xiii, 309 pages : 23 cm

This book studies the industrial development of Japan since the mid-nineteenth century, with particular emphasis on how the various industries built technological capabilities. The Japanese were extraordinarily creative in searching out and learning to use modern technologies, and the authors investigate the emergence of entrepreneurs who began new and risky businesses, how the business organizations evolved to cope with changing technological conditions, and how the managers, engineers, and workers acquired organizational and technological skills through technology importation, learning-by-doing, and their own R & D activities

The book investigates the interaction between private entrepreneurial activities and public policy, through a general examination of economic and industrial development, a study of the evolution of management systems, and six industrial case studies: textile, iron and steel, electrical and communications equipment, automobiles, shipbuilding and aircraft, and pharmaceuticals. The authors show how the Japanese government has played an important supportive role in the continuing innovation, without being a substitute for aggressive business enterprise constantly venturing into unfamiliar terrains

Includes bibliographical references (pages 280-294) and indexes

Foreword / Richard R. Nelson -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Economic and Technological Change from the Meiji Restoration to World War II -- 3. The Post-War Technological Progress and Government Policies -- 4. The Evolution of a Management System from the Tokugawa Era to World War II -- 5. Management in Post-War Japan and Today -- 6. Textiles -- 7. Iron and Steel -- 8. Electrical and Communications Equipment -- 9. Automobiles -- 10. Shipbuilding and Aircraft -- 11. Pharmaceuticals -- 12. What Can We Learn from the Past? -- App. A Brief Chronology of Japan's History

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