Japan continues to be admired by the entire world, because such a small country, with 70% of its mountainous territory and few natural resources, has achieved a super giant economic development, positioning itself as the Second World Economic Power.
To know the background it is necessary to take into account that in August 1945 a Japan exhausted by war accepted the terms of the surrender imposed by the allies and, by imperial edict, laid down its arms. For the first and only time, Japan was occupied by Allied troops under the control of the United States, until April 1952.
As a consequence of the Second World War, Japan lost 42% of the national wealth and 44% of the industrial capacity - energy, facilities, machinery, etc. Demobilized military personnel and returning civilians, on the one hand, exacerbated ruin and hunger and, on the other hand, immediately joined the workforce, more than covering the labor needs for economic reconstruction during the first stage of the post-war period.
For a few years after the defeat, the Japanese economy was almost completely paralyzed, with a severe food shortage, rampant inflation, and under the effects of a generalized black market. The country had lost all its overseas territories, while its population surpassed the a figure of 80 million, in addition to receiving around 6 million returnees. Domestic demand declined with the interruption of military purchases and foreign trade was restricted by the Allied Occupation Forces.
The Japanese people undertook the task of rebuilding their war-torn economy, and the North American occupation was only concerned with demilitarizing and democratizing Japanese society. It did not bear either the cost of repairing the damage or the elaboration of a strategic policy for economic reconstruction.
In a relatively short historical period, Japan managed not only to rebuild its economy, but to become one of the most important industrialized nations in the world today. In this, state economic regulation and industrial policy designed for reconstruction played a fundamental role.
The Japanese bureaucracy issued the document "Basic Problems for the Reconstruction of the Post-War Japanese Economy", as early as 1946. Here it was argued that Japan should follow an intermediate model between socialist planning and capitalist institutions; the laissez faire period had passed. Now, in the period of state capitalism, Japan was located on the border of two systems, it had to be a political and economic intermediary between blocks.
With the new constitution of Japan (1947), the emperor was stripped of his sovereign power and replaced by a parliamentary cabinet. The operating context of Japanese capitalism was designed by the political reform of the allied nations after the Second World War. This reform covered areas such as: land, education, union protection, demilitarization and the dissolution of the zaitbatsus (grouping between companies).
Such projected changes were put into practice with greater force and idealism by the Japanese than by the Americans themselves. The new program gave rise to two concepts that were to play an important role in the further development of Japanese capitalism: equality and competition.
The aforementioned reform applied to Japan in this period considered the following issues:
1. An agrarian reform that promoted greater equality: eliminated landowners who did not use their land and created the class of farmers who owned the land they cultivated. During the immediate post-war period, a massive hunger was evident. The United States was considered to be the most democratic country in the world, having given land to those who did not have it, took wealth from the richest and distributed it to the people. The North American occupation created favorable premises, especially with the agrarian reform, as a mechanism for transferring the economic surplus towards industrial reconstruction.
2. The establishment of a new civil code for equality between men and women.
3. An educational reform that also had an important impact. The new system, based on North American models, established nine years of free compulsory education and three more optional years of secondary education. Those who had the right skills and paid the modest educational fees could graduate from college.
4. The establishment of democratic reforms: freedom of assembly, association and expression, including the Communist Party; abolition of Shintoism, as an official religion; and freedom of worship.
5. The dissolution of the zaibatsus, which fostered competition, as the business size of the Japanese industry decreased and small and medium-sized companies emerged, which had to fight fiercely among themselves to achieve a greater number of sales. The objective of the United States in eliminating the Zaibatsus was to disintegrate military power to prevent Japan from gaining strength and fighting against them.
In 1949, the Ministry of International Trade (MCI) and the Council of Commerce were extinguished and the Ministry of Industry and International Trade (MITI) emerged. The MITI Business Department was established with the objective of strategically developing the country's companies and creating a favorable environment for competition; In other words, the State directed its regulatory action as the maximum responsible for competition and the development of companies. The last MCI minister was the first from MITI: Inagaki Heitaro.
After the war there was little supply of capital and interest rates were consequently high. However, the Government made it possible for companies with more futures to obtain funds at extremely low interest rates. As a rule, these companies oriented their production towards the external market.
Banks channeled the accumulated capital to lend it to strategically important industries, supported by the Bank of Japan credit guarantees. In addition, the Government offered important tax concessions to export earnings, while establishing the acquisition of technology as a national priority. Foreign currency was in short supply for many years after the war, but the authorities took advantage of these circumstances for exporters to obtain special allowances.
The MITI Enterprise Department prepared the new policy for industrial rationalization based on induced competition:
1. Full exchange control on technology imports - the power of selection of industries for development.
2. Preferential financing.
3. Tax exemptions.
4. Protection against foreign competition.
5. Authority to order the creation of bank-based industrial conglomerates (new zaibatsus).
6. Institutional apparatus for rationalization policy and incentives.
In the first years after the war, due to the shortage of materials, the factories produced practically nothing and to sell what little they produced they had to compete on price and quality, that is, they had a very strong environment not only external, but also internal. Companies that failed to cut costs found themselves without customers. This pressure caused a real revolution in business planning. The MITI Business Department contributed greatly to making the paths towards national and international competitiveness more flexible. Everyone could hope for victory if they worked hard enough to beat the competition.
The characteristics of the internal environment created by the Enterprise Department were the driving force that guided the nation's economic development in the postwar period. These were as follows:
1. A demanding protective state.
2. The conditions of the competition were not the result of laissez faire; the risk was reduced for the capital with greater concurrence.
3. A concentration in certain companies to: achieve an industrial restructuring; facilitate technology transfer; guarantee the long term, as a criterion; and address internal priorities and external threats.
The functions of the Business Department were:
1. Prepare the policy of business restructuring and rationalization on the basis of fiscal, credit and infrastructure development measures.
2. Promote business cooperation on issues such as: sharing technologies; achieve specialization in production lines; jointly use resources and warehouses, and consult investment plans.
3. Coordinate the joint actions of the sectoral businessmen's associations to protect against foreign competition.
The selective nature of the MITI Business Department protected industrial development and covered the entire economic cycle.
The Industrial Rationalization Council, created in December 1949, promoted during the 1950s a common business culture with an emphasis on scientific administration. Business life focused on administrative practices and not on the arbitrary preferences of capital owners.
Induced competition meant that this competition always occurred in the context of rationalization, selectivity, with national productive conciliation. MITI promoted rational administrative practices, for example:
1. Models for salary and promotion systems.
2. Models for organizing workplaces based on increased work intensity.
3. Models for training employees and cadres.
MITI could block access to foreign currency - Foreign Capital Act, 1950 - of any firm it deemed to be wasting valuable resources. With the Foreign Capital Law, a Foreign Steering Committee was established, which determined that any foreign investor with licenses, patents, etc., must be authorized by this Committee. The MITI Business Department assumed this responsibility.
When MITI was accused of being monopolistic, it argued that it only asked for cooperative behavior, that is: to share technology; limit production lines; jointly use the warehouses for raw materials and finished products; and make inquiries about investment plans.
The selective nature of accelerated growth from 1955 to 1990 was manifested in the following basic policies:
1. Protectionist industrial policies of induced competition.
2. Tax policy to promote savings and investment.
3. Isolation of the internal market from foreign influence.
4. Financial structure policy (preferential credits, etc.).
You can appreciate the important role played by MITI and its Business Department in creating a very competitive internal environment that "trains" the national company for international competition. Therefore, this form of state protection can be identified as induced competition.
Role of the State in creating the movement for productivity and quality control circles
The state created the productivity movement in the first half of the 1950s with the help of the United States Government.
The three principles of the movement were the following: cooperation between the people and the Government; cooperation between employers and workers; and distribution of benefits derived from increased productivity.
In August 1952, the Association for Industrial Education was created with the aim of strengthening ties between private capital and communities. In June 1954 the Cooperative Council for Productivity was founded; private industry launched into that movement. The Japan Productivity Center was established in February 1955 and is still a key institution. A Productivity Council was created to serve as a link between the Center and the Government.
In September 1955 the Union of Private Companies (DOMEI) joined the movement for productivity. The following year, NIKKEIREN - Japan's most influential federation of business associations insisted on the need to improve technology education and published a lengthy document: About Technology Education to meet the needs of the new era.
In December 1957, MITI published The White Paper on Industrial Rationalization, which promoted specific activities to increase productivity, closely linked to engineers in private companies. There was a strong relationship between business associations and the State to promote not only industrial reconstruction, but also induced competition.
In 1957 the Japanese Ministry of Education (MINEJ) implemented the plan to increase the number of science and technical students. Then begins the boom in science and engineering careers. In February 1959 the Science and Technology Commission (for strategic research) is founded.
The circles of quality control, the mutual consultation system and the system of engineers emerged in the 1960s. During this period there is a massive incorporation of engineers to companies in close collaboration with factory workers and with a flow of information to the research and development office.
During these years reverse engineering was intensively promoted in Japan, with which substantial improvements were achieved over imported technology applied to production processes, as well as a rise in product quality.
As of the 1960s, research and development institutes began a search to apply these technological advances to new products and processes.
Role of the emergence of "the three jewels" of Japanese management
The struggle of the labor movement forced capital, in alliance with the State, to make changes in labor and human relations in companies, with which the salary for seniority, the employment for life and the union for companies became general, called " the three jewels “of Japanese management.
Seniority salary: Workers' wages rise annually, according to the time they have been in the entity, if they satisfactorily comply with the plans and tasks assigned each year. This type of salary reaches its maximum when retirement occurs, which stimulates staying in the center and reinforces job stability.
Employment for life or long-term: The annual rate of transfer of workers is only 16% and workers in general are isolated from the foreign labor market. This trend is closely linked to the seniority salary system in which employees with more time in the company receive more wages. In this way, the workers depend more on the company and give great importance to its success.
In addition, lifetime employment means that a major company or government agency hires once a year, in the spring, when youth graduate from high school, high school, and college. A large firm employing only "newbies" hires a long list of new employees at once, even if they don't have jobs for all of them right away.
Union by companies: It is the basis of the strategy to increase the intensity and productivity of work and compete for extraordinary profit.
In Japan, workers must have some twenty years of experience before they can enter the supervisory position and are taught that they must maintain good relations with their subordinates after being appointed. Japanese supervisors are veterans at the company and spend much of their time in human relations: They play baseball with the younger workers on Sundays, attend their weddings, and are generally well informed about their family matters. Its popularity among younger operators has contributed to the operation of the system.
Japanese business organization
Japan's business organization is very different from that existing in the United States and Europe, as it is characterized by having achieved higher levels of efficiency in business management and by generating a set of stable practices, which, despite not being theorized by many Of them, they allow to maintain that a Business Economic School characteristic of the Japanese experience has been structured.
This School or modality of organization of business competition and its state regulation is characterized by the different way in which the following features are established in relation to the efficiency of Western capitalism:
1. The degree of separation between property and management.
2. The employer and the labor collective; their forms of stimulation.
3. The basic forms of efficient management: cost and quality.
4. The creation of the technological base of the business system.
5. The double business structure and the horizontal and vertical organization of monopoly agreements.
6. The globalization of the world economy and the "immigrant" company.
1. The degree of separation between property and management
In Japan the presidents and directors of large companies in general are not its main shareholders, but are the so-called "employee directors". The main axis of the Japanese business organization lies in the high degree of separation that exists between the function and the property, that is, individual capital does not work, but that of legal entities (firms that put their capital). The administrator does not put it the owner, as it happens in the western countries, he is going to be chosen by the collective (company) and is based on the characteristics that he has; therefore, competition will be greater among workers, since the employer will be chosen not for their number of shares, but for their capacity.
This structure of company management offers an illusion to the aspirations of the employees and sharpens the race to occupy the first positions in the echelons. Another curious factor is that 75% of the shares belong to legal entities, while 25% belong to individual shareholders, contrary to what happens in the United States and Europe. All this mechanism the State has known how to stimulate and has managed it in a very intelligent way in a way that satisfies its interests.
2. The employer and the labor group: their ways of stimulation
Although it is often believed that in Japanese society in general, and in the company in particular, a great deal of importance is given to harmony, there is indeed strong competition among employees who aspire to the top positions on the echelon. and to receive the highest possible value in the bonus system distributed twice a year: June and December.
The evaluation system takes into account the attitudes assumed by the workers, as members of the organization, their initiative at work, discipline, harmonious nature, etc. In this way, a labor discipline is established in which subordinate employees blindly obey the higher level in order to achieve the best evaluation in order to obtain higher wages and the best job title. In this way, companies organize and force their employees to work.
Another way to stimulate the worker is to allow him to be part of the improvement proposals in the company, stimulating and channeling his contribution for social and personal recognition. This has its monetary reward, but the prizes do not usually exceed the figure of 5 or 6 dollars. More important than money is the personal recognition they give you.
3. The basic forms of efficient management: cost and quality
Quality is a set of qualities or properties of a product that conditions its usefulness to satisfy certain productive and personal needs.
One of the fundamental issues on which Japanese quality control is based is that there are no perfect standards, be they national, international or company-wide, as these generally contain inherent flaws as customer requirements continually change and year after year a higher quality is demanded. Standards are adequate at the time of setting, but they quickly become outdated; in practice, it is necessary to constantly review and improve them in order to satisfactorily meet consumer requirements.
Japanese quality control is a revolution and a new concept in management thinking. The characteristics of Japanese quality control that distinguish it from Western quality control are the following:
1. Quality control throughout the company with the participation of all members of the organization.
2. Education and training in quality control.
3. Activities of the quality control circles.
4. Quality control audit.
5. Use of statistical methods.
6. Activities to promote quality control at the national level.
In this conception, the need to educate all employees in quality control is raised: from the president to the line workers, it is necessary to vary everyone's reasoning and repeat education and training inside and outside the company. undefined mode; Thus the Japanese carried out quality control. To achieve these objectives, the main interest of the company must be people's happiness and, as a first measure, receive an adequate income.
On the other hand, consumers must feel satisfied and content when they buy and use the company's goods and services; workers in no case can think that the quality control mechanisms are to control their work. In Japan there are private entities to promote quality control activities: quality control research group, the quality committee of the month, the headquarters of quality control circles.
The Japanese do not control quality to only project exports, but for them quality transcends the company, it is a social relationship of production, a process, it is a reserve for reducing the cost of production, as a more dynamic way of maintaining your competitiveness. Quality control constitutes a conceptual revolution in management, since managing on the basis of respect for the customer can increase the degree of satisfaction of the needs of consumers, both in the means of production and in the means of consumption. The Japanese introduce scientific and technical advances to production quickly, causing an unmatched compatible substitution. The Japanese industry is based on offering quality items at low prices due to hard work and mass production,efficient and very competitive.
In 1962, quality control circles began to be established. They are made up of small groups that carry out quality control activities within the same workshop or workplace; As part of company-wide quality control activities, they continually carry out self-development and mutual development, control and improvement within the workshop using quality control techniques with the participation of all members.
The basic ideas of quality control circles are:
1. Contribute to the improvement and development of the company.
2. Respect man and create a pleasant workplace where it pays to be.
3. Fully exercise human capacities and over time take advantage of their infinite capacities.
4. The creation of the technological base of the business system
One of the factors that have characterized the transformation of Japan's economy and industry is the improvement of the technological level carried out through rapid innovation in technology and the various efforts of the industrial sector as a whole.
After World War II, Japan has been making greater efforts to introduce new technologies with a view to keeping up with the world's technological innovation. A form used by them for technological advancement has been reverse engineering, which has integrated the technological approach with the social economic one.
Reverse engineering, as an economic way to efficiency, consists of introducing the advances of the physical, mathematical and genetic sciences to industrial and agricultural production techniques, which, based on the results obtained in other processes and different countries, and decomposing them In its component elements, it manages to locate those that determine the attributes of its efficiency and, in addition, act on them in such a way that its modification leads to an increase in efficiency levels.
For the Japanese, solving the copying / technological creation contradiction has made it possible to reach a technological base in which obtaining avant-garde products rests on their own technology, with their own techniques and highly used foreign and own raw materials. Japan has distinguished itself by skillfully purchasing technology licenses, patents, and agreements, primarily from the United States. This entire process has been led by MITI.
Reverse engineering has advantages; these are:
1. Decrease in research and development costs.
2. Decrease in investment cost.
3. Decrease in production cost.
4. Increased quality.
5. Decrease in time, as a common variable (saving years and months).
6. Increase of compatible substitution.
7. Increased competitiveness.
8. Creation of the company's technological base.
Japan, thanks to the aforementioned, from technology importer is becoming a technology exporter, it is exporting technology to developed countries.
5. The double business structure and the horizontal and vertical organization of monopoly agreements
The global tendency to fragment the production process has caused subcontracting to become increasingly relevant, and consists of one company (the main one) entrusting other (subcontracted) companies with the production of a more or less important part of the components of their products.
The economic impacts of subcontracting are multiple, the most relevant being: the decrease in costs, the increase in flexibility and the reduction of the necessary resources.
By subcontracting, the main company manages to reduce its costs, by reducing the magnitude of certain resources (fixed assets) that imply higher structure loads or fixed costs and, in most cases, by purchasing the products (components from the subcontracted company). or factors) at prices lower than the costs that would have been involved in manufacturing them themselves.
The reduction in the size of fixed assets and the greater adaptability to changes in the demand for its products, to changes in the products themselves, in technology, in tastes, allows the subcontractor company greater flexibility, a very important condition in today. The same reduction in fixed assets, together with the decrease in the stocks of components that pass to the subcontracted companies, causes the main company to reduce the resources necessary to carry out its activity.
As mentioned previously, in Japan there is a grouping between companies, interrelated horizontally, with the name of zaitbatsus. These are groups of large firms operating in the Japanese economy. In the war period they engaged in the military industry and were dismantled by the United States at the end of the war, re-emerging as monopolies. The Japanese currently have six major zaitbatsus: the Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Fuyo, Sanwa and Ichican groups.
Each zaitbatsu is made up of several firms, a bank, trading house, insurance house, shipyards and the domain of a given industry. The relations between the zaitbatsus are carried out horizontally, since they are not subject to technological ties or ownership or productive structure, but rather are limited to monopoly agreements regarding prices and leadership in markets and territories.
Linked to the zaitbatsus, but observing a vertical structure, are the so-called keiretsus. Its appearance is part of the 1960s, when corporate groups of small and medium-sized companies subordinate to large industry developed, whose relationship was given by subcontracting activities. The subcontractor companies were grouped under the big ones in subordinate conditions.
6. The globalization of the world economy and the “immigrant” company
Globalization presupposes the incorporation or integration of all countries in a dynamics of economy functioning on a planetary scale and the fragmentation of spaces and processes. All the regions of the planet, with their respective economic structures, material and human resources, will be able to function in this global dynamic where current competitive advantages are increasingly due to the ability to adapt to changes whose levels are given by knowledge and qualified human resources..
The "immigrant" company represents a new type of business organization that will respond to the phenomenon of globalization of the economy and will differ from the so-called "subsidiary company" and "subsidiary company". Its appearance is framed in the 1970s with operations in the manufacturing sector, but reached its development levels in the 1980s.
The formation of the "immigrant" company is the result of the interrelation of the macro and microeconomic levels expressed in the country's economic policy, which through the business system transforms the foreign company into an "immigrant" company, a condition by which it can carry out their interests without opposing those of the country in an antagonistic way.
The "immigrant" company guarantees the reproduction of national capital in open economy conditions and develops a complete business system on the basis of which it develops its corporate strategy; attaches equal importance to business, both abroad and domestic.
Its great economic growth
Despite having limited natural resources, Japan was able to develop its heavy and chemical industries thanks to the low price of oil that remained at the level of $ 2 / barrel for twenty years after the Second World War. The fixed price of 360 yen / dollar that lasted until August 1971 made it possible for Japan to increase its exports without re-evaluating its national currency.
Before the 1970s, the Japanese economy was surrounded by a favorable environment until the outbreak of the fourth war in the Middle East, in October 1973, which caused the first oil crisis, as well as the introduction of the floating price of Japanese currencies., North American and European.
The oil crisis forced Japan to undertake an economic restructuring, to look for the least consuming, most independent way, to look for stable and close sources. This country found a response in the process of structural change of the national economy, which began in the last years of the 1970s.
During the recession period, after the second oil crisis until the early years of the 1980s, measures were applied to increase exports and maintain economic growth. As a consequence of the two oil crises and the flow of foreign exchange to the oil-exporting countries, the industrialized countries and their industries were facing serious problems. Japan's fiscal situation worsened seriously due to declining tax revenues, making it impossible to increase public investment, as a measure to overcome the recession. Under this circumstance, the Japanese industry had no alternative to look for the way out in the increase in exports. As a result, Japan's trade surplus vis-à-vis the United States rapidly increased.
Therefore, the economic structure of Japan began to undergo great changes from the mid-1980s. The Japanese industry achieved and vigorously developed the structural adjustment policy made up of the following measures:
1. Investing in modern technologies that make fuel economy possible and the emergence of new, higher-value products, reducing the operations of structurally stagnant industries, by moving the axis of the heavy and chemical industries, for example, the automobile industry., household appliances and the shipping industry towards electronics with products such as: semiconductors and high-tech computers.
2. Economic growth based on external demand is transferred to internal demand due to the emphasis given to personal consumption, public investment, and the increase in imports caused by the rise in the yen and pressure from the United States and Europe..
3. The expansion of direct investment abroad, the transfer of production bases abroad to reduce production costs and, at the same time, source from plants abroad to obtain raw materials, parts or prefabricated parts; all this motivated by the accelerated appreciation of the yen.
The Great Technological Leap
The four most outstanding technological branches in Japan are:
- The AutomotiveComputing (Computers) ElectronicsThe Robotics
The main corporations in these branches or technology industries are Toyota, Fujitsu, Matsushita and Fanuc.These corporations have been developing especially since the 1960s.
Automobiles are one of the best-known Japanese products. It is one of the countries that produces more cars, buses and trucks in the world. Japan's auto industry has been called the country's core industry.
The automobile industry is said to be a barometer that shows the general industrial strength of a country since components and parts supplied by almost all branches of industry, such as steel products, plastics, electronics, etc., are needed to manufacture automobiles.
Regarding computing and electronics, the government and the Japanese government are implementing their Information and Communications Technology Strategy “e-Japan”. With this strategy, Japan has achieved a great technological leap worldwide. Achieving this objective requires the fulfillment of 4 main plans:
Improve the Information Technology hardware, by installing a fiber optic network, which provides network connections at ultra-fast speed.
Facilitate electronic commerce so that any person or entity can participate in this field of activity.
3. The development of a virtual Government or electronic Government. This strategy does not mean the disappearance of the traditional model of government, but rather the use of the advantages of new technologies to streamline administrative procedures, improve services for residents, develop different regions of the country, and alleviate differences in the use of Information and Communication Technologies in them.
Encourage the development of high-quality human resources, ensuring that all citizens have the practical knowledge about information so that they can use these technologies.
Since the launch of the strategy to date, notable progress has been made. In 2001, 10.5% of companies participated in electronic commerce either through the Internet or through a computer network. The finance and insurance sector was the one that made the most use of electronic commerce in that year: 13.7% of companies carried out operations through this channel. The mining and construction sectors have the lowest participation, having, respectively, 1.4% and 4.6% of their companies involved in this type of transaction.
In 2001, the market volume carried out through electronic commerce related to final consumer goods grew 96.0% compared to 2000, while the market for electronic commerce related to intermediate goods showed an increase of 41, 5%.
Regarding the development of an electronic or virtual government, it can be pointed out that in 2001 there were 319,915 personal computers available in the governments of the prefectures and 561,721 personal computers in the municipal governments. In addition, there were 1,310 web pages of public entities at all levels of the national government. A personal computer available for every 1.2 employees is also reported in all national government agencies, as a result of government efforts to make a computer available for each public employee.
In education, there are also very positive results as the government has been developing the infrastructure in the Japanese educational system so that the Internet can be used in all grade levels.
In March 2001, computers were installed in practically all public middle and upper secondary schools. The number of computers for educational use per school went from 11.3 in 1998 to 24.4 in 2002 in the case of elementary schools. For upper secondary education this figure went from 41.4 to 94.7 in 2002 (MPHPT, 2003a). In addition, 75.8% of all public schools had an Internet connection in 2001 and of these, 33.9% had created their own web pages.
In 2002, the e-Japan 2002 Program was launched, an annual program that incorporates and gives continuity to the preceding e-Japan strategy. The recent explosion of an INTERNET mobile phone system shows the country's potential to produce global innovations. Although Europeans brag about overtaking the United States in the cell phone race, Japan is ahead of both on the mobile INTERNET.
In Japan, cell phones with Internet access have had a strong impact on sales and approximately 13 million people, one tenth of the population, are already subscribing to the system (i-mode).
The great success of this technologist is that they are permanently connected to the INTERNET, managing to enter the WEB almost instantly and without dialing. The cell phone screens are connected to 15,000 INTERNET sites, which offer email, games, banking services, news and cartoons. These gadgets are cheap and small. As is known, the Japanese live in tiny houses. Because of this, consumers like mobile gadgets that provide information and help pass the time.
This technological irruption represents a good advance for the Japanese economy. The i-mode could mean a great advantage for Japanese companies in other parts of the world.
Robotics
Japan has become the country of robots. Robotics is one of the fields in which Japan has technological advantages. The spectacular development of this branch is explained by the internal productivity of Japan, which is the main consumer of robots, and also by the expectations offered by the North American market, since the United States imports 80% of this technology from Japan.
The appearance of industrial robots dates back to 1962 in the United States. It was introduced to Japan in the 1960s in the oil and petrochemical industries to automate production processes. Only industries with high investment capacity were able to acquire industrial robots, since at that time industrial robots lacked flexibility and computers for the operating system, so only large companies with mass manufacturing systems of few types of products decided to use industrial robots. In the 1980s, artificial intelligence robots appeared, equipped with computer systems that analyze the state of warehouse stocks and the needs of customers and dictate manufacturing for themselves.
Since robots joined factory personnel in the 1970s, robotics development and technology in Japan have led the world. Today they continue to set the model for the entire planet.
From the second half of the 80's when the economy was in an expansion phase, the use of industrial robots continued to spread even in small and medium-sized companies that suffered from labor shortages. Industrial robots made it possible to maintain the competitiveness of the Japanese economy.
Many of the cars in Japan are built with robots, as they are complex machines designed for specific tasks. They are able to do repetitive and boring jobs, leaving people free for more interesting and complicated things. Analysts believe that Japan has more industrial robots than all developed countries combined.
In the last decade they have created humanoids that walk on two legs. One modality of this technology is the HAL (Extremity Assistance Hybrid) robot suit. HAL is the first system in the world that links the human body with a robotic structure that moves as one wishes. It works so closely with the neurological and musculoskeletal systems of the person wearing it that it is in fact an extension of the body itself.
The various parts of the human body move when the brain sends orders to the muscles. These orders are small bioelectric signals that can be detected on the skin. The HAL detects them and converts them into orders that it sends to the motor centers that it has incorporated. So if a person is wearing a HAL and wants to get up, sit, walk, or carry something heavy, the HAL identifies the signals sent by their brain and helps them do all of those things.
The robot suit is a type of exoskeleton (like a second skeleton, but external) that can give you the extra strength needed to lift something so heavy that it couldn't without help.
The HAL robot suit can help people with physical disabilities or those doing hard physical work. It could also be used in rescue operations.
One of the fundamental factors influencing the current development of Japanese technology is the small budget that the war industry spends for defense.
Conclusions
It should not be forgotten in the economic history of Japan that in the 1950s and 1960s many professionals from all over the world (engineers, economists, sociologists, etc.) visited the United States to learn the North American manufacturing techniques that they owe them. the great economic development to that country, but later, in the 70s and early 80s, it happened completely the other way around, these same professionals and others including the Americans themselves, tried to discover what the famous “model of Japanese development or the Japanese miracle. "
Japan remains the world's largest international creditor and second largest economic power, producing approximately 12% of world GDP, and is also one of the main donor countries to Official Development Assistance.
The great development achieved by post-war Japan has frequently been seen by the world as a paradigm to be achieved.
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See Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba: Guide for export to Japan, Havana, February 1984, p. 1.
See International Society for Educational Information, Inc. ob. cit, p. 40.
See Gilson Shwartzm (Nobel, 1990): Japao de Olhos abertos, Sao Paulo, 1990.
See Notebooks of Japan no. 1, Japan echo Inc., Tokyo, 1992, Vol. V, p. 44.
See Joaquín Fernández and Ernesto Molina: The Japanese business organization as a school in the field of economic theory and the role of the Japanese State in the development of capitalism, CEAO, Havana, 1996.
See Notebooks of Japan, ed. cited, p. 44.
See Ouchi Willian: “Teoría Z”, Inter-American Educational Fund, Mexico City, 1982; japan notebooks, ed. Quoted, p. 45, and Joaquín Fernández and Ernesto Molina: ob. cit.
See Dictionary of Political Economy, Editorial Progreso, Moscow, 1985.
See Kaoru Oshikawa: “What is total quality control?”, Editorial of Social Sciences, Havana, December 1977.
See Joaquín Fernández and Ernesto Molina: ob.cit.
See group of authors: The strategic direction of the company. An innovative approach to management (s / d)
See Latin American Society: ob. cit., 1990, p. 7.
Villafañe, Víctor and Alfredo Romero: Japan Today.
The i-mode is a transmission system that allows access to all kinds of Internet-based services, such as on-line banking, searching for tourist or leisure information about a city, downloading achievements and melodies, etc., from a telephone compatible mobile
Villafañe, Víctor and Alfredo Romero: Japan Today
“Panorama of the Industry and Economic Cooperation of Japan” 1994, p. 83.
