japanese firms

Efforts by MNCs to develop coordinated international R&D networks have taken place from different historical bases of internationalization and in the context of differing trends in the role of R&D within the corporation, as the cross-Pacific R&D investment in leading U.S. and Japanese firms in the electronics industry shows. Japanese firms, although they espouse a strategy of 'localization', are establishing wholly-owned R&D centres in the U.S. with highly specialized technology mandates that to be used by the company must be networked with their parent organizations. U.S. firms rely on joint ventures or wholly-owned labs with a wider array of technologies that face strong pulls to a local orientation. The patterns are somewhat out of line with the models of internationalization each side is espousing.     

Strategy and environment as determinants of performance: Evidence from the Japanese machine tool industry

This study examines the roles played by the environment and realized strategies on firm-level performance in the Japanese machine tool industry. We examine the effect of environment and strategy on performance using longitudinal data on a sample of 25 Japanese machine tool firms over the period 1979-92. Our results indicate that both firm strategies and the environment play significant roles in influencing profitability and growth. More specifically, whereas both strategy and environmental variables are significantly related to firm profitability, only environmental variables are associated with firm growth. Additionally, in contrast to U.S. based studies, we find that capital expenditures and technological change are not negatively associated with profitability. Rather technological change has a positive impact on firm growth. We discuss the implications of these results for strategic management and provide suggestions for future research.