...What Can The US Learn from Japanese Bubble 1. Easy monetary policy works, but there are risks in the exit. The Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing measures over the past few years have allowed the U.S. economy breathing room to get back on its feet after the worst downturn since the Great Depression. But there are risks that still lurk. If policymakers increase taxes too soon, or if they read the recovery prematurely, they could put the still-tentative U.S. economic recovery in real danger, Goto said. “It’s difficult to measure whether this economic recovery has legs or not,” she said. “In hindsight, the BOJ had misread a lot of the performance of the Japanese economy, and had toyed with the idea of ending that gush of money. What Abenomics has been able to do is to turn back on the spigot,” she said, referring to the current Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to breathe life back into Japan. “Japan should have been doing that a lot earlier, so that a comeback could have been easier,” Goto added. “We can learn from that." 2. You can’t divorce financial markets from ‘Main Street’s challenges. Consider what has happened in Japan in recent months. After two decades of subpar performance, the stock market there staged a sharp rally last year, tacking on gains of about 50 percent in roughly 13 months. Japanese stocks took off because of an aggressive round of new easing that was the first part of Abenomics. But what came next was an increase in the consumption tax...
Words: 749 - Pages: 3
...culture could be described as adding more or intensifying the original values, norms, family configurations and other aspects of culture. On the other hand, the decentering of culture implies removing old values and adding new thoughts, philosophies ie changing old patterns for newer methods. Almost all non-Western cultures have been influenced by the mores of the West, including countries in Asia. In general, this means that many of these cultures are becoming influenced by Western cultures, namely that of America. For example, in many Asian nations McDonalds and other American influences like Starbucks and clothing stores are coming to their countries. They are being influenced by Western culture, hence the "decentering of culture." In Japan, it’s surprising to see such a predominance of Western society in an area that is far away from America. However, the decentralization of Asian culture may go both ways, meaning that although we in the U.S. have...
Words: 1321 - Pages: 6
...Japan’s Economic Malaise Three simple models for why Japan’s economy will never grow again Michael Smitka Professor of Economics Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450-0303 MSmitka@wlu.edu Version 2 May 23, 2003 ---------------The first version was entitled Three Simple Models for Undergraduate Economists and was prepared for the ASIANetwork Conference, Furman University, April 11-13, 2003. This paper differs primarily in the introduction and summary, and in the addition of more figures. The core analysis and most of the calculatioins remain the same. Smitka / The End of Growth v2 May 23, 2003 Page 1 I. Introduction I argue below that Japan’s economy will not grow again, and that (with hindsight) this should not be surprising. First, Japan has matured, to the point where its labor force is in decline. Such an economy is unlikely to grow in absolute terms. Second, that maturation occurred in a short span of time, resulting in large structural shifts in the economy. These strained the Japanese financial system past the breaking point, and have stymied efforts at macroeconomic stimulus. I believe, however, that the magnitude of these shifts would have overwhelmed any financial structure. I do not deny that Japan’s financial system exhibited large vulnerabilities, and its macroeconomic policy systematic failures. Again, I believe that these are beside the point. Third, the current structure of Japan’s economy is not sustainable; financial liabilities (bank deposits...
Words: 9963 - Pages: 40
...Phacharakamol Kumpinyo ID: 5529161 Case NO.1: Matsushita 1. Triggers of cultural change in Japan during the 1990s were traditional ways of doing business. In 1990s, Japan was encounter with bubble burst of financial crisis (economic slump) then every business unit which were get the problem with crisis must change their business ways as fast as they can to make their business moving on with not crush. Businesses start to lay off worker and reduce business size to smaller and change in many internal process such as company benefit, company housing, etc. Then it makes cultural change on working attitude of worker to have less loyalty and focus on higher salary instead. 2. Japan change culture influence the way Japanese business operate in the future is decentralize the power and profit to split the risk that can crush the company. The potential implications of such changes for the Japanese economy. 3. The traditional Japanese culture benefit Matsushita during the 1950s-1980s is cradle to the grave employee. At Matsushita, employees were good taken care from the company. The firm provided them with a wide range of benefits including cheap housing, guaranteed lifetime employment, seniority based pay systems and generous retirement bonuses. The Matsushita was got loyalty and hard work from its employees. Did traditional values become more of a liability during the 1990s and early 2000s? Yes it is. The Matsushita spend a lot of money for take care their employees as cheap...
Words: 641 - Pages: 3
...Philips vs. Matsushita Case Greg Tensa 1. How did Philips become the leading consumer electronics company in the world post war era? What distinctive competencies did they build? What incompetancies did they build? Prior to World War II, Philips had created a culture of embracing technical innovation. On the production side, Philips was a leader in industrial research, and scrapped old plants in favor of new machines or factories whenever advances were made. On the product side, strong research enabled the company to broaden its product line, starting with light bulbs but growing into vacuum tubes, radios and X-ray tubes by the 1930s. Because Holland was such a small country, Philips was forced to start exporting in the early 1900s in order to have enough sales volume for its mass-production facilities. Philips evolved into a highly centralized company with decentralized sales and autonomous marketing in 17 countries. Political events in the world during the 1930s forced Philips to change into a truly multi-national company. First, the depression caused countries to erect trade barriers and enact high tariffs, forcing Philips to build local production facilities in the foreign markets they served. Second, in anticipation of World War II, Philips transferred its overseas assets into trusts in Great Britain and the U.S. They moved the bulk of their research staffs to England, and their top managers to the United States. With these assets, the national organizations (NOs) became...
Words: 1891 - Pages: 8
...ECON1102 Assignment 1 Max Crabb Part A Japan’s household saving rate has decreased significantly from 18% in 1980 reaching a low of 0.5% during the GFC of 2008. The Economy of Japan has been relatively stagnant between 1980 and 2014 with average growth in the period being only 0.5% whilst the unemployment rate during the same period was only 3.5%, since 2003 unemployment has fallen from 5.5% to 3.5% increasing household confidence and boosting income per capita (tradingeconomics). The greatest reason however for lower savings is the significant decrease in interest rates which reached a height of 9% in 1981 and has stayed at 0% since 2000 with only a few minor increases to around 0.5% (tradingeconomics). Japan has 12.6trillion USD in outstanding debt as of March 2012 with 9.7% of that debt being held by the bank of Japan whilst they annually purchase 21.6 trillion Yen to boost economic growth, this provides confidence to consumers and markets that the Bank of Japan will help to reduce national debt and liquidity shortages. The high level of debt combined with the national bank buying much of the debt means that the economy cannot sustain paying interest rates to households and hence actively encourage spending within the Japanese economy in order to help minimise public debt and boost the economy. Another reason for a decrease in savings is the ageing population and an increase in the ratio of elderly citizens (65 years and older). In 1980 the percentage of Japanese...
Words: 526 - Pages: 3
...Introduction The culture of Japanese management so famous in the West is generally limited to Japan's large corporations. These flagships of the Japanese economy provide their workers with excellent salaries and working conditions and secure employment. These companies and their employees are the business elite of Japan. A career with such a company was the dream of many young people in Japan, but only a select few attain these jobs. Qualification for employment is limited to the men and the few women who graduate from the top thirty colleges and universities in Japan. Placement and advancement of Japanese workers is heavily based on educational background. Students who do not gain admission to the most highly rated colleges only rarely have the chance to work for a large company. Instead, they have to seek positions in small and medium-sized firms that can not offer comparable benefits and prestige. The quality of one's education and, more important, the college attended, play decisive roles in a person's career. Few Japanese attend graduate school, and graduate training in business per se is rare. There are only a few business school programs in Japan. Companies provide their own training and show a strong preference for young men who can be trained in the company way. Interest in a person whose attitudes and work habits are shaped outside the company is low. When young men are preparing to graduate from college, they begin the search for a suitable employer. This process...
Words: 991 - Pages: 4
...was transferred to Inoue Electric Manufacturing Company only to quit the company in 1929 after the New York market crash. Being an inventor and innovator by nature he rented a factory in 1930 to produce his inventions and later in 1933 founded the Tateisi Electric Manufacturing Company. Tateisi Electric began with the production of X-ray timers and later moved into producing many other sensing products. Later in 1948, Tateisi began selling household products under the brand name “Omlon” and later adopted the name “Omron” in 1959 for easier pronunciation in foreign languages. Omron was known for multiple engineering firsts. Omron spent huge amount worth 4 times its capital on building an R&D laboratory in 1960. Omron was the western Japan competitor to eastern Japan’s Sony. Omron introduced various new and innovative products in the market. Some of them were vending machines capable of dispensing various items, ATM machines, and health devices like stress meter, automated traffic signal, fully automated train station and many more. In the mid and late 1970’s during the oil crisis, Omron exited businesses, restructured and invested in R&D. In 1990’s it released a “Golden 90’s Plan” which focussed on 3 areas i. Industry ii. Society iii. Daily Life...
Words: 2325 - Pages: 10
...439 Part 3 Closing Cases Ben & Jerry’s—Japan On an autumn evening in Tokyo in 1997, Perry Odak, Angelo Pezzani, Bruce Bowman, and Riv Hight gratefully accepted the hot steaming oshibori towels their kimonobedecked waitress quietly offered. It had been just over nine months since Odak had committed to resolving the conundrum of whether to introduce Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to the Japanese market and, if so, how. The next morning would be their last chance to hammer out the details for a market entry through 7-Eleven’s 7,000 stores in Japan or to give the goahead to Ken Yamada, a prospective licensee who would manage the Japanese market for Ben & Jerry’s. Any delay in reaching a decision would mean missing the summer 1998 ice cream season, but with Japan’s economy continuing to contract, perhaps passing on the Japanese market would not be a bad idea. Perry Odak was just entering his eleventh month as CEO of the famous ice cream company named for its offbeat founders. He knew the 7-Eleven deal could represent a sudden boost in the company’s flagging sales of the past several years. He also knew that a company with the tremendous brand recognition Ben & Jerry’s enjoyed needed to approach new market opportunities from a strategic, not an opportunistic, perspective. imported ice cream, and expectations of falling tariffs on dairy products suggested new opportunities for ice cream imports from abroad. Although prices were attractive in Japan, about $6 per pint, it was unclear how much...
Words: 4834 - Pages: 20
...1.What were the triggers of cultural change in Japan during the 1990s? How is cultural change starting to affect traditional values in Japan? A. The burst of the “Bubble Economy”, Japanese generation lacked the same commitment to traditional values. Privatisation of a large number of public corporations since 1980, Expansion of operations in Western and Asian regions. B. Changes to HR policies, New recruitment techniques, and individual benefits. Shift towards individualism. 2.How might Japan’s changing culture influence the way Japanese businesses operate in the future? What are the potential implications of such changes for the Japanese economy? Employees still get benefits but not based on seniority. This leads to a more service based efficient economy. More focus on individualism, loss of employee loyalty, changes to HR startagies, Westernized younger generation, high women contribution, free worker concept Negative implications, outsourcing, low employee engagement, low synergy in team work 3.How did traditional Japanese culture benefit Panasonic during the 1950s–1980s? Did traditional values become more of a liability during the 1990s and early 2000s? How so? It benefited from Confucian values. Built teamwork inside the work place, created strong ties of loyalty, Emphazides harmony and coroporation among employees, Created a more collaborative work place. Employees seeked job security, and retirement, guided by many rules and procedures., employees...
Words: 766 - Pages: 4
...Case Analysis: Chapter 3 Closing Case BUSN 427 March 6, 2014 1. What were the triggers of cultural change in Japan during the 1990s? How is cultural change starting to affect traditional values in Japan? In the 1990s when Japanese economic growth slowed down for a long time firms were forced to change the way of doing business. They started to fire older employees. The younger generation, which grows up wealthy, saw this process and concluded that loyalty to one company might be not the best for themselves. The difference between the postwar generation and their children the parents were struggling to recover from the humiliation of defeat / the children grow up in a richer world with more possibilities and they did not wanted to be a salary man and tie themselves to one company for a lifetime is the change in the Japanese culture. It led to a change in the traditional values in Japan. Loyalty, group identification and reciprocal obligations became less and individualism more important. 2. How might Japan's changing culture influence the way Japanese businesses operate in the future? What are the potential implications of such changes for the Japanese economy? In the first step Japan's changing culture is influencing the way how Japanese businesses will manage their human resource. If loyalty, group identification and reciprocal obligations loses there value in for the employees, then the companies needs to put some other incentives. Lifelong working contracts...
Words: 1229 - Pages: 5
...By Abraham Ko Economics 332 October 22, 2014 ABENOMICS Japan, as a country, has been the prime example of what most economists refer to as the East Asian Miracle. A small island country centered on isolationist policies during the early 19th century, Japan first opened its doors to economic world trade with the arrival of Commodore Perry and his “Black Ships.”(US Navy Museum 2014) Although small in size, and low in resources, Japan saw the power and might of its Western contemporaries and aimed to follow in their footsteps. Near the end of the 20th Century, Japan was officially recognized as an economic superpower throughout the world. However, growth never lasts forever and by the 1990s, Japan’s economy had come to a grinding halt due to a massive collapse in both the real estate and stock markets of the Japanese economy and remains in a recession that has lasted till now. As Japan looked to face another year of stagnant growth of the economy, Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, decided enough was enough. With the assistance of the new governor of the Bank of Japan, Shinzo Abe embarked on a radical economic plan that focused on three arrows of design. The arrows depict the strategy of Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” program in which it focuses on fiscal stimulus, monetary easing, and structural reforms. (International Monetary Fund 2013) It is almost near the two year mark since the implementation of Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” program has begun. Although typically, economic...
Words: 2726 - Pages: 11
...Case 3 – Panasonic and Japan’s Changing Culture 1. What were the triggers of cultural change in Japan during the 1990s? How is cultural change starting to affect traditional values in Japan? The triggers to Japan changing culture came by way of the “new kids on the block” thinking and becoming more focused on individualism than collectivism. Those participating in the new Japan no longer believe in the Japan is moving towards more individualism than collectivism after the economic bubble. Nonetheless, this is a good opportunity for Japan to adapt to the globalization world and be more competitive. The cultural change will lead to greater mobility of employees, which means people will move around jobs more than before 1.What were triggers of culture change in Japan during the 1990s? how is cultural change starting to affect traditional values in Japan? Cultural change in Japan was triggered by the economic recession in the 1990’s. Traditional Confucian values focused on loyalty, high moral and ethical values and set the pathway for relationships with others in traditional Japanese businesses. When the generation born after 1964 lacked the same commitment to traditional Japanese value as their parents but they grew up in a world that was richer, where western ideas were beginning to make themselves felt, and where the possibilities seemed greater. They did not want to be tied to a company for life, they become a salary man. Traditional ways of doing business and...
Words: 734 - Pages: 3
...Kazuo Inamori Case Study Kazuo Inamori was a Japanese businessman that impacted Japan in ways that few individuals could. His leadership styles were unprecedented, and he was able to enter into a variety of different business spheres and remain successful. What differentiated Inamori from the generic Japanese businessman was his passion to his company, and his desire for continued personal growth. His deep seeded drive allowed him to enter into business ventures where the odds were stacked against him, and he was still able to perform. Inamori was able to utilize a unique management method to predict and deliver wildly successful business results by recognizing inefficiencies in the market, and capitalizing on them. In my in-depth case study, I will evaluate Kazuo Inamori’s business philosophies and approaches, and I plan to identify what made him such a special individual. When Inamori was a young boy, he recognized he was able to organize individuals in a way few could. Inamori’s respectable leadership gained him camaraderie among his classmates, but he was always falling behind in his studies. Inamori’s inability to work in a traditional Japanese schooling setting landed him in a middle tier university, which caused him to adapt at an early part in his professional career. When Inamori graduated college the Job markets were not steady, and nearly all of his job applications to major firms were rejected. Inamori next found himself desperate, and he found a manufacturing job...
Words: 1824 - Pages: 8
...The success of luxury brands in Japan and their uncertain future Ronald Jean Degen International School of Management Paris 2009 Working paper nº 52/2009 2 globADVANTAGE Center of Research in International Business & Strategy INDEA - Campus 5 Rua das Olhalvas Instituto Politécnico de Leiria 2414 - 016 Leiria PORTUGAL Tel. (+351) 244 845 051 Fax. (+351) 244 845 059 E-mail: globadvantage@ipleiria.pt Webpage: www.globadvantage.ipleiria.pt WORKING PAPER Nº 52/2010 Janeiro 2010 Com o apoio da UNISUL Business School 3 The success of luxury brands in Japan and their uncertain future Ronald Jean Degen Ph.D. Candidate at the International School of Management Paris Vice Chairman of Masisa Chile Address: E-mail: degen@lomasnegras.com Phone: +55 41 9918 9000 Cabanha Orgânica Lomas Negras Ltda. Caixa Postal 95 Campo Alegre, SC 89294-000 Brasil Ronald Jean Degen is in the Ph.D. Program of the International School of Management in Paris, and the Vice Chairman of Masisa in Chile. He was a Professor at the Getúlio Vargas Graduate Business School of São Paulo where he pioneered the introduction of teaching entrepreneurship in 1980 and wrote the first textbook in Portuguese on entrepreneurship published in 1989 by McGraw-Hill. He just published a new textbook on entrepreneurship that was published in 2009 by Pearson Education 4 The success of luxury brands in Japan and their uncertain future ABSTRACT The Japanese are the...
Words: 11612 - Pages: 47
